text: what is the meaning of "the 5th column" and "mea culpa" ??   mea culpa is a latin phrase that translates into english as "my fault", or "my own fault". in order to emphasize the message, the adjective "maxima" may be inserted, resulting in "mea maxima culpa," which would translate as "my most [grievous] fault."  a fifth column is a group of people which clandestinely undermines a larger group to which it is expected to be loyal, such as a nation.  the term originated with a 1936 radio address by emilio mola, a nationalist general during the 1936-39 spanish civil war. as four of his army columns moved on madrid, the general referred to his militant supporters within the capital as his "fifth column," intent on undermining the republican government from within (see also siege of madrid (1936-39)).  the term is also used in reference to a population who are assumed to have loyalties to countries other than the one in which they reside, or who support some other nation in war efforts against the country they live in, which make them traitors.  during world war ii, german minority organizations in poland and czechoslovakia formed the selbstschutz, which actively helped the third reich in conquering those nations and engaged in atrocities. the french underground is a particularly well-known fifth column.  during wars, citizens of enemy countries are often held or watched because of concerns that they might be a fifth column. during world war ii, enemy aliens and citizens descended from immigrants from enemy countries were interned throughout allied and axis countries, from japan and japanese-occupied territories such as the philippines, to india, canada and latin america. this was the justification for the japanese american internment along the west coast of the united states and the japanese canadian internment in british columbia, canada. selected german and other nationals were also held by various us authorities. irish catholic residents in the uk have been sometimes viewed in this way by unionists due to "the troubles" of the late 20th century (see also guildford four, birmingham six). recently many israelis have begun to suggest that arab citizens of the state constitue a fifth column, citing terrorist-supporting activity by arab members of parliament (illegal meetings with hamas terrorists, fundraising, etc.) and not infrequent demonstrations held in israeli arab cities in support of palestinian terror. the recent israel-hizbullah war gave israeli jews another reason for concern when israeli arabs openly supported hizbullah even as their own cities in northern israel were being bombed by the lebanese group.  today it has a pejorative connotation, whereas partisan can be considered a positive or negative term. resistance movements are looked upon more favourably than fifth columnists, but it can be argued that there is an overlap between the two.