Post-Colonialism

I. Palestine/Israel

A. Muslim resistance--as Jews began moving to Palestine in larger numbers, establishing kibbutzes and moving in numbers into cities, Palestinians began attempting to discourage Jewish settlement, including physical violence.

1. 1929 Riot--dispute over “permanent” structures built by Jews at the Wailing Wall, which Muslim clerics demanded by removed in keeping with an Ottoman edict restricting such structures from being built. Resulted in the deaths of 133 Jews, and 116 Palestinians.

2. 1939 White Paper--proposal by Great Britain to resolve growing dispute over Palestine; centered on restricting immigration of Jews until an election was held in 1949, when Arabs and Jews would be seated in a government in proportion to their populations that year--but guaranteeing that Arabs would remain in the majority. In the end, the White Paper pleased no one--the Jews saw it as a death warrant for thousands (the Nazi pogrom was just getting underway), as well as stiemying their nationalist aspirations, while the Arabs saw it as not restrictive enough, because it would allow the Jews to undermine the postwar government

B. Jewish response--the response of Zionists varied across a wide spectrum, from tit-for-tat retaliation to organized terror campaigns.

1. Irgun--a secret Jewish armed group, which carried out a campaign of terror (bombings and attempted assassinations) against British government and military officials, mainly

a) King David Hotel bombing--Irgun operatives carried out this terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of 91 people, including 17 Jews. Irgun leaders said they regretted the Jewish deaths and would pray for their souls, but did not regret the British deaths, because Great Britain had never expressed regret over the Jewish deaths during the Holocaust. No mention was made of the deaths of the largest group of death--Arabs.



b) Menachem Begin--led Irgun during this time period, and was the man who gave the order for the hotel to be blown up. After Israeli statehood, Begin became leader of the Likud Party, and by the late 1970s prime minister of Israel. In a bit of karmic irony, his autobiography, The Revolt, is must reading for Hamas and Hezbollah.



c) Lohamei Herut Israel--LEHI or the Stern Gang, a splinter group that broke off from Irgun, targeted Arab populations in a terror car-bombing campaign. Best known outside of Israel as the first organization to be labeled a “terrorist group” by the United Nations. Inside Israel, they are recognized as devoted patriots to the Zionist cause.

II. The Battle for Algiers

A. The Front de Libération Nationale (FLN)--the FLN was the Algerian national liberation group that fought an eight year guerilla war against France (1954-1962) to gain independence. The FLN, an Arab-socialist political party, is still in control of the government in Algiers, although lately their leadership is being challenged by an Islamist political party.

1. Social/Cultural/Political movement--the FLN was not a Marxist party, but construed socialism broadly--mainly as a way of identifying oppressors and the oppressed.

a) Attempted to ferret out what they defined as destructive behaviors (consumption of alcohol and prostitution in particular).

b) Reform of these behaviors was seen as key to developing sense of national pride, since native Algerians were lowest on the totem pole in colonial Algerian society, below French and the pied noirs (literally, “black feet”), Algerian-born of European descent.

2. The “dirty war” French occupying forces did not hesitate to use what the Bush Administration would term “enhanced interrogation techniques” (what sane people recognize as torture).

3. FLN response--to use plastique in bombing raids against both French establishments and the French military.

a) Cafe wars in France--the struggle for control by elements of the FLN for the government-in-exile led to a series of assassination attempts on Algerian ex-pats in France, called the cafe wars.

4. Evian Accords--granted independence to Algeria (in quick stages)--but led more than a million pied noir to emigrate to France. In the mother country, however, these pied noir felt that the native French population blamed them for the war--but also felt estranged from their native Algeria.

a) Algeria and the fall of the Fourth Republic--the cost of the war in Algeria--and the way the “dirty war” was carried out by French forces, led to the French parliament granting President Charles de Gaulle near-dictatorial powers--and also led to the fall of the Fourth Republic.

III. Conclusion--What is Terrorism?

A. Definition: violent or destructive acts (as bombing) committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands.



B. History and Terrorism--this brief overview of the use of terror to further political aims leaves us with more questions than answers. Among those questions:

1. Who defines terrorism?

2. Who decides when a terrorist becomes a freedom fighter?

3. Can governments use terror? Who decides when that occurs, and when it merely uses “enhanced interrogation techniques,” “collateral damage,” or “friendly fire?”