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DSC4012 – Terrorism
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM: NATIONAL AND ETHNIC MOVEMENTS
Chapter 6
Learning Objectives: Chapter 6
 Explain the nature and characteristics of nationalistic and ethnic separatist
terrorism.
 Describe the emergence of the modern IRA and terrorism in Northern
Ireland.
 Outline the basis for negotiating peace in Northern Ireland.
Learning Objectives: Chapter 6
 Summarize the nature of Basque culture and its separateness from Spain.
 Explain the impact of the Spanish Civil War on the Basque region.
 Summarize the birth and evolution of the ETA.
 Explain the rise of the GAL.
Learning Objectives: Chapter 6
 Outline the Spanish government’s approach to Basque separatism.
 Describe the rise of the LTTE and the role of the Tamil Diaspora.
 Summarize the unique aspect of LTTE suicide bombings.
 Describe the end of the LTTE and the danger of possible reconstitution.
Ethnic and Nationalist Terrorism
 Ethnic terrorists are usually more nationalistic than religious terrorists
 Ethnic terrorists try to forge national identity; they appeal to the nationalistic
background of a particular ethnic group
 Peaceful negotiated settlements have proved to be the most effective method
for ending ethnic and nationalistic terrorism
Ethnic and Nationalist Terrorism
 Most separatist movements are asymmetrical; they pit small groups of
separatists against larger government forces
A common tactic in asymmetrical warfare is terrorism
 Separatists usually have a clear-cut achievable goal.
 Political accommodation is the most effective method for ending a terrorist
campaign.
Ethnic and Nationalist Terrorism
 Separatist violence is the most dangerous threat to Europe.
 Violence plays a special role in ethnic terrorism.
It is the raison d’être of ethnic violence (reason they exist)
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Ethnic and Nationalist Separatism
 Ireland
Incorporated terrorist techniques into their revolt against British rule
1916 Easter Rising
Black & Tan War of 1919 to 1921
IRA 1956-1969
 Basque region of Spain
The Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) is Europe’s longest surviving ethnic conflict
 Island of Sri Lanka
Tensions between the Sinhalese and Tamils
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE)
IRA AND THE MODERN “TROUBLES”
 The movement was aimed at achieving adequate housing and education
among Ulster’s Catholic population in an attempt to improve economic
growth
 The IRA had not been dormant throughout the civil rights movement, but it
had failed to play a major role
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland
from 1922 to 2001
Turmoil in Belfast and Londonderry halted by the British army acting as
“peacekeepers”
The Army and Overreaction
 Early policies of the British army played an important role in the rebirth of
the IRA
British army had little or no appreciation of the historical circumstances behind
the conflict
 The British army mistakenly allied itself with one of the extremist positions
(the Unionists)
 The policies the British army had done much to set hostile forces in motion
Unionist Terrorism
 Unionist organizations have a long history of terrorism; they represent the
Unionist and Loyalist side of terrorism
 Historically, it has appeared in three forms
Repression
Vengeance
Revolutionary violence for political change
Negotiating with Terrorists
 Belfast Agreement
Independent human rights investigations, compensation for the victims of
violence, and decommissioning of paramilitary groups
 Independent Monitoring Commission
 Police Service of Northern Ireland replaced the RUC
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Rational Political Goals and Negotiated Settlements
 Terrorism in Northern Ireland no longer grabs attention as it did in the past
 The major campaigns are over and the groups have disbanded
 The situation remains volatile
Unionist and Republican activists carried out 124 attacks against each other in
2009
Two British soldiers were killed
Basque Nation Background
 Basque separatists beliefs
Develop a homeland in Spain
Maintain a separate culture and language
 War of the Spanish Succession
The new monarchy granted the Basque region semiautonomy within the realm
Although the Basques considered themselves “un-Spanish,” Spanish power
gradually enfolded the region into the twentieth century
The Spanish Civil War
 Francisco Franco forcibly campaigned against Basque national identity
 Many Basques believed the Allies would assist their bid for independence
US courted Franco’s fascist government in return for American air bases in Spain
 This resulted in a resurgence of Basque nationalism during the 1950s
The Basque Conflict
 Basque separatists want a homeland completely independent of Spain
 Basque region has its own language and culture, though it has never been
independent
 ETA began a campaign against Spain in 1959
They were responsible for assassinating Franco’s probable successor and many
other officials
ETA declared an end to hostilities in October 2011
The ETA Turns to Terrorism
 In 1968, the group started a true terrorist campaign, although members did
not view terrorism as a full-time activity
Most members engaged in terrorism for only about three years, then returned to
their full-time occupations
 As ETA violence expanded, women grew more active in the movement
ETA Tactics and Spanish Death Squads
 As Spanish repression increased in the 1970s, the ETA escalated its attacks
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The ETA began a Marighella-style campaign of assassination, robbery, and
banditry
 Government responded with martial law
 ETA Tactics and Spanish Death Squads
 Death squads, such as Warriors of Christ the King and the Basque Spanish
Battalion, began to torture and murder suspected terrorists and their
supporters
Anti-terrorist Liberation Groups—GAL
Comprised of police officers and illegally supported by government agencies
Reframing the Conflict
 Government tried to delegitimize the ETA by fostering democracy in Basque
region
Creation of a Basque national police
Basques were given total control of the educational system
 The ETA and its political wing became more entrenched in working-class
ideology
 In 2011, the ETA announced that it was abandoning its military campaign
The Sri Lankan Conflict
 The Tamils felt they were systematically excluded from Sri Lanka’s economic
life
 LTTE formed to fight for the Tamil minority
LTTE known for child kidnapping, suicide bombings and assassinations
 Sri Lankan military and police forces launched a major offensive against the
LTTE in 2008
Fighting ended in May 2009, bringing one of Asia’s longest violent separatist
conflicts to an end
The Origins of Tamil Dissatisfaction
 Tamil minority in Sri Lanka was concerned about maintaining its ethnic
identity among the Sinhalese majority
 Sinhalese majority forced the government to adopt a Sinhalese-only policy
 Buoyed by religious differences and ethnic support, Tamil separatists could
begin a guerrilla campaign by waging terrorist war
The Origins of Tamil Dissatisfaction
 Velupillai Pirapaharan
Young Tamil militant
Formed LTTE (The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)
Eelam means “homeland”
 LTTE emerged as the leading revolutionary group and launched Sri Lanka
into a full-blown terrorist campaign.
LTTE Tactics
 Standard guerrilla tactics
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Ad hoc navy
Robberies, bombings, and murder
Anti-Tamil riots
Terrorist training camps
Suicide bombers
Small-scale sea battles
Liberation
 Attacked India on and off.
 They established a make-shift “navy” fleet using a fishing fleet
Suicide boats and other operations threatened shipping between Sri Lanka and
India
 Succeeded in assassinating Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on May 21,
1991
 They appeared in uniforms in 1994
 Sri Lanka government signed a peace agreement in January 1995
Fighting Renewed
 LTTE became the secular masters of suicide attacks.
 Facing a weakened LTTE, Sri Lankan security forces created “no-fire zones”
and moved into Tamil areas
People could stay and fight; stay and hope that they would not be killed or
injured; flee, risking injury or death; or move in the no-fire zone
 These zones became “unsanitary concentration camps”
Fighting Renewed
 Tamil Tigers fought a defensive battle against conventional assaults
 Many of the commanders began blowing themselves up instead of
surrendering
 Fighting ended in May
Repression after Victory
 Sinhalese majority government has reverted to policies similar to the ones
that caused earlier Tamil unrest
Tamils are not free to move, and many remained in internment camps
 Women in the north constantly victimized
They don’t have the means to protect themselves or the means to address their
grievances
Separatist Negotiations
 A government cannot be too eager to negotiate or it could backfire
 Formal negotiations should begin only after a group agrees to a cease-fire
 Negotiators down two paths
One toward a political settlement
The other toward the welfare of terrorists
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 Negotiations must be broadly based
Chapter Take Aways
 Ethnic and separatist movements involve attempts to gain full or partial
independence.
 When such groups employ terrorism, it may be possible for each side to
negotiate an end to violence because each position is based on a logical,
attainable political solution.
 Despite the promise of negotiated peace, these movements seem to be more
violent than ideological or religious terrorism.
Chapter Take Aways
 Modern terrorism in Ireland grew from dissatisfaction with Catholic
emancipation in the North.
 Basque separatism became violent when the ETA launched a terrorist
campaign in support of Basque independence.
 Both of these cases have resulted in a peace settlement through negotiations,
although radical extremists would like to disrupt the agreements.
Chapter Take Aways
 Sri Lankan violence ended with the military elimination of the LTTE.
 Rather than negotiate with the defeated Tamil minority, the government has
continued to routinely suppress them.
 This may lead to renewed violence and the rebirth of the LTTE or a similar
organization in the Tamil Diaspora.