What are the origins of the middle east terrorist groups?

Answer 1

There are a number of different reasons for this.

Insufficiency of Arab Militaries: Following the sound trouncing that the Israeli army gave to the Arabs in 1948-1949, 1956, and 1967, many Arabs felt that their national armies were not effective means of promoting Arab-interested policies. As a result, these disaffected Arabs wanted to take matters in their own hands..

Lack of Sovereign Control: Many Middle Eastern governments cannot effectively control all areas within their borders. Sometimes it has to do with tribalism, sometimes it has to do with people's loyalty, and other times the police just cannot penetrate. Additionally, in places that the government controls, services are sparse and many people are hungry, uneducated, overworked, unemployed, and lack basic medical care. Many paramilitary and terrorist organizations have stepped into the void to create micro-states that take care of both security and as purveyors of services.

Inability to Accomodate Minorities: Almost all Middle Eastern governments specifically center on one ethnic group and its needs and desires while purposely excluding or minimizing all others. As a result, many minorities, from Saudi Shiites to Turkish Kurds to Lebanese Palestinians do not feel that they have any way to make their voices heard without violence.

Islamism: Many of the Middle Eastern governments are secular and resist any changes in that regard. As a result, many Islamists have taken to violence as a method of bringing Islamic Law into active governance structure.

Palestinian Issues: The Palestinians find themselves between a rock (Israel) and a hard place (unhelpful and intransigent Arab regimes) and have no national army to advocate for their interests. This has resulted in several Palestinian military, paramilitary, and terrorist organizations.

Terminology: Africa has many more violent organizations which are classified as "rebel armies" or "paramilitaries" as does Southeast Asia, as opposed to "terrorist organizations", but the difference between such organizations is nebulous. The only real difference is that, ostensibly, a rebel army wears consistent uniforms and fights in general formation while a terrorist group just attacks civilians. However, this distinction looks better on paper then in reality. Hezbollah, a terrorist organization, has a political wing, uniformed soldiers, military regiments, provides social benefits, and is well-recognized in the community. The Janjaweed, a rebel army, has no distinguishing uniform, periodically rape civilian women and burn down villages, and is known for mowing down groups of civilians.

Answer 2

Middle Eastern terrorism has its origin in British colonialism. This caused them to resent outside influences.