The term eco-terrorism or is a neologism which has been used to describe threats and acts of violence (both against people and against property), sabotage, or property damage which are motivated by concern for the natural environment. As a pejorative term, it has also been used to describe acts of nonviolent civil disobedience by environmentalists.
The term is believed to have been coined by Ron Arnold , a corporate propagandist and author of Ecoterror: The Violent Agenda to Save Nature.
Environmentalists view the use of the term eco-terrorism as a propaganda-driven attempt to associate the use of nonviolent civil disobedience by environmentalists with the more contentious acts of property damage or vandalism and further to link acts of vandalism with notions of terrorism.
Further, some people hold that clearcutting, strip-mining, and other destructive resource extraction activities are true eco-terrorism, and battling against such activities is considered by such people to be more akin to self-defense or defense of one's home than to be terrorism. In many countries—notably the United States—self-defense, defense of one's home, and defence of a loved one can be held to be a valid legal defence to a charge of a crime. Thus, some people consider vandalism, active resistance, crime, or even violence in defense of their ecosystem to be moral, ethical, and legally defensible.
Definitions
While the term terrorism is in itself politically contentious, formal definitions typically limit its usage to politically motivated acts of violence against civilians. The term eco-terrorism, however, is most often used to describe acts of property damage, such as arson, rather than deliberate acts of violence against humans.
Some, such as Arnold, extend the definition to include any illegal act motivated by a desire to protect the natural environment. Thus, even environmental organisations with a stated commitment to nonviolence have on occasions been labelled “eco-terrorists” by conservative commentators. This definition, in fact, would label any act of civil disobedience as terrorism.
In a model bill called the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act proposed by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, an “animal rights or ecological terrorist organization” is defined as “two or more persons organized for the purpose of supporting any politically motivated activity intended to obstruct or deter any person from participating in an activity involving animals or an activity involving natural resources.” [1] Questions related to civil rights have been raised over the wording of this act, which may include all environmentalists, outlawing even environmental protesting.
Its usage has also been adopted by the FBI's Domestic Terrorism Section, which defines eco-terrorism as “the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or property by an environmentally-oriented, subnational group for environmental-political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often of a symbolic nature.”
Groups
The three organisations most commonly labelled as “eco-terrorists” within the United States are the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Earth First!. The websites of these organisations, while openly advocating tactics including arson, graffiti, and property destruction, publicly disavow harm to humans or animals.
In 2001, the FBI named ELF as the United States' most serious domestic terrorist threat. With millions of dollars of damage done and thousands of actions completed, no-one has been harmed to date, and the ALF, ELF, and other groups continue to work in code with non-harm to any living beings. Despite their claims of non-harm, however, millions of dollars of homes, equipment, and research (including medical research) have been willfully destroyed by ALF and ELF operations, causing indirect harm. People known to be associated with these groups have also been accused of threatening acts of violence against researchers, calling into question the commitment of these groups to nonviolence. However, it is insisted by ALF and ELF supporters that their actions were unrelated to either group.
Ecoterrorism in Fiction
See also
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