History Main / MiddleEasternTerrorists

* The third ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers'' game has Middle Eastern terrorists raiding a nuclear plant in Japan with the leader being an {{Expy}} to Osama Bin Laden. The Japanese Special Forces Group is called in to take back the plant.

* ''Series/DempseyAndMakepeace'': "Nowhere To Run" involves S.I. 10 dealing with several members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September. They plan to break out their leader Salim Masad, who is presently being held awaiting trial for the murder of a Irian diplomat, whilst he is in transit and thus use a London drug trafficker to smuggle several machine guns into the UK for them to use.

* ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' while lacking the terror angle as such, does feature every nation and sect in the Middle East banding together to invade Massachusetts, committing numerous atrocities such as crucifying Christians who won't reject their faith, and selling others into slavery, while getting hardly anything out of this expedition. The [[WesternTerrorists protagonists,]] though, get theirs back, first through a genetically engineered plague, then by the end of the book banding together all Christendom for a new Crusade.

Some stereotypes associated include the use of shemaghs or black balaclavas, communist-made weapons/gear (notably the iconic AK-47 assault rifle and the RPG-7 rocket launcher), and driving "technicals" (civilian pickup trucks converted into gun trucks by mounting a heavy machine gun or anti-aircraft cannon on the back). They may be depicted citing verses from the Koran to justify their actions, most prominently including the phrase ''Allahu Akbar''.[[note]]It means "God is Great". In reality, its an exclamation used by the majority of Arab combatants, including those who work under formal militaries.[[/note]]

* ''ComicBook/HolyTerror'' has The Fixer take on Al-Qaeda terrorists.
* The DC universe has {{Qurac}}, located in the said region. It's known publicly to be a rogue nation for sponsoring terrorists. In the late 1980s Qurac-backed terrorists appeared as villains in ''Suicide Squad'' and ''Adventures of Superman.''

* Comicbook/ThePunisher has Saracen, a mercenary terrorist from the Middle East as one of his recurring enemies in the Marvel Universe. He was purely money-motivated, however, and at one point rather cheerily brushes off a client's comment about how "un-Arab" he comes off as after Saracen mentions that he has only one wife to whom he is completely faithful.
* ''[[Recap/TintinLandOfBlackGold Tintin: Land of Black Gold]]'' has armed gunmen working for Sheik Bab El Ehr. Armed saboteurs were seen destroying oil pipelines. [[spoiler:Turns out they're being hired by Dr. Muller.]]
* ComicBook/USAgent is introduced fighting Middle Eastern terrorists in Nick Spencer's ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' run.
* Terrorists in a fictional Middle Eastern country try to prevent girls from being educated in an early issue of Mark Waid's ''{{ComicBook/Champions|2016}}''.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' has a militia in Yemen as part of Raul Menendez's supporters.\

Compare WesternTerrorists, which consists of terrorists who are born/raised in Western countries from the Americas to Europe, including Australia and New Zealand, AfricanTerrorists, which consists of terrorists who are born/raised in the African continent, SouthAsianTerrorists, which consists of terrorists who are born/raised in the region of South Asia, and FarEastAsianTerrorists, which consists of terrorists who are born/raised in the [[UsefulNotes/TheFarEast Far East]] region of the Asian continent.

Creators can draw inspiration from RealLife sources and cases where terrorism has occurred in the Middle East, the vast majority of them falling under Islamist groups, making TheFundamentalist a common character among their ranks regardless of their exact "flavour". [[http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2018/12/Global-Terrorism-Index-2018-1.pdf In the 2010s,]] the majority of terrorist deaths worldwide were caused by five specific groups: the Islamic State, the Taliban, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, and al-Qaeda.[[note]]In particular, its Yemen (AQAP) and Syrian (al-Nusra) branches.[[/note]] All five of these groups are Sunni fundamentalist, and with the exception of the Taliban (Deobandi), all belong to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salafi_jihadism Salafi jihadism]] movement. The Shia variants include groups like Hezbollah and its various Syrian/Iraqi proxies, which is tied into places like {{UsefulNotes/Lebanon}} and groups like the [[UsefulNotes/PersiansWithPistols Iranian Revolutionary Guard]]. Sometimes, fictional depictions can also include ultranationalist/Communist (or an odd mixture of both as some nationalist and pan Arab factions were Soviet aligned), Christian fundamentalist groups, Jewish fundamentalist (especially if the story is set in Israel) or some obscure {{cult}}.

Creators can draw inspiration from RealLife sources and cases where terrorism has occurred in the Middle East, the vast majority of them falling under Islamist groups, making TheFundamentalist a common character among their ranks regardless of their exact "flavour". [[http://visionofhumanity.org/app/uploads/2018/12/Global-Terrorism-Index-2018-1.pdf In the 2010s,]] the majority of terrorist deaths worldwide were caused by five specific groups: the Islamic State, the Taliban, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, and al-Qaeda.[[note]]In particular, its Yemen (AQAP) and Syrian (al-Nusra) branches.[[/note]] All five of these groups are Sunni fundamentalist, and with the exception of the Taliban (Deobandi), all belong to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salafi_jihadism Salafi jihadism]] movement. The Shia variants include groups like Hezbollah and its various Syrian/Iraqi proxies, which is tied into places like Lebanon and groups like the [[UsefulNotes/PersiansWithPistols Iranian Revolutionary Guard]]. Sometimes, fictional depictions can also include ultranationalist/Communist (or an odd mixture of both as some nationalist and pan Arab factions were Soviet aligned), Christian fundamentalist groups, Jewish fundamentalist (especially if the story is set in Israel) or some obscure {{cult}}.

A SisterTrope to [[WesternTerrorists Western]], [[AfricanTerrorists African]], [[SouthAsianTerrorists South Asian]], and FarEastAsianTerrorists, Middle Eastern Terrorists are terrorists who are based in the Middle East[[note]]It's the transcontinental region of Western Asia between Southern Europe, North Africa and South Asia[[/note]] to carry out guerrilla and terrorist attacks against domestic/foreign governments and interests alike. They can be based in other places, but the majority of the manpower is made up of nationals who are from the Middle East. They can be used as {{mooks}}, usually working alongside other types of terrorists and criminals, as long as they share the same objectives and interests.

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'': The Libyans hired Doc Brown to help them make a nuclear weapon. Brown double-crossed them by taking the plutonium to power his time machine and replaced it in the bomb casing with pinball machine parts. When the Libyans found out, they hunted him down.

* ''Series/ZeroZeroZero'': While transporting a shipment of cocaine from Senegal to Casablanca, the Lynwoods run afoul of [[OutsideContextVillain jihadists]] who have recently seized control of the area they need to drive through. As Moroccans, the terrorists are of Arab-Berber descent and technically North African terrorists.

A SisterTrope to [[WesternTerrorists Western]], [[AfricanTerrorists African]] [[SouthAsianTerrorists South Asian]], and FarEastAsianTerrorists, Middle Eastern Terrorists are terrorists who are based in the Middle East[[note]]It's the transcontinental region of Western Asia between Southern Europe, North Africa and South Asia[[/note]] to carry out guerrilla and terrorist attacks against domestic/foreign governments and interests alike. They can be based in other places, but the majority of the manpower is made up of nationals who are from the Middle East. They can be used as {{mooks}}, usually working alongside other types of terrorists and criminals, as long as they share the same objectives and interests.