Terrorists of convenience

Who is this handsome rogue depicted in the wanted poster
from the days of the British Mandate? Why none other than
future Israeli President Yitzhak Shamir.

And here's a familiar face. Let's not forget  Mandela  was universally labeled a "terrorist" throughout the so-called first world until well into the 1980s.

Had you picked up virtually any newspaper in the "free" world in the 1960s to read about Nelson Mandela, you would have seen the label "terrorist" applied to him. The late Margaret Thatcher clung to that descriptor throughout her career.

Today he is universally venerated as a great freedom fighter and statesman.

Virtually the entire first generation of Israeli leadership figures were likewise condemned as terrorists by the British overlords in what was then one of their protectorates. A generation later they were considered statesmen with whom the British were pleased to do business.

Many other prominent figures of the past and present have enjoyed a similar trajectory.

Which of today's "terrorists" will emerge as the statesmen of tomorrow?