Nelson Mandela and Terrorism.

[sponsmith]

Was Nelson Mandela ever actively involved in terrorism?

[bobtheturkey]

he was a terrorist

[Peter Pedant]

He was convicted of Treason in 1962 - but so what.

If you go back to the accounts of the 1962 trial, it should give you details of what was alleged. Presumably if he had a Fu Manchu role as gentleman rather than player, you are gonna say he wasnt a terrorist.

Relax, our current world is full of heads of state who started off political life as terrorists.

[A Chill Wind]

Make up your own mind. :-/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela

[suffragette]

Yes, I believe he was the leader of the ANC who instigated, or at least supported the armed struggle and use of terror tactics. He is one of the best examples of the phrase, 'one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist'.

It is doubtful if the South African government would ever have instituted social justice policies for the majority black population without such actions as some nations were actively undermining UN economic sanctions in a surreptitous and illegal manner.

[Catso]

His autobiography seems to me to say 'yes', but it doesn't go into great detail (unsurprisngly).

[jno]

not all resistance action is terrorism, even if it's violent. The French resistance, for instance, just saw it as killing their enemies, not 'terrorising' them. Likewise, I don't think Palestinian suicide bombers are terrorists, though I'm sure Israelis would disagree. We use the word 'terrorist' a bit loosely.

[LazyGun]

I would agree with ya pretty much jno... curious though... what would be your definition of the word "terrorist", and how would it differ from your definition of freedom fighter?

[A Chill Wind]

It's probably a case of defining 'the greater good' though there are two sides to every fence.

[jno]

fair question, LazyGun. Wikipedia has a whole separate article on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_ter rorism

I don't have any better answer. As for freedom fighters, I think that's (a) what they call themselves; (b) what they're called after they win. Looking at the way Israel demonises 'terrorism' you'd never guess that Zionists practised it themselves in the 1940, but they did - against the British - or so the British would say.

[Dizzieblonde]

As somebody once said, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. He was certainly involved in, and adovcated, activities which would be considered terrorist by today's standards.

[mycats]

I say he was a terrorist! (and that tends to be an unpopular view, let me tell you lol) Cant stand the man though, so maybe I am being a bit biased

[frankief]

Do you want the trendy persons version or the truth?
Of course he is a terrorist, as are his missus and the Mandela football team!

[mycats]

Yeah thats true frankief, I do say he is a terrorist, just saying that people dont like it. Of course these people only tend to know about him because they saw the Spice Girls (or who ever is "trendy" just now lol) gushing about how proud they are to meet this "hero"