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Civil Conflict Negotiation and the Content of Ethnic Identity Western Washington University Western CEDAR WWU Graduate School Collection WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship 2010 Can this wait? Civil conflict negotiation and the content of ethnic identity David E. Lebowitz Western Washington University Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Lebowitz, David E., "Can this wait? Civil conflict negotiation and the content of ethnic identity" (2010). WWU Graduate School Collection. 29. https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/29 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in WWU Graduate School Collection by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CAN THIS WAIT? CIVIL CONFLICT NEGOTIATION AND THE CONTENT OF ETHNIC IDENTITY By David E. Lebowitz Accepted in Partial Completion Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Moheb A. Ghali, Dean of the Graduate School ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chair, Dr. Amir Abedi Dr. Bidisha Biswas Dr. Niall Ó Murchú MASTER’S THESIS In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master‟s degree at Western Washington University, I grant to Western Washington University the non- exclusive royalty-free right to archive, reproduce, distribute, and display the thesis in any and all forms, including electronic format, via any digital library mechanisms maintained by WWU. I represent and warrant this is my original work, and does not infringe or violate any rights of others. I warrant that I have obtained written permissions from the owner of any third party copyrighted material included in these files. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of this work, including but not limited to the right to use all or part of this work in future works, such as articles or books. Library users are granted permission for individual, research and non-commercial reproduction of this work for educational purposes only. Any further digital posting of this document requires specific permission from the author. Any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, is not allowed without my written permission. David E. Lebowitz February 3, 2010 CAN THIS WAIT? CIVIL CONFLICT NEGOTIATION AND THE CONTENT OF ETHNIC IDENTITY A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Western Washington University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts By David E. Lebowitz February 2010 ABSTRACT Current approaches to the negotiated resolution of ethnic civil conflict either ignore or negate the impact of the content of ethnic identities on the negotiation process, or alternatively assume without sufficient evidence that violent conflict is caused by conflicting ethnic narratives. Based upon a comparison of the Israeli-Palestinian and Northern Ireland conflicts and negotiation processes, this thesis suggests a third perspective. While the evidence does not support the contention that conflicting ethnic narratives cause violent civil conflict to occur, identity-based issues can present tremendous barriers to negotiated agreement. The postponement of the central identity-based issue was critical to the success of the Northern Ireland peace process, and the inclusion of such issues for permanent resolution was equally critical to the failure of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. These findings suggest that the postponement of permanently resolving such issues until after the cause of conflict is addressed may offer a more promising strategy for ending violent civil conflict than alternatives hitherto explored. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My most sincere appreciation goes to my committee chair, Amir Abedi, for his assistance in refining my thesis topic, his constructive criticism of my drafts, and his unyielding encouragement throughout this process. I am indebted to Bidisha Biswas for always providing me with honest advice, for guiding me through the early stages of developing a thesis topic, and helping me maintain its focus. I am also especially grateful to Niall Ó Murchú for directing me to some excellent sources that were integral to my case studies. I also received much invaluable insight and advice from scholars at other universities that was critical to this thesis. Most importantly, I must thank Rashid Khalidi, Yael Zerubavel, and particularly I. William Zartman for the interest he took in my work. I would like to thank the Department of Political Science at Western Washington University and the donors to the Public Affairs Research Fund Scholarship for their generous financial assistance throughout my graduate studies. Neither could I have completed this thesis without the financial and moral support of my wonderful parents, to whom I will never be able to adequately express my gratitude. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................v Chapter 1: Introduction ..............................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: The Negotiated Resolution of Ethnic Civil Conflict ................................................4 Chapter 3: Case Selection ..........................................................................................................8 Case 1: Israel-Palestine ........................................................................................................10 The Content of Jewish Israeli Identity..............................................................................10 The Content of Palestinian Identity ..................................................................................16 Conflicting Elements of Identity in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict ................................23 Case 2: Northern Ireland ......................................................................................................24 The Content of Irish Catholic Identity..............................................................................24 The Content of Ulster Protestant Identity .........................................................................29 Conflicting Elements of Identity in the Northern Ireland Conflict ..................................35 Chapter 4: Assessing the Cause of Ethnic Civil Conflict ........................................................36 Methodology ........................................................................................................................36 Case 1: A Historical Background to the Intifada .................................................................37 What Caused the Intifada? ................................................................................................45 Case 2: A Historical Background to the Troubles ................................................................48 What Caused the Troubles? ..............................................................................................57 What Causes Ethnic Civil Conflict? .....................................................................................58 Chapter 5: Assessing the Impact of Inclusion Versus Postponement of Identity-Based Issues .......................................................................................................60 vi The Negotiation Process: Designing a Formula ...................................................................60 Methodology ........................................................................................................................62 Case 1: The Israeli-Palestinian Negotiation Process ............................................................64 The Impact of Inclusion Versus Postponement in Israel-Palestine ..................................83 Case 2: The Northern Ireland Negotiation Process ..............................................................89 The Impact of Inclusion Versus Postponement in Northern Ireland ..............................108 Comparison of the Israeli-Palestinian and Northern Ireland Negotiations ........................112 Chapter 6: Conclusion............................................................................................................114 Bibliography ..........................................................................................................................117 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The negotiated resolution of ethnic civil conflicts1 is one of the greatest challenges facing the international community in the post-Cold War era.2 Yet current approaches either ignore or negate the impact of the content of ethnic identities on the negotiation process, or alternatively assume without sufficient evidence that violent conflict is caused by conflicting ethnic narratives. A new approach to ethnic civil conflict negotiation is therefore needed that does not fall into either of these traps. Research indicates that participants in violent political conflicts often react differently when asked to make concessions on identity-based issues as opposed to issues unrelated to the content of their ethnic identities. It has been demonstrated that rewards and punishments do not facilitate concession on these issues as they do with other issues. In fact, the offering
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