Chapter Eleven: Nationalistic and Ethnic Terrorism

1
Chapter ElevenNationalistic and Ethnic
Terrorism
2
The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism
3
The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism

• Daniel Byman and the logic of ethnic terrorism
• Ethnic terrorism differs from terrorism carried
  out in the name of ideology, religion or economic
  gain
• Ethnic terrorists are usually more nationalistic
  than their religious counterparts

4
The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism

• Ethnic terrorists and national identity
• Ethnic terrorist try to forge national identity
• Their primary purpose is to mobilize a community
• Terrorist activity is used to make a statement
  about the groups identity
• Terrorism polarizes other ethnic groups and
  forces them to either ally with the terrorists or
  oppose them

5
The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism

• Ethnic terrorism and violence
• Violence keeps the idea alive
• Violence sustains the conflict, even when
  political objectives are far out of reach
• Violence also serves to undermine moderates who
  seek peaceful solutions

6
The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism

• Fear as a tool of ethnic terrorism
• Violent ethnic terrorists use fear to polarize
  various constituencies
• Fear polarizes cultural differences, forcing
  greater identification with ones own group
• Fear keeps a group from developing alternative
  identities

7
The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism

• The limited response of the government
• Governments can enter the game and try to promote
  rival identities
• Governments can engage in group punishment
• Governments can try to gain the cooperation of
  moderates
• Governments can open the doors to political
  participation

8
The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism

• Lifeline of ethnic terrorism
• Ethnic terrorist organizations tend to be
  long-lasting because they can build logical
  structures and they can hide in a ready-made
  population

9
The Logic of Ethnic Terrorism

• Three methods for government policy
• Empowering the community
• Winning over moderates to the political system
• Encouraging self-policing

10
The Basque Nation and Liberty
11
The Basque Nation and Liberty

• Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA or Basque Nation and
  Liberty)
• The ETA has waged a campaign of violence since
  1959 that has killed more than eight hundred
  people
• The ETAa goal is to establish an autonomous
  homeland in northern Spain and southern France

12
The Basque Nation and Liberty

• The Basque separatist movement and its relation
  to terrorism
• Basque separatists believe they should be allowed
  to develop a homeland in Spain, and since the
  1950s, Basque separatism has been an important
  issue in Spanish politics
• Current problems are a result of gradual loss of
  national identity that began in the nineteenth
  century when Madrid assumed greater control of
  the region, and accelerated in the early
  twentieth century because of industrialization

13
The Basque Nation and Liberty

• The ETA and the nationalist movement
• The ETA formed as an offshoot of a nationalist
  political party in 1959
• In 1966, the ETA voted to engage in armed
  revolution
• In 1968, the group started a terrorist campaign

14
The Basque Nation and Liberty

• The ETA-M
• A more militant group, the ETA-M, broke away from
  the ETA in 1974
• ETA-M described itself as the military wing of
  the ETA and was responsible for the worst
  atrocities of the 1970s and 1980s

15
The Basque Nation and Liberty

• Characteristics of the ETA
• Membership matches the composition of the local
  population, although most terrorists are male
• The ETA is primarily a working-class movement
• Members of the ETA were either born in a Basque
  family, or they were raised in Basque enclaves
  and feel a strong ethnic identity
• The overwhelming majority feel they are fighting
  for all the members of their community
• Most interestingly, members of the ETA did not
  view terrorism as a full time activity

16
The Basque Nation and Liberty

• Similarities between the ETA and IRA
• The eventual goal of Basque terrorism is regional
  independence
• The majority of Basques do not support the
  terrorist campaign, even though most support
  nationalism and some form of independence

17
The Basque Nation and Liberty

• Current State of the ETA
• As Spanish authorities opened opportunities for
  democracy and national expression, the ETA
  transformed itself into a social movement
• When the political system opened, the desire for
  ethnic cultural identity was not strong enough to
  support violence
• At this time, the ETA still engages in terrorist
  violence

18
The PKK and Its Alter Egos
19
The PKK and Its Alter Egos

• The Kurdish Workers Party (PKK)
• The PKK, founded in 1974, is a Marxist-Leninist
  organization composed of Turkish Kurds
• Officially changing its name to Kurdistan Freedom
  and Democracy (KDEK) in 2002, it operates in
  Turkey and Europe, targeting Europeans, Turks,
  rival Kurds, and supporters of the Turkish
  government
• Since 1990, it has employed the language of
  nationalism, and since 1995, it has also used the
  verbiage of religion
• PKK could not generate enough support for the
  Communists, so its leadership chose the path of
  terrorism

20
The PKK and Its Alter Egos

• Lebanons Bekaa Valley
• Efforts to build a terrorist organization
  increased by moving into Lebanons Bekaa Valley
  in September 1980
• Allies were quickly formed in the Syrian camp,
  and by 1984, a number of trainees had moved
  through the camps in Lebanon
• PKK moved its bases of support for a campaign
  against Turkey Support turned out to be the key
  factor

21
The PKK and Its Alter Egos

• The negative effect of tactics
• Although the Kurds were ready to fight for
  independence, they were not willing to condone
  massacres and terrorist tactics
• The PKK responded in 1990 by redirecting
  offensive operations by limiting its attacks to
  security forces and economic targets
• The PKK also modified its Marist-Leninist
  rhetoric and began to speak of nationalism

22
The PKK and Its Alter Egos

• The PKK shifts its position
• In October 1995, the PKK was willing to settle
  for a federation instead of complete autonomy
• By December, the PKK was using the rhetoric of
  Islam
• The PKK shifted its position to achieve the
  greatest amount of support

23
The PKK and Its Alter Egos

• The pejorative nature of terrorism represented by
  the PKK
• When a terrorist label is applied to a group like
  the PKK, the whole movement is questioned
• The PKK is a terrorist organization, but
  expressing Kurdish nationalism is not a terrorist
  act

24
The PKK and Its Alter Egos

• The PKK today
• Turkish authorities captured Abdullah Ocalan, the
  leader of the PKK, in Kenya in February 1999
• Today, the PKK has thousands of supporters in
  Turkey and in Europe, but the United States has
  agreed to crack down on the organization in
  northern Iraq in late 2003

25
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
26
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

• The LTTE
• The LTTE have been fighting for an independent
  homeland for nearly 3 million Tamils in northern
  and eastern Sri Lanka
• The basis of ethnic conflict is exacerbated by
  struggles between Hindus and Muslims

27
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

• The origins of LTTE
• At the end of WWII, the Tamil minority in Sri
  Lanka was concerned about maintaining its ethnic
  identity
• Claiming that the Tamils dominated the Sri Lankan
  government, the Sinhalese majority forced the
  government to adopt a Sinhalese-only policy
• A Tamil assassin killed the Sinhalese leader in
  1959, setting the stage for further violence
• Buoyed by religious difference and ethnic
  support, Tamil separatists could begin a
  guerrilla campaign by waging a terrorist campaign
• In 1975, Velupillai Pirabhakaran, a young Tamil
  militant, took advantage of the situation and
  formed the LTTE

28
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

• Tactics of the LTTE
• In 1988 and 1992, the LTTE sought to control
  geographic areas, and they moved using standard
  guerrilla tactics, forming uniformed units
• In weaker times, they relied on bank robberies,
  bombings, and murder
• In the weakest times, they have also employed
  suicide bombers

29
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

• Retreat of the LTTE
• By 1987, the LTTE retreated to the jungle, and
  practiced terrorism from jungle hideaways
• In 1990, the LTTE expanded its operations by
  converting a fishing fleet into a makeshift navy
• From 1994 to 1995, the Tamil Tigers waged another
  bombing and assassination campaign

30
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

• The LTTEs unique position
• The LTTE is in a unique position because it has
  such a large guerrilla base
• The guerrillas are perfectly capable of fighting
  a protracted war against security forces, and if
  defeated, the LTTE can revert to terrorism

31
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

• The LTTE today
• In December 2001 the LTTE agreed to a cease-fire
  with the government of Sri Lanka
• According to the Tamil Eelam Web homepage, the
  LTTE is not a terrorist organization it is the
  army of the Tamil people

32
The Origins and Development of the Anglo-Irish
Conflict
33
The Origins and Development of the Anglo-Irish
Conflict

• The Vikings in Ireland
• Irish culture originated with Celtic invasions
• Viking raiders began to invade Ireland around
  A.D. 800
• Viking rule of Ireland was challenged in 1014

34
The Origins and Development of the Anglo-Irish
Conflict

• The Norman invasion
• The Normans were successful in Ireland because
  they used new methods of warfare
• By 1172, the Norman king of England had assumed
  the rule of Ireland
• The Normans built castles to control Irish
  cities, and Irish peasants generally dominated
  rural areas

35
The Origins and Development of the Anglo-Irish
Conflict

• The Protestant Reformation
• During the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s,
  King Henry the VIII of England created an
  independent Church of England. He also created a
  similar church in Ireland , but the Irish
  Catholics rejected this move and began to rebel
  against the English king
• Elizabeth I, Henrys daughter, carved out the
  most prosperous agrarian section, the plantation
  of Ulster, and gave it to her subjects to
  colonize. English and Scottish Protestants
  eventually settled there. This created an ethnic
  division in Ireland fueled by religious
  differences and animosities

36
The Origins and Development of the Anglo-Irish
Conflict

• Ireland in the 1600s
• The Plantation of Ulster was expanded, and Irish
  peasants were systematically displaced
• Oliver Cromwell came to Ireland to quell a revolt
  and stop Catholic attacks on Protestants
• From 1689 to 1691, James II, the Catholic
  pretender to the British throne, used Ireland as
  a base from which to revolt against William of
  Orange, the English king

37
The Origins and Development of the Anglo-Irish
Conflict

• Thomas Wolfe Tone
• From 1796 to 1798, Wolfe Tone led a revolt based
  on Irish nationalism
• Wolfe Tone argued that Irish independence was
  more important than religious differences
• He created a basis for appealing to nationalism
  over religion

38
The Origins and Development of the Anglo-Irish
Conflict

• The Orange Orders
• Taking their name from William of Orange, these
  Protestant organizations vowed to remain unified
  with Great Britain

39
The Origins and Development of the Anglo-Irish
Conflict

• The Act of Union
• In 1801, the British Parliament passed the Act of
  Union, designed to incorporate Ireland into the
  United Kingdom
• Unionists, primarily the Orange Protestants in
  the north, supported the act, whereas
  Republicans, who became known as Greens, argued
  for a constitutional government and an
  independent Ireland
• Daniel OConnor led the Republican movement
• Charles Stewart Parnell, a Protestant, created a
  democratic Irish party to support the cause in
  the late 1800s

40
The Origins and Development of the Anglo-Irish
Conflict

• The Potato Famine
• The 1845\-1848 potato famine devastate Ireland
• Irelands census dropped by 25 percent
• In the years following the famine, some members
  of the British Parliament sought to free Ireland
  from British control. They introduced a series of
  Home Rule acts designed to give Ireland
  independence

41
The Early History of the Irish Republican Army
42
The Early History of the Irish Republican Army

• Republican military solution to the Irish
  conflict
• The solution was born in New York City in 1857
• Irish immigrants in New York City created the
  Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) as a financial
  relief organization for relatives in Ireland
• The IRB gradually evolved into a revolutionary
  organization

43
The Early History of the Irish Republican Army

• The Irish Republican Army (IRA)
• The IRA began with a campaign of violence
  sponsored by the IRB in the late 1800s
• The primary targets of the IRB were Unionists and
  British forces supporting the Unionist cause

44
The Early History of the Irish Republican Army

• The IRB trump over Unionists
• IRB leadership was dominated by men who believed
  each generation had to produce warriors who would
  fight for independence
• The IRB had an organization

45
The Early History of the Irish Republican Army

• Patrick Pearse
• Pearse was an inspirational romantic who could
  move crowds to patriotism and inspire resistance
  to British policies
• He inspired young Irish boys and girls to be
  militantly proud of being Irish

46
The 1916 Easter Rebellion
47
The 1916 Easter Rebellion

• The Rebellion
• At Easter in 1916, Patrick Pearse and James
  Connolly led a revolt in Dublin
• The Rebellion enjoyed local success because it
  surprised everyone
• The British also came to Dublin, and the city was
  engulfed in a week of heavy fighting

48
The 1916 Easter Rebellion

• Pearses approach to the British
• Pearse sent a message to the general in charge of
  British forces using a new title commanding
  general of the Irish Republican Army
• Transformations continued in the political arena

49
Independence and Separation
50
Independence and Separation

• Sinn Fein
• Eamon de Valera emerged as the leader of Sinn
  Fein, the political party of Republicanism, and
  Michael Collins came to the forefront of the IRA
• Together, de Valera and Collins began to fight
  for Irish independence in 1919

51
Independence and Separation

• Conflict between the IRA and the British
• After obtaining a list of British and loyalist
  Irish police and intelligence officers, Collins
  sent IRA terrorists to their homes and killed
  them. He attacked police stations and symbols of
  British authority.
• The British responded by sending a hastily
  recruited military force, called the Black and
  Tans because of their mismatched uniforms, and
  Ireland became the arena for a dreadful war.
• The conflict became popularly known as the Tan
  War or the Black and Tan War

52
Independence and Separation

• 1921
• In 1921, the situation was temporarily solved by
  a treaty between Britain and Ireland. Under the
  terms of the treaty, Ireland would be granted
  independence while the northern section around
  Ulster would remain under British protection
  until it could peacefully be integrated into
  Ireland
• The IRA did not accept the treaty
• Michael Collins led the Irish Army, while de
  Valera took the helm of the IRA
• De Valera campaigned against his former
  colleagues and eventually orchestrated the murder
  of Michael Collins
• The British tightened their hold on Northern
  Ireland and bolstered its strength with a new
  police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary
• The Unionists used this power to gain control of
  Northern Ireland and lock themselves into the
  British orbit. Ireland became a divided country

53
Trends in the IRA 1930\-1985
54
Trends in the IRA 1930\-1985

• Split in the IRA ranks
• By the 1930s, some members of the IRA wanted to
  follow the lead of their political party, Sinn
  Fein
• Another group of the IRA broke with the de Valera
  government and formed a provisional wing of the
  IRA during the 1930s

55
Trends in the IRA 1930\-1985

• The Officials and Provisionals
• Internally, the IRA split into a traditional
  official branch, the Officials, and a more
  militant provisional wing, the Provisionals
• Externally, the economic situation in Northern
  Ireland consolidated in favor of the Protestant
  Unionists
• The political and economic conditions in Northern
  Ireland provided the rationale for a major civil
  rights movement among the Catholics

56
Trends in the IRA 1930\-1985

• Catholic civil rights movement
• The government in Northern Ireland reacted with a
  heavy hand against the civil rights workers and
  demonstrators, and this repression was the answer
  to IRA prayers
• Issues intensified in the summer of 1969. Civil
  rights demonstrators planned a long, peaceful
  march from Londonderry to Belfast, but they were
  gassed and beaten by the RUC and B-Specials
• Britain sent the British Army in as a
  peacekeeping force

57
Trends in the IRA 1930\-1985

• Support for the British army
• The Unionists greeted the army with open arms
• Republicans also welcomed the party because they
  believed the British Army would protect them from
  the Unionists and the police
• As the British Army made its presence felt in
  Ulster, Republicans and Catholics were subjected
  to the increasing oppression of army measures,
  and as confrontations became more deadly,
  Republican support for the British Army vanished

58
Trends in the IRA 1930\-1985

• The new IRA policy
• The IRA pushed its internal squabbles aside, and
  the Officials and Provisionals focused on their
  new common enemy, the British Army
• The new IRA policy emphasized the elimination of
  British soldiers from Irish soil and brushed
  aside internal political differences
• Alienated nationalists offered support for the
  growing ranks of the IRA
• As IRA ranks grew, Orange extremist organizations
  also began to swell
• Unionist paramilitary organizations grew in
  response

59
The Peace Accord and Peace Process in Ireland
60
The Peace Accord and Peace Process in Ireland

• The Anglo-Irish Peace Accord
• In 1985, the United Kingdom and the Republic of
  Ireland signed a peace accord regarding the
  governance of Northern Ireland
• The agreement seeks to bring an end to terrorism
  by establishing a joint system of government for
  the troubled area

61
The Peace Accord and Peace Process in Ireland

• J. Bower Bell
• Bell is not optimistic about the ability of any
  political entity--government or otherwise--to
  bring peace to the island nation by avoiding
  every avenue of conflict. Bell says there are too
  many agendas and too many people served by ethnic
  violence
• Suggestions of recent research
• More recent research suggests that although
  low-level violence may continue, the amount of
  terrorism is decreasing