--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are two kinds of terrorism…" description: "\"There are two kinds of terrorism. Rational terrorism such as Palestinian terrorism and apocalyptic terrorism like Sept. 11. You have to distinguish bet..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/806/alan-dershowitz-2194_apocalyptic_there-are-two-kinds-of-terrorism-rationa_786726.png" --- # There are two kinds of terrorism. Rational terrorism such… ![“There are two kinds of terrorism. Rational terrorism such as Palestinian terrorism and apocalyptic terrorism like Sept. 11. You have to distinguish between the two.” quote by Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/806/alan-dershowitz-2194_apocalyptic_there-are-two-kinds-of-terrorism-rationa_786726.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/806/alan-dershowitz-2194_apocalyptic_there-are-two-kinds-of-terrorism-rationa_786726.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/806/alan-dershowitz-2194_apocalyptic_there-are-two-kinds-of-terrorism-rationa_786726.png) > “There are two kinds of terrorism. Rational terrorism such as Palestinian terrorism and apocalyptic terrorism like Sept. 11. You have to distinguish between the two.” [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Distinguishes terrorism by motive and scale, urging nuanced analysis rather than blanket condemnation **In simple terms:** Two types of terrorism differ in purpose and impact Key Takeaway Recognize differences in threats Themes terrorism politics ethics Mood analytical critical Type essay opinion When to use this quote - policy making - security studies - media reporting - public debate Key Concepts rationalism apocalyptic fear Questions to Reflect On - How should societies respond to each type? - Can labeling affect prevention strategies? A Different Perspective Over‑categorizing can oversimplify complex motives ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Palestinian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palestinian/) [Terrorism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrorism/) ## Related quotes > [We believe America is practicing all kinds of terrorism against Libya. Even the accusation that we are involved in terrorism is in itself an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muammar-al-gaddafi/we-believe-america-is-practicing-all-kinds-of-terrorism-against-libya/) [Muammar al-Gaddafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muammar-al-gaddafi/) > [Initially, terrorism was a certain mixture of politics, economics, and religion. Now, it seems that terrorism is more individual and done to avenge personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/initially-terrorism-was-a-certain-mixture-of-politics-economics-and/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Sept. 11, 2001, still feels like a blur to me. I wish it were simply a bad, re-occurring dream, but unfortunately it isn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-ross/sept-11-2001-still-feels-like-a-blur-to-me-i-wish-it-were-simply-a/) [Jim Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-ross/) > [ABC has a general policy that you can't show images of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenya-barris/abc-has-a-general-policy-that-you-can-t-show-images-of-the-world/) [Kenya Barris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenya-barris/) > [Obviously it is right that the Afghans take responsibility for their own future in the end, but they need to know and feel that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/obviously-it-is-right-that-the-afghans-take-responsibility-for-their/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [I predict that in the years ahead Enron, not Sept. 11, will come to be seen as the greater turning point in U.S. society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-krugman/i-predict-that-in-the-years-ahead-enron-not-sept-11-will-come-to-be/) [Paul Krugman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-krugman/) > [Mohammed al-Qahtani was not alleged to be a leader of the Sept. 11 plot. He was not trained as a pilot. If he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/mohammed-al-qahtani-was-not-alleged-to-be-a-leader-of-the-sept-11/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [Just like Sept. 11, only with nuclear weapons this time, that's the threat. I think that is the threat. I think it's just facing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bolton/just-like-sept-11-only-with-nuclear-weapons-this-time-that-s-the/) [John Bolton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bolton/) > [We have the tools to be a stronger nation than we were before Sept. 11, 2001. We have learned valuable lessons about the danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mj-hegar/we-have-the-tools-to-be-a-stronger-nation-than-we-were-before-sept-11/) [MJ Hegar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mj-hegar/) > [Less than a year after the Sept. 11 attacks, al-Qaida attacks were continuing: the firebombing of a synagogue in Tunisia in April, a bomb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-dedman/less-than-a-year-after-the-sept-11-attacks-al-qaida-attacks-were/) [Bill Dedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-dedman/) > [The police officers and firefighters who ran headlong into harm's way on Sept. 11 and lost their lives didn't die because they were in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-mast/the-police-officers-and-firefighters-who-ran-headlong-into-harm-s-way/) [Brian Mast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-mast/) > [Obama administration officials who were in key positions on Sept. 11, 2012, acknowledge that a range of mistakes were made the night of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharyl-attkisson/obama-administration-officials-who-were-in-key-positions-on-sept-11/) [Sharyl Attkisson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharyl-attkisson/) > [The real test of an anchor is when there's a very big event. Sept. 11 is the quintessential example of that, and that day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-real-test-of-an-anchor-is-when-there-s-a-very-big-event-sept-11/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) > [ I think everybody is covering their \[posteriors\] with the Enron scandal and it was very convenient that Sept. 11 came along to deflect the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bernhard/i-think-everybody-is-covering-their-posteriors-with-the-enron-scandal/) [Sandra Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bernhard/) > [The terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, changed the way we think about security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-burr/the-terror-attacks-of-sept-11-2001-changed-the-way-we-think-about/) [Richard Burr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-burr/) ## More by Alan Dershowitz > [I am a peace supporting Jew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/i-am-a-peace-supporting-jew/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [A criminal trial is never about seeking justice for the victim. If it were, there could be only one verdict: guilty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/a-criminal-trial-is-never-about-seeking-justice-for-the-victim-if-it/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [If torture is going to be administered as a last resort in the ticking-bomb case, to save enormous numbers of lives, it ought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/if-torture-is-going-to-be-administered-as-a-last-resort-in-the/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [The Second Amendment has no place in modern society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/the-second-amendment-has-no-place-in-modern-society/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [Our First Amendment expresses a far different calculus for regulating speech than for regulating nonexpressive conduct and that is as it should be. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/our-first-amendment-expresses-a-far-different-calculus-for-regulating/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [I think that lawyers are terrible at admitting that they're wrong. And not just admitting it; also realizing it. Most lawyers are very successful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/i-think-that-lawyers-are-terrible-at-admitting-that-they-re-wrong-and/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [Asymmetrical warfare is a euphemism for terrorism, just like collateral damage is a euphemism for killing innocent civilians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/asymmetrical-warfare-is-a-euphemism-for-terrorism-just-like/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [I never had an existential moment when I asked myself what I was going to do. I always wanted to be a lawyer, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/i-never-had-an-existential-moment-when-i-asked-myself-what-i-was/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [The Internet knows no national borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/the-internet-knows-no-national-borders/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [It's a new phenomenon in America that states can now sue the national government and become a kind of check and balance on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/it-s-a-new-phenomenon-in-america-that-states-can-now-sue-the-national/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [When it comes to partisan politics, everyone is a hypocrite. And all they care about is whether it hurts or helps them ... Is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/when-it-comes-to-partisan-politics-everyone-is-a-hypocrite-and-all/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [Everybody says they're opposed to torture. But everyone would do it personally if they knew it could save the life of a kidnapped child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/everybody-says-they-re-opposed-to-torture-but-everyone-would-do-it/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [I think mistakes are the essence of science and law. It's impossible to conceive of either scientific progress or legal progress without understanding the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/i-think-mistakes-are-the-essence-of-science-and-law-it-s-impossible/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [I never place limits on the potential success of my students. If they're going into acting, they're going to win the Oscar... If they're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/i-never-place-limits-on-the-potential-success-of-my-students-if-they/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) [Explore all 177 Alan Dershowitz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) ## More Apocalyptic quotes > [Texting is apocalyptic on some level. It's a reduction of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cave/texting-is-apocalyptic-on-some-level-it-s-a-reduction-of-things/) [Nick Cave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cave/) > [What until recently seemed to be only the apocalyptic fantasies of the Christian faith has today entered the sphere of the soberest scientific calculations;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-brunner/what-until-recently-seemed-to-be-only-the-apocalyptic-fantasies-of/) [Emil Brunner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-brunner/) > [America has always had an apocalyptic strain. Yet it also seems to believe that if, or when, The End comes, it will still come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duhigg/america-has-always-had-an-apocalyptic-strain-yet-it-also-seems-to/) [Charles Duhigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duhigg/) > [When forced to survive in an apocalyptic world, there are some characters that embrace their higher selves with some emerging as natural born leaders,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/when-forced-to-survive-in-an-apocalyptic-world-there-are-some/) [Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/) > [I oppose preserving civilization because I have a better chance of getting laid in a post-apocalyptic world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-oppose-preserving-civilization-because-i-have-a-better-chance-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Strange, how in all those apocalyptic movies, when their society breaks down into lawlessness and anarchy, Canada is always the haven of safety, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenifer-mohammed/strange-how-in-all-those-apocalyptic-movies-when-their-society-breaks/) [Jenifer Mohammed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenifer-mohammed/) > [ I am glad it's \[California novel\] resonated with people because, for me, most apocalyptic novels aren't scary, because they feel so very far off. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edan-lepucki/i-am-glad-it-s-california-novel-resonated-with-people-because-for-me/) [Edan Lepucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edan-lepucki/) > [I'm not a peak oil person. I'm not a biohazard apocalyptic kind of freak. I don't have a supply of weapons or gold bars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-hecker/i-m-not-a-peak-oil-person-i-m-not-a-biohazard-apocalyptic-kind-of/) [Tim Hecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-hecker/) > [It is fashionable to wax apocalyptic about the threat to humanity posed by the AIDS virus, "mad cow" disease, and many others, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-is-fashionable-to-wax-apocalyptic-about-the-threat-to-humanity/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Todayart is moving in a direction of which our fathers would never even have dreamed.We stand before the new pictures as in a dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-marc/todayart-is-moving-in-a-direction-of-which-our-fathers-would-never/) [Franz Marc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-marc/) > [In the event of a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic dystopia, people with supplies of food and water could become warlords or chieftains in the social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nish-kumar/in-the-event-of-a-mad-max-style-post-apocalyptic-dystopia-people-with/) [Nish Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nish-kumar/) > [Post-apocalyptic novels tell you that in the future there is some great war. I would tell you that most cops say that it's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-gardner/post-apocalyptic-novels-tell-you-that-in-the-future-there-is-some/) [Lisa Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-gardner/) > [Today's mom watches her every child-rearing step lest she commit some egregious and apocalyptic parenting faux pas that will certainly doom her child to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rosemond/today-s-mom-watches-her-every-child-rearing-step-lest-she-commit-some/) [John Rosemond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rosemond/) > [People are hungry in these communities. They don't know how they are going to get food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keiji-fukuda/people-are-hungry-in-these-communities-they-don-t-know-how-they-are/) Keiji Fukuda > [“In my view, the gospels are true, not historically, but theologically, or, as I would argue, prophetically! What we have is, the Messiah’s history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-of-kittim/in-my-view-the-gospels-are-true-not-historically-but-theologically-or/) [Eli Of Kittim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-of-kittim/) Browse all 225 Apocalyptic quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are two kinds of terrorism. Rational terrorism such as Palestinian terrorism and apocalyptic terrorism like Sept. 11. 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