Revolutionary Organization 17 November

Revolutionary Organization 17 November is named in a U.S. government list of foreign terrorist organizations reproduced in the book. The text gives no account of the organization’s origins, membership, aims, or operations; its significance here is as a specific case within Chomsky’s examination of how governments classify political violence and give that classification practical force.

Appearance in the Designation List

The organization appears as number 25 in a list titled “Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” dated October 5, 2001. The entry identifies it as a Greek organization. No further particulars about its activities or the basis for its inclusion are supplied in the list excerpt.

Classification and Political Language

Chomsky argues that the word terrorism can be used in two different ways: as a description of violence or its threat for political, religious, or ideological purposes, and as a political label applied selectively to acts by enemies or opponents. He emphasizes that the same actors can be recast as terrorists or freedom fighters as governments’ policies change. Revolutionary Organization 17 November is not discussed as an example in that argument, but its presence in the official list places it within the designation system that the argument scrutinizes.

Effects of Designation

The surrounding account explains that designation can have consequences beyond naming an organization. It describes measures affecting designated groups and their members, as well as broader aims such as discouraging contributions, alerting the public and other governments, and isolating the organizations internationally. The text does not state which particular consequences were applied to Revolutionary Organization 17 November; it supplies no organization-specific account of enforcement or response.

Scope of the Account

The organization’s mention is documentary rather than biographical: the book records its place in the list but does not trace its development or assess its conduct. Its role in the passage is therefore to make the designation framework concrete while leaving the organization itself largely undescribed.