So were the IRA under modern standards. So was the French Resistance. So are the Ukrainian stay behind units. So were the American minutemen.
The idea of terrorism being any one that harms civilians for political or religious gain is breathtakingly broad. For example the Taliban had far more in common with the French Resistance than they did with Al Qaeda.
When I said we’ve had 20 years of labeling people “Terrorists”, there’s a reason that’s in quote marks. It’s basically turned into anyone we don’t approve of is a terrorist and anyone we do approve of is targeting key government infrastructure in a wartime environment. Which is a really neat way to ignore all of the actual issues and push a conflict into genocide because you’ve made peace impossible any other way.
Over and over again you find these terrorist groups that are confined to one region or country are actually political entities operating on the same resistance model as the old IRA. Right down to the messaging about generational conflict.
And yes I realize this is incredibly intersectional and isn’t something most people are going to realize without a college level political education in conflict or two more large social movements. (One to lay the groundwork, and another to apply it to the region.)