Marcy Kaptur Quotes
One could say that Osama bin Laden and these non-nation-state fighters with religious purpose are very similar to those kind of atypical revolutionaries that helped to cast off the British crown.
Kaptur, Marcy. Interview. The Toledo Blade, Block Communications, 1 Mar. 2003.
This quotation provides a succinct view of most non-Western Muslims on the issue of the definition of “terrorist.” A “mujahid” can be translated from Arabic as “freedom fighter.” To the rest of the world, terrorism is defined by the techniques and behavior of the doer. To many Muslims, it is defined only by the motive. If one is defending land or a cause, he cannot be a terrorist. The only terrorist to a Muslim holding this point of view is a person who engages in these violent methods for no reason. The essential difference is that to most of the world a cause—even a worthy one—does not justify any methodology or cost. To the Islamicist who accepts Al-Jozo’s point of view, there is NO methodology that is immoral, especially if one is fighting for a cause, and no cause is more worthy than the spread and dominance of Islam and the world of God. Therefore, for that cause, there can be no terrorism as there can be no ethical or moral limits.
The woman was kidnapped from her home and shot.
While that tended to be so at that time, it has not always been so. For example, the civil war in Sri Lanka where suicide bombing vests were developed pitted Sinhalese Buddhists against Tamil Hindus. The 10 percent Muslim population were the only ones who were peaceful. And the PKK in Turkey—although a Muslim terrorist movement operated in a very strong and modern state.
Marcia Carolyn Kaptur is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Ohio's 9th congressional district. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district stretches from Kaptur's hometown of Toledo to Cleveland. It includes all of Ottawa and Erie counties, and parts of Lucas, Lorain, and Cuyahoga counties.
