A terrorist was an individual who engaged in terrorism, use of violent acts as a means of intimidation or coercion, usually to achieve a political end. Terrorist groups included the Mandalorian Death Watch. Groups sometimes considered terrorist organizations included the Onderon rebels, the Free Ryloth Movement, the Partisans, the Rebel Alliance, and the Galactic Empire.
During the Onderonian Civil War, which occurred during the Clone Wars, the Separatist-backed government of Onderon accused the Onderon rebels being terrorists. Saw Gerrera, one of the leading members of the rebellion, insisted that he was a patriot and that resisting oppression was not terrorism.
Saw Gerrera was accused of being a terrorist in his many years as a resistance fighter.
Over time, as he led a rebel cell against the Galactic Empire, Saw's tactics grew more extreme. At one point, Idryssa Barruck suggested that attacking Imperial parades with Senators present would be seen as embracing terrorism, to which Saw replied that he thought they should do so. Years later, Gerrera's tactics were still referred to as terrorism by some.
While the pair were cadets and later lieutenants of the Imperial Navy, Ciena Ree and Thane Kyrell considered the Rebel Alliance to be a terrorist organization, as it was presented in official Imperial propaganda. Thane later deserted his post after the destruction of Alderaan and witnessing the Empire enslaving the entire population of planets for defiance as mild as tax and trade disputes. Months thereafter, Kyrell joined the Rebel Alliance after Wedge Antilles convinced him the Alliance cared about people and planets. Some time after the battle of Hoth, Kyrell visited his homeworld of Jelucan to defend the honor of Ciena's mother Verine, and by extension the Ree family. Ciena confronted Thane about his allegiance to the Rebellion, asking how he could join those "terrorists." Kyrell replied that if anyone was a terrorist, it was Emperor Palpatine, as he openly ruled through fear and threat of planetary destruction.
Many personnel of the Galactic Empire considered all members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic terrorists. In the waning days of the Galactic Civil War, many Imperials considered the nascent New Republic to consist of and/or support terrorists.
Many groups considered to be terrorist organizations utilized guerrilla warfare tactics, in which small units took on much larger forces with sabotage, ambushes, and other means of causing large amounts of damage. Groups who used guerrilla tactics and were considered terrorists included the Clone Wars-era Onderon Rebels, the Partisans, and the Rebel Alliance.
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