Terrorism is simply a tactic of warfare intended to spread a level of fear that is greater than the act which caused the fear rationally merits. The point is to amplify the practical impact of an attack by causing a widespread sense of fear and insecurity.
There is no reason to reject the use of the terms “terrorism” or “terrorist” any more than there is reason to reject the use of terms like “guerrilla” or “saboteur”; they simply refer to tactics and to those who carry them out on any side of a conflict.
Having said that, terrorism is not a tactic which I think is strategically useful in the struggle against the Empire of Capital; on the contrary, it very often serves the interests of power to spread fear among the population.
The old Al-Qaida argument that the people of the West will have no right to feel secure in their lands as long as Muslims do not feel secure in our lands misses the real point. The fear and insecurity populations in the West feel does not embolden them to challenge their governments to change their aggressive policies; rather it makes them even more docile and compliant, and emboldens their governments to enact greater restrictions against popular protest.
We need to understand that the general public everywhere is marginalized and disenfranchised, and that they are being subjected to the same program of oppression and enslavement that is being inflicted on us, albeit at a different pace and with varying degrees of intensity.