One year ago, on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists swarmed across the border from Gaza in a stunning and bloody attack on southern Israel. Roughly 1,200 people were killed, the vast majority civilians. The attack set off a still-escalating conflict that raises questions about how far people can go to defend themselves and what constitutes legitimate targets for military strikes. But it also posed a stark choice between good and evil, innocents and terrorists—and some people around the world are picking the wrong side.
That murderous attacks on unsuspecting civilians and the kidnapping of hundreds of them—some still in captivity—constitute unjustifiable acts of terrorism is beyond question. Surprisingly, though, there's no generally accepted definition of terrorism, because governments like to keep the term vague so it doesn't encompass their own actions and perhaps so it can be applied to domestic political opponents.
