Date of Award
2009
Document Type
Honors Thesis (Open Access)
Department
Colby College. Government Dept.
Advisor(s)
Guilain Denoeux
Second Advisor
Walter Hatch
Abstract
The value of a comparative study of the two conflicts stems from a remarkable similarity in the structural organization of political violence by its most influential practitioners: the IRA and Hamas. At the core, I have merely tried my best to approach a beguiling question in a fresh, dynamic way. The stultifying discourse of conflict that serves as lingua franca for the Israeli‐Palestinian issue has largely reduced strategic debate to how best the conflict can be managed – not ended. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s focus on “economic peace” and unwillingness to commit to a two‐state solution – the consensus that has governed peacemaking for decades – belies such thinking. The Clinton Administration’s cadre of Mideast negotiators operated amidst the most rapid institutionalization of Palestinian democracy in history ‐ yet remained obsessed with Israeli‐Arab “confidence‐building” measures, doing little to legitimize the gains of Oslo. So long as Palestinians continue to view the creation of Israel as “al‐Nakba” – the catastrophe – whilst successive Israeli governments refuse to grant their aspirations any legitimacy, there can be no progress. Peace requires empathy, a substantial compromise in the context of internecine conflict. The “long war” both conflicts have become mandates an equally expansive, broad‐based and labor‐intensive approach – a demanding process that can only be called The Long Game.
Keywords
Palestine, Northern Ireland, Hamas, IRA, Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, Middle East, terrorism
Recommended Citation
O'Sullivan, Dan, "The Long Game: Hamas, The IRA, and the Politics of Radicalization in Palestine and Northern Ireland" (2009). Honors Theses. Paper 460.https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/honorstheses/460
Copyright
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