Read Terror Attacks : From the Zealots to Bin Laden (True Crime) for Free Online Page A

those who did surrender were crucified outside the walls of the city so that anyone who was thinking of turning against the Zealots could watch their fellow men die in agony. Eventually famine took its toll on Jerusalem, and it is estimated that more than 600,000 bodies were thrown out of the city.
    At the end of the revolt the Jews’ holy city and Temple were completely destroyed. A few of the remaining Zealots took refuge at Herod’s fortress of Masada, hoping to outlast the Romans. Titus’s legion built a fortified wall 20m (6ft) high and more than 3km (2 miles) in length around the fortress. However, the Zealots felt safe in their stronghold and Herod had left extensive storehouses filled with food and water, so they were able to stay there for a long period of time. Over the next seven months, the Romans built a siege ramp against the western side of the mountain. When the ramp was complete a battering ram was hoisted to the top, and the Roman soldiers rammed a hole into the side of the fortress wall. Still the Zealots fought back by fortifying their walls with timber, but the Romans simply set these on fire.
    That night the Zealots, along with their leader, Eleazar from Gamla, had a meeting and argued that the only course of action was a mass suicide pact. They knew what the Romans would do to their women and children if they succeeded in breaking into their fortress, and rather than serve anyone other than God, they were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.
    Every single man killed his family, while ten more were chosen to kill the Jewish soldiers. They chose one out of the ten to kill the remaining Zealots, and then he took his own life, and in so doing the band of revolutionists had the last word and stole victory over the Romans. Only two old women and five children survived the revolt to tell the world their horrific tale.
     
    M ODERN- D AY  S ICARII
     
    The city of Medellin in Colombia has been documented as being one of the most dangerous cities in America. Living there are a modern-day equivalent of the Sicarii, an army of hitmen or ‘sicarios’, drawn from the poor neighbourhoods in the outer reaches of the city. A drug trafficker named Pablo Escobar formed these squads of hitmen, and in a city of two million, there were an estimated 4,000 violent deaths in 2005. The sicario philosophy was that it was better to live fast and die young, and taking advantage of this, Escobar used these desperate men to do his dirty work, wiping out rival drug dealers, politicians, judges, policemen or indeed anyone that crossed his path.

Ali Ibn Abi Talib

     
He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare, and he who has one enemy will meet him everywhere.
Ali ibn Abi Talib
     
    Ali ibn Abi Talib was an early Islamic leader who was born in Mecca in the Hijaz region of central western Arabia, c.599. Ali was a direct cousin of the Holy Prophet, Muhammad, and he was raised by him and brought up like his own son. He lived in an atmosphere of virtue and piety that was to have a lasting effect on the young boy. He grew with a passionate love for truth and Allah and later proved to be a fearless fighter.
    Ali truly loved the Holy Prophet as his own father and would do anything for him without bounds. One night when the Holy Prophet was due to leave for Medina, they discovered that his house was surrounded by bloodthirsty men of the Quraish. The Prophet asked Ali if he would sleep in his bed and cover for him while he crept stealthily away. Ali was only too pleased to do this for his beloved Muhammad, and he was even more thrilled that between them they had succeeded in outwitting the Quraish who were waiting to kill the Prophet.
    The following morning when the Quraish realized they had been outwitted by a young boy, they decided to make him pay with his life for the part he had played. However, Ali stood unnerved by the threat of death and, shocked by his courage, the Quraish decided to