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'''Communist terrorism''' or '''communist terrorist''' can refer to:
'''Communist terrorism''', state and dissident, is [[terrorism]] committed by various movements that claim adherence to the doctrines of [[Karl Marx]], both during a revolutionary struggle and during the consolidation of power after victory.<ref name=martin>{{cite book |title=Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues |last=Martin |first=Gus |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2009 |publisher=SAGE |location= |isbn=9781412970594 |page=44 |pages= |url=http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uJ6MeYq_FbkC |accessdate=}}</ref><ref name="Europe's red terrorists ">{{cite book|last1=Alexander|first1=Yonah |last2=Pluchinsky|first2=Dennis A. |title=Europe's red terrorists: the fighting communist organizations |edition=1st|date=1October 1992|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0714634883|page=183}}</ref>


* [[Left-wing terrorism]], terrorism by Marxist and other left-wing groups
Many Orthodox Communists have emphasized revolution over reform and offered a vision of the working classes sweeping away the capitalist system. Some of these communist movements and parties had adopted armed struggle and seen terrorism as a viable option; on the other hand some dissident leftist terrorist organisations, including some of those in Western democracies, had little faith in the working classes, believing them to have been corrupted and sometimes argued that "liberating violence" was necessary to spur the revolution on.<ref>Martin, pages 223-4</ref>
* [[Revolutionary terror]], as practiced by Marxist organizations
* [[Red Terror]], a campaign of mass arrests and executions during the Russian civil war.
;In propaganda
* [[Malayan Races Liberation Army]], a combatant in the Malayan Emergency, referred to by the British as ''Communist Terrorism''
* [[Malayan Communist Party]] forces involved in the second [[Communist Insurgency War]]
* [[Viet Cong]] activity in South Vietnam
* Generally, any Marxism inspired [[national liberation movement]]s


{{Disambig}}
==Origins, evolution and history==
German Social Democrat [[Karl Kautsky]] traces the origins of [[revolutionary terror]] to the "[[Reign of Terror]]" of the [[French Revolution]].<ref name="Kautsky">{{Cite book |url=http://marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1919/terrcomm/index.htm |title=Terrorism and Communism |author=[[Karl Kautsky]] |year=1919 |chapter=Revolution and Terror |chapterurl=http://marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1919/terrcomm/ch01.htm |quote=Kautsky said: "It is, in fact, a widely spread idea that [[Terror]]ism belongs to the very essence of [[revolution]], and that whoever wants a revolution must somehow come to some sort of terms with terrorism. As proof of this assertion, over and over again the great [[French Revolution]] has been cited." (Translated by W.H. Kerridge)}}</ref><ref>[[The Gulag Archipelago]] by [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]]</ref> Lenin considered the [[Jacobin Club|Jacobin]] use of terror as a needed virtue and accepted the label Jacobin for his [[Bolsheviks]].<ref>Schwab, Gail M., and John R. Jeanneney, [http://books.google.com/books?id=ne3jNvz-gXAC&dq The French Revolution of 1789 and its impact], p. 277-278, Greenwood Publishing Group 1995</ref> This, however, distinguished him from Marx.<ref>Schwab, Gail M., and John R. Jeanneney, [http://books.google.com/books?id=ne3jNvz-gXAC&dq The French Revolution of 1789 and its impact], p. 278, Greenwood Publishing Group 1995</ref>

The deterministic view of history was used by Marxist regimes to justify the use of terror.<ref>Chaliand,Gérard and Arnaud Blin, [http://books.google.com/books?id=YmpfgNqmVXYC&dq The history of terrorism: from antiquity to al Qaeda By ], p. 105, University of California Press, 2007</ref> Terrorism came to be used by Marxists, both the state and dissident groups, in both revolution and in consolidation of power.<ref>Martin, Gus, [http://books.google.com/books?id=7-GiXqccL1IC&dq Essentials of Terrorism: Concepts and Controversies], p. 32, Sage 2007</ref> The doctrines of Marxism, Marxism-Leninism, Maoism and anarchism have all spurred dissidents who have taken to terrorism.<ref>Lutz, James M. and Brenda J. Lutz [http://books.google.com/books?id=p9pIc_pJ5cAC&dq Global terrorism], p. 134, Taylor & Francis 2008</ref> Marx, except for a brief period in 1848 and within the Tsarist mileu, did not advocate revolutionary terror<ref>McLellan, David, [http://books.google.com/books?id=dV0EAQAAIAAJ&q=%22midwife+of+revolution%22+marx+terror&dq=%22midwife+of+revolution%22+marx+terror&hl=en&ei=2k--TLmHHJD4swOSj-ydDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA The thought of Karl Marx: an introduction], p. 229, MacMillan</ref>, feeling it would be counterproductive.<ref>Lutz, James M. and Brenda J. Lutz [http://books.google.com/books?id=p9pIc_pJ5cAC&dq Global terrorism], p. 134, Taylor & Francis 2008</ref> Communist leaders used the idea that terror could serve as the force which Marx said was the "midwife of revolution"<ref name="Final solutions">{{cite book|last=Valentino|first=Benjamin A. |title=Final solutions: mass killing and genocide in the twentieth century|date=8 January 2004|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0801439650|page=94}}</ref>, and after World War I communist groups continued to use it in attempts to overthrow governments.<ref>Lutz, James M. and Brenda J. Lutz [http://books.google.com/books?id=p9pIc_pJ5cAC&dq Global terrorism], p. 134, Taylor & Francis 2008</ref> For Mao, terrorism was an acceptable tool.<ref>Martin, Gus, [http://books.google.com/books?id=7-GiXqccL1IC&dq Essentials of Terrorism: Concepts and Controversies], p. 52, Sage 2007</ref>

After World War II Marxist-Leninist groups seeking independence, like nationalists, concentrated on guerilla warfare along with terrorism.<ref>Chaliand,Gérard and Arnaud Blin, [http://books.google.com/books?id=YmpfgNqmVXYC&dq The history of terrorism: from antiquity to al Qaeda By ], p. 97, University of California Press, 2007</ref> By the late 1950s and early 1960s there was a change from wars of national liberation to contemporary terrorism.<ref>Chaliand,Gérard and Arnaud Blin, [http://books.google.com/books?id=YmpfgNqmVXYC&dq The history of terrorism: from antiquity to al Qaeda By ], p. 98, University of California Press, 2007</ref> For decades terrorist groups tended to be closely linked to communist ideology, being the predominent category of terrorists in the 1970s and 1980s, but today they are in the minority, <ref>Chaliand,Gérard and Arnaud Blin, [http://books.google.com/books?id=YmpfgNqmVXYC&dq The history of terrorism: from antiquity to al Qaeda By ], p. 6, University of California Press, 2007</ref> their decline attributed to the end of the cold war and the fall of the Soviet Union.<ref>Wills, David C., [http://books.google.com/books?id=Q1S2cdu1escC&dq The first war on terrorism: counter-terrorism policy during the Reagan administration], p. 219, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003</ref><ref name="books.google.com">Crozier, Brian, [http://books.google.com/books?id=qZIOs84I7dEC&pg Political victory: the elusive prize of military wars], p. 203, Transaction Publishers, 2005</ref>


==Terrorist organizations claiming adherence to Communist ideology==
===Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine===
In 1969, a faction of the [[left-wing]] [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP) broke away from the main organization to form the ''Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine'' (PDFLP). The PDFLP was headed by Secretary-General [[Nayef Hawatmeh]], who had been referred to as a leader of the PFLP's [[Maoism|Maoist]] tendency. He believed that the PFLP had become, under the guidance of [[George Habash]], too focused on military matters, and wanted to make the PDFLP a more [[grassroots]] and more ideologically focused organization.

In 1974, the same year as the PDFLP changed its name into the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), it acted as a strong supporter of the 1974 [http://www.palestine-un.org/plo/doc_one.html Ten Point Program]. This document, which was accepted by the Palestinian National Council (PNC) after lobbying by [[Fatah]] and DFLP, cautiously introduced the concept of a [[two-state solution]] in the PLO, and caused a split in the organization leading to the formation of the [[Rejectionist Front]], where radical organizations such as the PFLP, PFLP-GC, [[Palestine Liberation Front]] and others gathered with the backing of [[Syria]], [[Libya]] and [[Iraq]] to oppose Arafat and PLO moderation.

In 1974 the organization perpetrated a major terror attack in Israel, when attacking a local elementary school in the village of Ma'a lot. Taking the school-kids for hostage, 22 children aged 14–16 years-old were killed when an army commando engaged them.

In 1978 the DFLP temporarily switched sides and joined the Rejectionist Front after clashing with Arafat on several issues, but it would continue to serve as a mediator in the factional disputes of the PLO. In the tense situation leading up to the 1983 Fatah rebellion, during the Lebanese Civil War, DFLP offered mediation to prevent the Syrian-backed formation of a rival Fatah leadership under [[Said al-Muragha]] (Abu Musa), the [[Fatah al-Intifada]] faction. Its efforts ultimately failed, and the PLO became embroiled what was in effect a Palestinian civil war.

===Shining Path===
The Communist Party of Peru, more commonly known as the [[Shining Path]] (Sendero Luminoso), is a Maoist guerrilla organization in Peru that launched the [[internal conflict in Peru]] in 1980. Widely condemned for its brutality, including violence deployed against [[peasant]]s, [[trade union]] organizers, popularly elected officials and the general civilian population,<ref name="Quien habla">Burt, Jo-Marie (2006). "'Quien habla es terrorista': The political use of fear in Fujimori's Peru." ''Latin American Research Review'' '''41''' (3) 32-62.</ref> Shining Path is on the [[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]]'s "Designated [[U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations|Foreign Terrorist Organizations]]" list.<ref>US Department of State, "Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs)" October 11, 2005. [http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/37191.htm Available online] Accessed 1 February 2006.</ref> Peru, the [[European Union]],<ref>Council Common Position 2005/936/CFSP. March 14, 2005. [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_340/l_34020051223en00800084.pdf Available online]. Accessed September 27, 2006.</ref> and [[Canada]]<ref>Government of Canada. "Listed Entities". [http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp#sl36 Available online]. Accessed September 27, 2006.</ref> likewise regard Shining Path as a [[Terrorism|terrorist]] group and prohibit providing funding or other financial support. The actions of the Shining Path claimed between 25,000 and 30,000 lives, of these more than 1,000 were children.<ref>[[Stéphane Courtois]] et al. ''[[The Black Book of Communism]]: Crimes, Terror, Repression''. [[Harvard University Press]], 1999. ISBN 0-674-07608-7 pp. 680-681</ref>

===FARC===
The [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia]] (FARC) is a Marxist-Leninist organization in Colombia which has employed vehicle bombings, gas cylinder bombs, killings, landmines, kidnapping, extortion, hijacking, as well as guerrilla and conventional military. The United States Department of State includes the FARC-EP on its list of foreign terrorist organizations, as does the European Union.
It funds itself primarily through extortion, kidnapping and their participation in the [[illegal drug trade]].<ref>[[BBC News]]. "Colombia's Most Powerful Rebels." September 19, 2003. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1746777.stm Available online]. Accessed September 1, 2006.</ref><ref>[[International Crisis Group]]. "War and Drugs in Colombia." January 27, 2005. [http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3238&l=1 Available online]. Accessed September 1, 2006.</ref> Many of their fronts have also overrun and massacred small communities in order to silence and intimidate those who do not support their activities, enlist new and underage recruits by force, distribute propaganda and, more importantly, to pillage local banks. Businesses operating in rural areas, including agricultural, oil, and mining interests, were required to pay "vaccines" (monthly payments) which "protected" them from subsequent attacks and kidnappings. An additional, albeit less lucrative, source of revenue was highway blockades where guerrillas stopped motorists and buses in order to confiscate jewelry and money. An estimated 20-30 percent of FARC combatants are under 18 years old, with many as young as 12 years old, for a total of around 5000 children.<ref name="Children">[[Human Rights Watch]]. "Colombia: Armed Groups Send Children to War." February 22, 2005. [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/02/22/colomb10202.htm Available online]. Accessed September 1, 2006.</ref>), Children who try to escape the ranks of the guerrillas are punished with torture and death.<ref name="Children"/><ref>Human Rights Watch. "'You'll Learn Not to Cry: Child Combatants in Colombia." September 2003. [http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/colombia0903/colombia0903.pdf Available online]. Accessed September 1, 2006.</ref>

===ETA===
[[ETA]] is a [[Marxist-Leninist]] paramilitary Basque nationalist organization.<ref name="goizargi.com">[http://www.goizargi.com/2003/queeselmlnv4.htm"What is the MNLV (4)"]</ref><ref>[http://www.goizargi.com/2003/queeselmlnv3.htm "What is the MNLV (3)"]</ref> In 1965, the sixth Assembly of ETA adopted a Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninist position; its precise political line has varied with time, although they have always advocated some [[Types of socialism|type of socialism]]. Like the nationalist movement in Ireland, in ETA nationalism predominated over communism, but they did accept Soviet support<ref name="books.google.com"/> ETA has committed approximately 900 killings and dozens of kidnappings. More than 500 ETA militants are held in prison in Spain and France. On March 22, 2006 the organization declared a "permanent ceasefire." ETA broke the ceasefire with a car bomb attack on December 30, 2006 at Barajas International Airport, Madrid killing two Ecuadorians.

=== Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist ===

The [[Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)|Communist Party of Nepal]] has been responsible for hundreds of attacks on government and civilian targets.
After the [[UPF]]'s Maoist wing (CPN-M) performed poorly in elections and was excluded from the election of 1994. The Maoists then turned to [[insurgency]] in order to overthrow Nepal's monarchy, parliamentary democracy and change Nepalese society, including a purge of the nation's elite class, a state takeover of private industry, and collectivization of agriculture.<ref>[http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3531 MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/nepal/terroristoutfits/index.html Nepal Terrorist Groups - Maoist Insurgents<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
In [[Nepal]] attacks against civilian populations occurred as part of Maoist strategy - Amnesty International states: <blockquote>The CPN (Maoist) has consistently targeted private schools, which it ideologically opposes. On the 14 April 2005 the CPN (Maoist) demanded that all private schools shut down, although this demand was withdrawn on 28 April. Following this demand, it bombed two schools in western Nepal on 15 April, a school in Nepalganj, Banke district on 17 April and a school in Kalyanpur, Chitwan on 21 April. CPN (Maoist) cadres also reportedly threw a bomb at students taking classes in a school in Khara, Rukum district.<ref>[http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engasa310542005 Nepal: Children caught in the conflict | Amnesty International<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> </blockquote>

Until recently, the Maoist insurgency had been fighting against the [[Royal Nepalese Army]] and other supporters of the [[monarchy]]. They have since been elected to power in national elections and began implementing reforms as the legitimate government of Nepal.

===Communist Party of India (Maoist) and Naxalites===
The [[Naxalite]] extremist Communist terror groups in [[India]] have effectively taken over large parts of the rural regions of the country in recent years. Advocating a violent, revolutionary [[Maoist]] ideology, they and their associates in the [[Communist Party of India (Maoist)]] and [[People's War Group|People's War]] are regarded as India's biggest and most pernicious security threat.<ref>http://www.alertnet.org/printable.htm?URL=/db/crisisprofiles/IN_MAO.htm</ref> Naxalite Communists have engaged in numerous terrorist attacks and human rights violations in India's "[[Red Corridor]]" (the regions in India that they have taken over).<ref>http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/nov/25kanch.htm</ref><ref>http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7799247</ref>

A [[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]] Cover Story calls the [[Bhamragad]] [[Taluka]] where the [[Madia Gond]] [[Adivasi]]s live, the heart of the naxalite-affected region in [[Maharashtra]].<ref>Guerilla zone, Cover Story, Frontline, Volume 22 - Issue 21, Oct. 08 - 21, 2005 DIONNE BUNSHA in Gadchiroli http://www.flonnet.com/fl2221/stories/20051021008701600.htm</ref>

===Communist Party of the Philippines===

The [[Communist Party of the Philippines]] and its armed wing, the [[New People's Army]] (CPP/NPA) is a paramilitary group fighting of [[Maoist]] ideology (''Preamble, Constitution of the Communist Party of the Philippines, 1968'')<ref>[http://www.philippinerevolution.net/cgi-bin/cpp/pdocs.pl?id=consp;page=02 [PRWC Party Documents&#93; Saligang Batas ng Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas, December 26, 1968<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref> fighting for communist revolution in the Philippines. It was formed on March 29, 1969. The Maoist NPA fights a "protracted people's war" as the military wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The NPA is classified as a terrorist organization by the Philippine Government, the US<ref>[http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2004/35046.htm Foreign Terrorist Organization: Redesignation of Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army<!--Bot-generated title-->]</ref>
, [[European Union|EU]]<ref name="eucouncil">{{cite web|title=Council Decision of 21 December 2005|publisher=[[EU Council]]|date=2005-12-13|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_340/l_34020051223en00640066.pdf|accessdate=2007-03-17}}</ref> and other countries.
The NPA's targets often include politicians, military, police, criminals, landlords, business owners and occasionally U.S. agents in the Philippines. Before the Second Rectification Movement, wherein certain "errors" were being rectified, the group conducted a purge, killing thousands of partisans and members on accusations of being deep penetration agent by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine intelligence community. Former NPA fighter Robert Francis Garcia chronicled the wild murders in his book ''To Suffer Thy Comrades'' and organized the Peace Advocates for Truth, Healing and Justice (PATH), a group composed of survivors of the "purges" and the families of victims and their friends and supporters.

Out of that rectification movement, the party was split into two, the "Reaffirmists", who uphold the "protracted people's war" and the "mass line"; while the "Rejectionists", who rejects the basic tenets of the party. The latter faction was also known for initiating the mass purges, especially against alleged deep penetration agents before the rectification of errors inside the party system.

===November 17===

[[Revolutionary Organization 17 November]] (also known as 17N or N17) is Marxist terrorist organization formed in 1973 in [[Greece]], recognized as a terrorist organization by the Greek State, the US and international law enforcement",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.america.gov/st/pubs-english/2006/January/20060120111344atlahtnevel0.3114282.html
|accessdate=2009-01-09
|title=Misinformation about "Gladio/Stay Behind" Networks Resurfaces
|date=2006-01-20
|author=Leventhal, Todd
|publisher=Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State
}}</ref><ref>[http://www.nctc.gov/site/other/fto.html Foreign Terrorist Organizations], The National Counterterrorism Center</ref><ref>[http://www.astinomia.gr/index.php?option=ozo_content&perform=view&id=1317&Itemid=171&lang= Press release], Greek Police {{el icon}}</ref> and believed by many to be have been disbanded in 2002 after the arrest and trial of a number of its members. During its heyday, the urban guerrilla group assassinated 23 people in 103 attacks on U.S., diplomatic and Greek targets. Greek authorities believe spin-off terror groups are still in operation, including Revolutionary Struggle, the group that allegedly fired a rocket propelled grenade at the U.S. Embassy in Athens in January 2007.

===Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front===

The [[Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front]], is a militant Marxist-Leninist party in Turkey. It is in the terrorist organization lists in the U.S., the UK and the EU. The organisation is listed among the 12 active terrorist organisation in Turkey as of 2007 according to Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security ([[Law enforcement in Turkey|Turkish police]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egm.gov.tr/temuh/terorgrup1.html
|date=2005-01-27
|accessdate=2008-08-15
|title=TÜRKİYE'DE HALEN FAALİYETLERİNE DEVAM EDEN BAŞLICA TERÖR ÖRGÜTLERİ
|publisher=Terörle Mücadele ve Harekat Dairesi Başkanlığı}}</ref>

It also appears as one of the 44 names in the current [[U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/08/103392.htm
|accessdate=2008-08-15
|title=Foreign Terrorist Organizations
|date=2008-04-08
|author=Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
|publisher=U.S. Department of State}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> 48 groups and entities to which [[European Union]]'s Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism applies<ref>{{PDFlink|1=[http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:188:0071:0076:EN:PDF Council Common Position 2008/586/CFSP updating Common Position 2001/931/CFSP on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism and repealing Common Position 2007/871/CFSP]|2=52.3&nbsp;KB}}, ''Official Journal of the European Union'' L 188/71, 2008-07-16</ref> and 45 international terrorist organisations in the list of [[Terrorism Act 2000|Proscribed Terrorist Groups]] of the [[UK]] [[Home Office]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/security/terrorism-and-the-law/terrorism-act/proscribed-groups
|accessdate=2008-08-15
|title=Proscribed terrorist groups
|publisher=Home Office
|work=Terrorism Act 2000
|author=Communications Directorate
|date=2005-10-04}}</ref>

===May 19th Communist Organization===

The [[May 19 Communist Organization]], also referred to as the May 19 Communist Coalition, was a US-based, self-described revolutionary organization formed by splintered-off members of the [[Weather Underground]] and the [[Black Liberation Army]].<ref>
{{cite book |title= The Way The Wind Blew: A History Of The Weather Underground
|last= Jacobs |first= Ron
|year= 1997
|publisher= Verso
|isbn= 1-85984-167-8 |pages= 76–77
|url= http://www.archive.org/stream/TheWayTheWindBlewAHistoryOfTheWeatherUnderground/waythewindblew_djvu.txt
|accessdate= December 28, 2009}}</ref> The M19CO name was derived from the birthdays of [[Ho Chi Minh]] and [[Malcolm X]]. The May 19 Communist Organization was active from 1978 to 1985. It also included members of the [[Black Panthers]] and the Republic of New Africa (RNA).<ref name="Karl A. Seger, Ph.D. 2001 1">{{cite book |title= LEFT-WING EXTREMISM: The Current Threat Prepared for U.S. Department of Energy Office of Safeguards and Security
|authorlink= Karl A. Seger, Ph.D.
|year= 2001
|publisher= Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education: Center for Human Reliability Studies ORISE 01-0439
|location= Oak Ridge, TN
|page= 1
|url= http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/780410-SHVVvq/native/780410.PDF
|accessdate= December 27, 2009 }}</ref>
<ref>{{cite news
|title= Terrorist Organization Profile: May 19 Communist Order
|author= National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Responses to Terrorism, DHS
|newspaper= National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and the Responses to Terrorism
|date= March 1, 2008
|url= http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3234
|accessdate= December 27, 2009}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>
The group was originally known as the [[New York City|New York]] chapter of the [[Prairie Fire Organizing Committee]] (PFOC), an organization devoted to legally promoting the causes of the Weather Underground.

This alliance between the [[Weather Underground]] and the [[Black Liberation Army]] had three objectives:
<li>1. Free political prisoners in US prisons</li>
<li>2. Appropriate capitalist wealth (armed robberies) to fund the third stage, and</li>
<li>3. Initiate a series of bombings and terrorist attacks <ref name="Karl A. Seger, Ph.D. 2001 1"/></li>

In 1981 [[Kathy Boudin]], together with several members of the [[Black Liberation Army]], participated in a [[Brinks robbery (1981)|robbery of a Brinks armored car]] at the Nanuet Mall, near [[Nyack]], New York. Upon her arrest, Boudin was identified as a member of the May 19 Communist Organization. From 1982 to 1985, a series of bombings were ascribed to the group.

By May 23, 1985, all members of the group had been arrested, with the exception of [[Elizabeth Ann Duke|Elizabeth Duke]], who remains a fugitive. At a 1986 trial, six group members were tried and convicted of multiple counts of domestic terrorism.

===Red Army Faction (RAF)===

[[Red Army Faction|The Red Army Faction]], was one of postwar West Germany's most active and prominent militant communist terror groups.<ref name="Encyclopedia of terrorism">Kushner, Harvey W., [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZOfkAoDb_2IC&pg=PA148&dq#v=onepage&q=&f=false Encyclopedia of terrorism], p. 148, Sage 2003</ref> The group was a successor to the [[Baader Meinhoff Gang]].<ref name="Encyclopedia of terrorism"/> It was formally founded in 1970 by [[Andreas Baader]], [[Gudrun Ensslin]], [[Horst Mahler]], [[Ulrike Meinhof]], [[Irmgard Möller]] and others.

The Red Army Faction operated from the 1970s to 1998, committing numerous crimes, especially in the autumn of 1977, which led to a national crisis that became known as "German Autumn". It was responsible for 34 deaths, including many secondary targets such as chauffeurs and bodyguards, and many injuries in its almost 30 years of existence.

===Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP)===

[[People's Revolutionary Army (Argentina)|The People's Revolutionary Army (Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo)]], was the military branch of the communist PRT (Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores, or Workers' Revolutionary Party) in Argentina. The avowed aim of the ERP was a communist armed revolution against the Argentine government in pursuit of "proletarian rule" and socialist revolution and then spread to all Latin America.

===Official Irish Republican Army===
The [[Official Irish Republican Army]] was an [[Irish republicanism|Irish republican]] [[paramilitary]] group who wished to unify [[Ireland]] <ref name="Ben Malisow">{{cite book|last1=Malisow|first1=Ben |last2=French|first2=John L. |title=Terrorism|edition=Library Binding|date=15 December 2008|publisher=Chelsea House Publishers|isbn=978-0791094129|page=24|chapter=1}}</ref> The movement in Ireland was predominated by nationalism rather than communism, although the IRA, like ETA in Spain, accepted Soviet support.<ref name="books.google.com"/>

===Red Brigades===
The [[Red Brigades]] were founded in August 1970 mostly by former members of the Communist Youth movement expelled from the parent party for extremist views.<ref>A Jamieson. Identity and morality in the Italian Red Brigades. ''Terrorism and Political Violence'', 1990, p. 508-15</ref> It was the largest terrorist group in [[Italy]] whose aim was to overthrow the government and replace it with a communist system.<ref name="Paul Wilkinson">{{cite book|last=Wilkinson|first=Paul |title=Terrorism versus democracy: the liberal state response|edition=2nd|date=29 June 2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415384780|page=222}}</ref>

===First of October Anti-Fascist resistance Groups (GRAPO)===
The [[GRAPO|First of October Anti-Fascist resistance Groups]] were a [[Maoist]] terrorist group in [[Spain]] <ref name="Yonah Alexander">{{cite book|last1=Alexander|first1=Yonah |last2=Pluchinsky|first2=Dennis A. |title=Europe's red terrorists: the fighting communist organizations|edition=1st|date=1 October 1992|publisher=Routledge; 1 edition ()|isbn=978-0714634883|page=IX}}</ref>

== Western perspectives on terrorism committed by groups claiming adherence to Communist ideology ==
Terrorism in the form of 'communist fighting organizations' which operated in western Europe was seen as a threat by NATO and also by the Italian, German and British governments.<ref name="Ciro Paoletti">{{cite book|last=Paoletti|first=Ciro |title=A military history of Italy |date=30 December 2007|publisher=Praeger Publishers|isbn=978-0275985059}}</ref> In recent years, there has been a marked decrease in such terrorism, which has been substantially credited to the end of the Cold War and the fall of the U.S.S.R.<ref>Wills, David C., [http://books.google.com/books?id=Q1S2cdu1escC&dq The first war on terrorism: counter-terrorism policy during the Reagan administration], p. 219, Rowman & Littlefield, 2003</ref> However, at its apogee, communism was argued by some to be the major source of international terrorism (whether inspired by the ideology or supported by its states).<ref name="books.google.com">Crozier, Brian, [http://books.google.com/books?id=qZIOs84I7dEC&pg Political victory: the elusive prize of military wars], p. 203, Transaction Publishers, 2005</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of designated terrorist organizations]]

== Further reading ==
* Deletant, Dennis (1999) ''Communist Terror in Romania'', C. Hurst & Co, ISBN 1850653860
* Adelman, Jonathan (1984) ''Terror and Communist Politics: The Role of the Secret Police in Communist States'', Westview Press, ISBN 0865312931
* Evgeni Genchev (2003) ''Tales from the Dark: Testimonies about the Communist Terror'', ACET 2003, ISBN 9549320014

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=35em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Communist Terrorism}}
[[Category:Terrorism by form]]

[[bg:Ляв тероризъм]]
[[ka:კომუნისტური ტერორიზმი]]
[[pt:Terrorismo de esquerda]]
[[ru:Левый терроризм]]

Revision as of 00:55, 17 November 2010

Communist terrorism or communist terrorist can refer to:

In propaganda
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