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Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
In May of 1964, delegates from Palestine rejected any idea to resettle Palestinian refugees in host Arab nations. Instead, they called for an independent country for the Palestinians alone. This sparked the Palestine Liberation Organization. As a terrorist group, they have blown up planes as punishment for supporting Israel, murder, and many other acts. The PLO was expelled from Lebanon in 1982, and since then has made an agreement for peace. -
Irish Republican Army (IRA)
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) sought independence from Great Britain in 1969. The IRA has used violence to attempt to separate Ireland from Britain. It has support from American sympathizers, Lybia, and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The IRA has committed multiple terrorist attacks against the British army and police, and ended with the Good Friday Agreement, which committed the IRA to disarm. -
The Weathermen
After the killing of Fred Hampton from the Black Panthers in 1969, the former peaceful group turned into a terrorist group. It originated from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee which turned militant. In March of 1970, a bomb that was supposed to have been set off at a dance at a nearby military base was accidentally detonated, killing 2 weathermen members and forcing the group to go into hiding. -
1972 Munich Olympics
Before the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972, 8 Palestinian terrorists killed 2 members of the Israeli team and took 9 others hostage. It was ended in a gun battle that left 5 terrorists and all 9 hostages dead. The purpose was to get Israel and Germany to release prisoners from their jails. This didn't happen, and on their way to the airport to move, the deadly standoff occurred. -
Kurdistan Workers Party
A group formed in Turkey and supported by Syria, Iraq, and Iran, the PKK is committed to forming an independent home for the Kurds. They originally wanted to achieve this through the Marxism movement, but then abandoned this to seek the independent state. The PKK frequently sets off bombs in Turkey and is now kidnapping foreign terrorists and attacking Turkish interests. -
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
When Britain granted Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, independence in 1948, the dominant Sinhalese began making laws discriminating against the Indian Tamil. A civil war broke out between the two, which prompted the Tamil Tiger insurgents to kill army soldiers and begin violent protests against their neighbors. The LTTE was not formally established until 1976. Their goal was to create and independent state for Tamils, leading to the civil war. -
Hamas
Hamas is an Islamist political party with its own military wing. It is classified as a terrorist group by the US, European Union, and Israel. Since 2000, Hamas has inflicted over 400 attacks on Israeli civilians. Their goal is to eliminate Israel and liberate Palestinians. -
Al Qaeda
In August of 1998, while Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden finds that the idea of a global jihad is possible. Bin Laden's first strike was a bombing in a hotel in Yemen. This led to an even faster organization of a worldwide jihab. Bin Laden was killed on May 1, 2011, but Al Qaeda lives on throughout its complex network.
