{
  "id": 8426471,
  "title": "What Is Terrorism? Hasan Piker's Controversial Al-Qaeda Remarks Dissected",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/19/what-is-terrorism-hasan-pikers-controversial-al-qaeda-remarks",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-19T09:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Newsweek",
    "slug": "newsweek",
    "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/what-is-terrorism-hasan-pikers-controversial-al-qaeda-remarks-dissected-12462410"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Terrorism, a complex and contested concept, has become deeply entwined with U.S. politics and foreign policy since the September 11 attacks. This has led to heated debates, as exemplified by the recent controversy surrounding left-wing streamer Hasan Piker.\n\nPiker sparked outrage after telling Axios that the United States has caused more deaths than al-Qaeda \"pound for pound\" in terms of terror. He specifically cited a February 2026 airstrike on a girls' school in Iran that killed over 140 students. Piker emphasized that such actions constitute terrorism, but made clear he did not mean to label all Americans as terrorists.\n\nThe remark immediately drew backlash from both Republicans and Democrats. The Republican Party demanded every Democrat disavow Piker, while some Democrats accused him of deliberately comparing the U.S. to al-Qaeda. Republicans like Mike Rogers, a Michigan Senate candidate, even tried to tie Piker's comments to a Democratic candidate, Abdul El-Sayed.\n\nPiker, however, stood by his statement and criticized Axios for taking his answer out of context. He argued that the term \"terrorism\" has been around long before 9/11, but gained significant political weight following the attacks. He pointed out that international law provides a consensus definition of terrorism, while the legal definition is less definitive.\n\nExperts in terrorism and the laws of war further clarified the definition of terrorism. Geoffrey Corn, a law professor, noted that there is no universally accepted definition, often determined by the condemning government. Bruce Hoffman defines terrorism as the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or threats by non-state actors to influence governments or spread terror. Mary Ellen O'Connell, however, argues that international law defines terrorism, not a single country's domestic statute.\n\nThe Costs of War Project found that over 940,000 people were killed by direct violence in post-9/11 wars, with the U.S. being directly responsible for about 12% of Iraqi civilian deaths between 2003 and 2008. Indirect deaths due to disease, displacement, and the collapse of health systems further increase this number. Al-Qaeda's confirmed toll is significantly smaller, with the 9/11 attacks directly killing 2,977 people and other major operations adding a few hundred more.\n\nThese debates highlight the complexity of defining terrorism and its profound impact on U.S. foreign policy and domestic discourse.",
  "summary": "Piker set off a political firestorm after saying the United States has killed more people than al-Qaeda \"pound for pound.\"",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}