Hamid Sbai
Ethnic Conflict
In contemporary terms the source of ‘the troubles’ can be traced back to the partition of 1922 when 26 of Irelands 32 counties were transferred to the control of the new Irish Republic whereas 6 of the nine counties from the province of Ulster remained under British control due to the fact that they contained a majority of Unionists, generally of the protestant faith, although they did also contain a significant minority of nationalists, around a third of the population, who were generally of the Roman catholic faith. This then led to nationalists being treated unequally in terms of housing and employment with nationalists facing significantly higher rates of unemployment than their protestant neighbors. The catholic population of the six counties also faced a problem, in that the police force of the north, the RUC, were predominantly from protestant/unionist backgrounds, with Catholics accounting for around 12% of the total force, and were seen as upholding the unionist domination of the six counties, although the auxiliary police force, the B specials, were even more vehemently hated by Catholics perhaps with good reason given that due to their actions they were disbanded by the British prime minister in 1970. By 1969 then there was a powder keg atmosphere in the six counties with nationalists, inspired by events in America, agitating for civil rights and unionists attempting to sustain their domination. By the end of 1969 the RUC were no longer able to contain the situation in the north, powers were transferred back to Westminster and the British army were deployed to the streets of the cities and towns to assist the RUC and, in the eyes of nationalists, to uphold unionist domination. It was at this time that the IRA, who had been caught cold in 1969, began to grow and eventually split into the new and more aggressive Provos (PIRA) and those who remained. There have of course been several events since then which have contributed to the growth of the PIRA such as internment without trial, stop and search policies, use of plastic bullets, bloody Sunday, loyalist violence and the recently proven collusion between British security forces and the mostly sectarian violence of Loyalist paramilitaries.
In terms of military power the PIRA were fully aware of the fact that they could not defeat the might of the British army, what they felt they could achieve, however, was the formation of a situation where through a combination of economic bombs, assassinations and direct action against police and armed forces the British would eventually leave some terror. However, is the widely held mainstream view that the PIRA were fighting a sectarian war when in fact sectarian the only blatantly sectarian attack which can be pointed to occurred at Kingsmill, in response to loyalist violence in the area. In 1981, with the election of PIRA prisoner Bobby sands in a by election the republican ethos changed to what has been termed ‘the ballot box and armalite strategy’ where not only would PIRA supporters resist British rule military but also politically through the Provos political allies Sinn Fein.
In 2004 it can be argued that things haven’t significantly improved for the Catholic population in the six counties. Residents of interface areas such as the Short strand, a small Catholic enclave in predominantly Loyalist East Belfast, still claim to be under attack, Catholics still remain disproportionately represented in unemployment figures at 56.1%, policing is still a contentious issue with Catholic communities claiming police bias still exists against them. The most visible sign of improvement in the six counties has been the vastly reduced level of violence which as well as seeing loyalist violence against Catholics decrease has also seen an improvement in the general environment of Catholic areas which also tended to suffer from republican violence. In terms of the PIRA’s overall goal of a united Ireland there is a case that the changing demographics of the six counties which should eventually see Catholics outnumber Protestants will lead to a majority voting for nationalist parties and under the terms of the GFA a subsequent British withdrawal although it is up for debate just how much of the changes in the six counties are due to the actions of groups like the PIRA.
The Troubles started in the late 1960s with many religious riots in Belfast. It continued for over 30 years to 1998 when a peace agreement was signed between the IRA and the British Forces. Belfast was a "perfect spot for this Ethno-nationalist conflict between the Protestants and Catholics because of the location. Belfast being part of the United Kingdom, but bordering the Republic of Ireland, the city mixed the two cultures and nationalities which had caused the conflict originally. Adding the fact that Protestants and Catholics have hated each other since the 16th century created a dangerous situation that, like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, could only be resolved through conflict and bloodshed.
The Basque region of Southern France and Northern Spain is a culturally and linguistically distinct part of the world which although it nationalists who may have been against the fact that they were not totally independent perhaps accepted its situation. The dictatorship of General Franco, however, was to change this when in 1959, young activists angered by the suppression of the Basque language and culture started the ideologically Marxist ETA, which translates as Basque homeland and liberty. Although with the death of Franco and the restoration of democracy in Spain the Basque was given its own parliament with powers over areas such as education and taxes along with the promotion of the Basque language this was not enough for some nationalists who see full independence as the only option. The Basques who have struggled to retain their customs through invasions and cultural repression. The territory which they call home is a small but powerful force within Spain. Spanish ideologies exerted upon them in recent memory have put a damper on Basque cultural practices and language, but out of this came Basque nationalism. The means used by Basque nationalists to gain independence are sometimes questionable and violent, and have had an impact on the economic health of the region. The Basque Country gained autonomy in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, but many feel that autonomy doesn’t go far enough.
Like many other ‘terrorist’ organizations ETA undertakes the use of economic bombings, car bombs and assassinations with the use of extortion kidnappings robberies to fund its operations. Membership of ETA is said to be relatively low with perhaps 20 hard core activists with around a hundred supporters. Since its formation ETA has been blamed for over 1,000 deaths. ETA’s use of these tactics is in many ways similar to that of the PIRA, whom it has also been suggested have helped ETA carry out attacks, in that although they cannot expect to gain their homeland by force alone they hope to make the Spanish and French government’s situation so difficult that they give full autonomy willingly.
In terms of the situation in the Basque nothing seems to have changed. Although, inspired by events in the north of Ireland, ETA did call a cease fire in 1998 the effects of which though were to be short lived as just 14 months later the cease fire was called off and no significant steps had been taken. It does seem then that at present ETA has neither the political support, given that Batasuna commands only 10% of the Basques voters, and does not have the military power to tackle the inequalities it perceives. Social movements such as the PIRA and ETA are not of course confined only to Europe, in the Middle East there is a conflict currently raging which has been threatening the stability of the region.
During the 1980s and 1990s a number of factors came together to create the conditions for ETA to declare a cease-fire. Brief cease-fires in the past have shown the capacity of the EM organization and its volunteers to maintain military discipline but they have not been part of a long-term change of tactics. The cease-fire of September 1998 seemed to amount to such a shift.
The example of the Northern Ireland peace agreement is cited by ETA as one of the factors behind its decision to call a cease-fire. Having close contact with the IRA and HB with Sinn Fein, ETA has been able to observe the rationale for the IRA cease-fire and to judge the progress that has been made during the negotiations leading up to the Good Friday agreement. They see the possibility of similar progress in the Basque Country. However, the Spanish government has pointed out that the Basques already have more autonomy than Northern Ireland will get under the Good Friday Agreement, ETA however, views the official recognition of the republican aspiration for a 32-county republic as a model for its aspirations to be recognized by the Spanish state in any agreement in the Basque Country.
On 22 March 2006, ETA sent a DVD message to the Basque Network Euskal Irrati-Telebista and the journals Gara and Berria with a message from the organization announcing what it called a "permanent ceasefire" that was broadcast over Spanish TV. According to the spokeswoman for the organization, the "ceasefire" would begin on Friday 24 March. In their announcement, they stated that the French and Spanish governments should cooperate and respond positively to this new situation.
The Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East has been explained simply as being over “A land of two peoples”. This statement, however, does not nearly cover the intricacies of the conflict although in terms of the inequalities prevalent within the conflict we can perhaps look towards the formation of the state of Israel and the ensuing Arab-Israeli war as a foundation. The end of the British mandate over Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel created a situation which the Arabs were never going to find acceptable, the effects of this then were those of the 1948-49 war which saw Israel not only victories but gaining further land than they had previously under partition. The effects for the Palestinians, however, were far more drastic. The war had left Palestinian society ravaged, their political hopes in ruins, large sections of their population in Israel; the Gaza strip had become synonymous with poverty, as the indigenous population had become separated from their farmlands and UN estimates place the number of refugees at the time at 750,000.
The following ‘six day war’ between Israel and the Arab nations was to further embed feelings of injustice within Palestinian communities as Israel had seized further territories including the Gaza strip and the West Bank. Palestinians were further angered during the late 1970’s when, after the failed attempts by Arab nations in 1973 to regain the land they lost in 1967, Israel began to build Jewish settlements on what they saw as their land especially considering that although the settlements are open to all Jews Palestinians are forbidden from living there. In 2000 Palestinians were to be further angered when wide spread rioting broke out due to Ariel Sharon’s statement that Jerusalem would be eternal Israeli territory, several Palestinians including kids and teenagers were killed suppressing them. It is of course this occupation which is still at the heart of the conflict today with the Palestinian people unhappy over the building of Israeli outposts, the building of further settlements and the various Israeli military attacks which although Israel claims are targeted at known ‘terrorists’ invariably result in civilian casualties and the worsening of conditions for the Palestinian people. Palestinians living within Israel also claim to be discriminated against in areas such as employment as in many cases past service in the Israeli army is required.
Formed in 1964 by a collection of refugee groups, Palestinians and with the aid of Arab states the PLO is seen as the leading organization of the Palestinian people with the UN recognizing them as such in 1974. The PLO is an umbrella group of nationalist Palestinian organizations such as Al Fatah and the popular front for the liberation of Palestine. Criticisms of the PLO as being a terrorist organization have come from the fact that they carry out not only guerilla war tactics on Israeli armed forces but have also been known to carry out attacks on civilians. The PLO has also been accused of doing little to combat the actions of groups such as Hamas who use the tactic of suicide bombings which can lead to vast civilian casualties. It cannot be said, however, that the PLO have only taken military action against Israel, as they have also been at the heart of agreements such as the Oslo agreement of 1993 which gave Palestinian autonomy in some areas and civilian, while Israel kept military control in others.
In terms of resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict we are no closer than in 1948. Groups such as Hamas still continue to attack Israel and the Israeli government continues to retaliate to this with military action and occupation. The much heralded road map to peace has also held up with Israel unwilling to deal with the Palestinians until the violence stops and the Palestinians claiming that an end to the occupation and settlement building must come before an end to the violence can be expected. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict refuses to be resolved because it is a unique conflict in human history. Historically the Arabs have refused to accept any two nation state solution. Hamas will accept no less than a fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.