97. Is it possible to compare Arab-Palestinian and Jewish terrorism before 1948?

When dealing with the “terrorism” phenomenon, there are many non-sustained comparisons, similar to a coffee shop conversation. If the phenomenon is not defined, the analyses lack any sense. There is no simple definition of terrorism. However, for western academics, terrorism is: “The use or threat of violence against civilians (non-combatting) to attain political objectives, with intention and within the framework of a propagandistic strategy”. In the previous sections, we described the intentional killings of 1920-1921 and 1936-1939. In all these cases we described the intentional assassination of civilians to eradicate Jewish immigration and to impede the purchase of lands by Jews (both political objectives). Instigation and the intentional assassination of Jewish civilians was the modus operandi of Arab-Palestinians. Among the Jews, only one underground group could possibly be qualified as a terrorist, although most of their actions were not terrorist: Lehi, with its 500 soldiers. Abraham Stern defined the objectives and combat methods of Lehi in a document called “Redemption” (Ha-Tchia). He said: “The land is the absolute possession of the people of Israel. The land must be conquered by force and not purchased with money, or obtained by political ways or favors of rulers or super-powers.” “The Arabs of the land are foreign, their problem must be solved with a population exchange, but the main enemy is the British occupation regime”. The murders of Lord Moyne or of Count Folke Bernadotte are two examples of intentional murders of civilians. Most of the actions by Lehi were guerrilla-style (assassination of military to achieve political objectives). Arab-Palestinian dominant behavior has been intentional murder; among the Jews, these were sporadic actions, not promoted or related to the official community leadership.