Why Are Some Forms of Terrorist Violence Not Labelled as Terrorism?

Commentary If you regularly scan the headlines of major news sources of late you will have noted a curious tendency. When it comes to terrorism, the only stories which seem to get any traction are those which lament the “rise” in what is widely termed “far-right extremism.” This umbrella description covers everything from neo-Nazis to white supremacists to anti-vaxxers to, believe it or not, violent “incels” (involuntary celibates who apparently target women out of frustration over their lack of sexual gratification). We are led to accept that this form of terrorism is ubiquitous, on the increase, and poses some kind of “existential threat” to Western societies. Even our public safety ministry here in Canada is keen to trumpet this menace, although they have elected to label it “ideologically-motivated violent extremism” or IMVE (as if not all terrorism is, at its core, “ideological”)....