When is a terrorist not a terrorist?

On Friday, August 5, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that he intended to carry out a series of new anti terror
measures, which included:

‘…deporting foreign nationals who justify the use of "violence to further a person's beliefs"; authorizing the
denaturalization of British citizens who engage in "extremism"; and legislating a new "offense of condoning
or glorifying terrorism." 

Now, terrorism isn’t a new phenomenon in Britain. In fact, in 1974, the British government defined Terrorism as:

"…the use of violence for political ends, and includes any use of violence for the purpose of putting the public,
or any section of the public, in fear." 

By this definition, there are many acts of terror that have been perpetuated on British citizens, by British citizens. Looking
at cases that are less obvious to people outside of the UK, members of the racist British National Party have terrorized
British citizens of colour for years. In April 1999, David Copeland subjected London to nail bomb attacks that
killed three people and injured over 100. Copeland, who described himself as a Nazi, said that he wanted to cause “murder,
mayhem, chaos and damage” and “set off a racial war”. Let’s not forget that he didn’t just want to target communities
of colour. The three people he killed were frequenting a gay bar in Leicester Square.

His actions scared the city of London (and other cities across the country into a near state of paralysis. People didn’t want
to do anything or go anywhere. No one knew who would be next or what was happening. Everyone just knew that anything
could happen at any time. And when the third and final bomb exploded in Leicester Square (I remember, I was nearby in
Tottenham Court Road when it happened), everyone went into shock. We all knew it was coming, but when it hit, we didn’t
know what to do. Copeland’s motivation was clearly political – and he most certainly  ‘put sections of the public in fear’.

He was given six life sentences (25 years) in jail.

More recently, two men have been arrested for the violent murder of Anthony Walker the 18 year-old man who was bludgeoned
to death with an axe in July. He was a British born Black man. The police have established that his murder was motivated by
extreme hatred fueled by racism. His murder has scared communities of colour and their supporters across the country.
Meanwhile, following the London Bombings, the Guardian reported that 'racially motivated attacks in London nearly doubled
to 60 a day immediately after the July 7 and July 21 attacks. And the Socialist Worker reported that while anti fascist groups
held two public vigils in Liverpool for Mr. Walker's family, the BNP was organizing a meeting in the same area to promote it’s agenda.  

Of course we all understand that 9/11 has increased our sense of fear. We all want to be safe from political violence, but terror
isn’t something that is exclusive to Muslims. So how will this new anti terror legislation help protect all British people? Will
these new laws apply to Mr. Walker’s killers or others who want to eliminate people whose existence they don’t approve of?
Will these measures apply to all terrorists – including those of Anglo Saxon heritage? How will these measures protect those
British born individuals who are scared of being attacked by political terrorists, yet are increasingly under suspicion of being 
terrorists?