On 15 July 2016, the New York Times published a roundtable asking, "Can We Just `Live With` Terrorism?." Allegedly taking its que from French Prime Minister Manuel Valls`s speech in the aftermath of the 2016 Bastille Day attack in Nice, the "Room for Debate" editors asked whether "society should `live with terrorism` to avoid letting it undermine our freedoms."
The roundtable featured Jadaliyya Co-Editor Noura Erakat, in addition to author Liah Greenfeld, former US attorney general Michael B. Mukasey, former Department of Homeland Security official Paul Rosenseig, and former Israeli military official Amos N. Guiora.
Noura`s intervention, titled "Military `Solutions` Force Others to Live with Terror" begins with the following:
No society should “live with terrorism.” Our collective goals should be to eradicate it.
Before [the attacks of 11 September 2001] law enforcement filled that role. Since then, nations, led by the United States, adopted a military approach, and terrorist attacks have only risen.
To eradicate terrorism, we need a much more honest discussion about what terrorism actually is. If it means the use of force against civilians to achieve a political goal, than that should include all such attacks on civilians, and not merely the ones launched by non-state actors. In practice, we limit the term to include only non-state actors.
The victims of state-led attacks are considered collateral damage, or unfortunate but necessary killings. This framework effectively diminishes the value of their lives making it much easier for the world to tolerate excruciatingly high death tolls and absolve the states that caused them.
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Click here to read Noura`s full contribution.