Definition of a Freedom Fighter

[HorseArcher]

Of course, the basic definition of a freedom fighter is- someone who fights for the freedom of a nation or an ethnic group against an oppressive government or political body/ dictator/ foreign occupant.



My grandfather was a Freedom Fighter. I'm serious right now.

I have documents about it (it's in hungarian), and he is well known in the region I have grown up in Hungary and - I kid you not- CIA knows about him too, or at least they have documents to prove, just like they have documents of many other people for various reasons. They do have documents about it and they mentioned it to me when I was at the immigration office about 10 years ago.

He fought against communism in 1956 in Budapest, Hungary and he was killed in a jail (the killer is unkown, how, but I got have a good idea how and who was (were)).

He was not a violent man, he has never killed anyone, he basically fought armed military men by words, by demonstrations, by waiving a flag and providing support for those who took arms to beat back the soviet military machine.

He didn't strap dynamite onto my father (who was 12yrs old at the time) or my godfather and neither blew himself up and never ever had such an idea ever to pop into his mind, it would be something he would be completely against to sacrifice the family he was fighting for. It would have been completely absurd and would have made no sense whatsoever to kill those, who were the closest to him, for those he was fighting for in the first place.



If someone tells me to close my eyes and have an image of a freedom fighter then -
I see a man or a woman who dares to stand against an oppressive force and cares about its nation and his own loved ones and not afraid to grab a weapon to defend them, even if it would cost his life.

I tried to imagine other ways, but I cannot imagine a freedom fighter, who would run himself into a bunch of civilians or send his own children or friend into his death with bomb strapped on his waist to blow up a bunch of civilians.

I neither could imagine someone who calls himself "freedom fighter" , who would shoot rockets and set off bombs randomly and carelessly , regardless of who might get killed or injured.

That's not a freedom fighter, that's a murderer, bordering insanity, or just simply insane.

[Heinz Guderian]

Of course, the basic definition of a freedom fighter is- someone who fights for the freedom of a nation or an ethnic group against an oppressive government or political body/ dictator/ foreign occupant.



My grandfather was a Freedom Fighter. I'm serious right now.

I have documents about it (it's in hungarian), and he is well known in the region I have grown up in Hungary and - I kid you not- CIA knows about him too, or at least they have documents to prove, just like they have documents of many other people for various reasons. They do have documents about it and they mentioned it to me when I was at the immigration office about 10 years ago.

He fought against communism in 1956 in Budapest, Hungary and he was killed in a jail (the killer is unkown, how, but I got have a good idea how and who was (were)).

He was not a violent man, he has never killed anyone, he basically fought armed military men by words, by demonstrations, by waiving a flag and providing support for those who took arms to beat back the soviet military machine.

He didn't strap dynamite onto my father (who was 12yrs old at the time) or my godfather and neither blew himself up and never ever had such an idea ever to pop into his mind, it would be something he would be completely against to sacrifice the family he was fighting for. It would have been completely absurd and would have made no sense whatsoever to kill those, who were the closest to him, for those he was fighting for in the first place.



If someone tells me to close my eyes and have an image of a freedom fighter then -
I see a man or a woman who dares to stand against an oppressive force and cares about its nation and his own loved ones and not afraid to grab a weapon to defend them, even if it would cost his life.

I tried to imagine other ways, but I cannot imagine a freedom fighter, who would run himself into a bunch of civilians or send his own children or friend into his death with bomb strapped on his waist to blow up a bunch of civilians.

I neither could imagine someone who calls himself "freedom fighter" , who would shoot rockets and set off bombs randomly and carelessly , regardless of who might get killed or injured.

That's not a freedom fighter, that's a murderer, bordering insanity, or just simply insane.

When you close your eyes, do you see a white guy?

[Medicus]

When you close your eyes, do you see a white guy?

Templar, it isn't a racist post. The point he's trying to get across is that a true freedom fighter isn't a terrorist. It's just that most terrorists happen to be Muslim or Arab.

[Heinz Guderian]

Templar, it isn't a racist post. The point he's trying to get across is that a true freedom fighter isn't a terrorist. It's just that most terrorists happen to be Muslim or Arab.

no worries Doc, but most terrorists are defined by those that name them (as Habermass argues in discourse ethics). The mujahideen for instance in the 80s. They spring to mind when one talks about freedom fighters. They attacked soviet forces as well as collaborators. They used to fire barrages of unguided rockets on soviet controlled Kabul and attacked villages who supported the puppet communist government....taliban?

Edit: your forgetting the Real IRA (who exploded a bomb when in manchester when i was on a school trip there), FARC, ETA, KLA, TT, Nepal Maoists, Zaire/UNITA,and the Sandanistas.

[Ummon]

When you close your eyes, do you see a white guy?

That is somehow irrelevant. It might be because he mostly sees white guys and girls...

Please, no more Derridaisms of this kind.

[Heinz Guderian]

That is somehow irrelevant. It might be because he mostly sees white guys and girls...

Please, no more Derridaisms of this kind.

I love Derrida. I know deep down you love him too. When i close my eyes, i see dead east coast/west coast rappers (- RIP Tupac..RIP bro).

[mocker]

What are we supposed to discuss?

[Big War Bird]

Davy when I read your post I instantly though of the old joke opt repeated in cartoons that people on the other side of the world are upside down. It is all a matter of prespective.

[Каие]

Your grandfather sounds like Gandhi, but i can relate to it my Grandfather was also a freedom fighter and he didn't kill anyone either.

However i disagree anyone can be a freedom fighter as long as they are fighting for freedom, there are no rules in war, killing and death they are wrong by definition so the method of killing or war is irrelevant in my eyes.

[removeduser_426582376423734]

Davy Jones, your grandfather was an active pacifist freedom fighter. There are other versions.

[Icefrisco]

Freedom fighters are very hard to generalize. To some Ukrainians in WW2 the Nazis were freedom fighters but to some Czechs in the Prague Spring were freedom fighters. The definition of a freedom fighter varies by a person's prespective. However, in my opinion people who kill non-combatants completely on purpose are not freedom fighters.

[T-wester]

it depend on the eyes of the beholder, one will see freedom fighters attacking occupiers, and an other will see terrorists attacking liberators

[LSJ]

I consider a freedom fighter anyone who fights for rights and freedoms. Fighting against a fascist government for freedom of expression, fighting a communist government for the right to start your own business, fighting for religious freedom in your town, etcetera.

You can be a freedom fighter by using violence, as long as your violence is all for the purpose of those freedoms/rights. If you kill civilians, you are doing nothing that aids your goal. Killing the opposing military, yes, if they are actively involved in the oppression. Targeting the government qualifies, as long as the part of the government you are attacking is relevant to the oppression: bombing the corrupt president qualifies, bombing the minister of transportation does not.

[roy34543]

A freedom figter is generally speaking either
A- A person who fought against a very very opressive regime. One thats absoloutly terrible that everyone hates it
B - A person who fought agaisnt any regime through geurilla tactics and won if they lose theyre called terrorists or rebels

[Hookah Smoking Caterpiller]

Freedom fighters are guerrillas who are pro-american

[Cyphon88]

A freedom fighter is someone who fights and oppressive regime in many way, and yet does not fight/hurt/kill the civilians under that same regime. That is where the boundary between freedom fighter and terrorist.

Admittedly that could be considered a fairly black or white definition, but i think this issue probably needs black and white, rather than shades of grey.

[Sebdeas]

Like many have said, it's your point of view that makes someone a terrorist or a freedom fighter. The organisation Mandela was with during the Apartheid could be considered a terrorist organisation. Their goals were right, but some of the methods weren't exactly right. Pacifist protesting is always the best thou, no matter what the goal is.

[Heinz Guderian]

Pacifist protesting is always the best thou, no matter what the goal is.

right on broseph.

[Ummon]

When I close my eyes I see fractals and strange attractors. Seeing one colour or the other, would make you equally biased, anyway. And bias in your own example, doesn't work as a sanctifying or damning tool. Merely to make reasoning incorrect.

Derrida I might suffer, but rappers, not. Not because of the colour, but because of the sound.

[Thanatos]

When they start blowing themselves up and killing children, they ain't.