Nationalist Movements - Essay Example

? Nationalist Movements Nationalist Movements, Comparison & Contrast Essay on the Northern Ireland and Israeli-Palestinian Conflicts In most part of human history, there have been attempts for liberation and search for establishment of political independence for a national people. This scenario was and is still evident especially in regions and nations that were or are under some form of control by others such as under colonization. At the centre of attempts for liberation and establishment of political independence for a national people have been nationalist movements. Gerard and Krishan (2006) define nationalist movement as a group of people that is organized around a particular issue or a set of issues and is often a struggle expression of a group of people seeking political, social, and economic independence and benefits. In order to achieve the goals of the movement, those involved in it usually undertake activities and actions and apply consistent descriptive phrases or labels. The major objective of nationalist movements is to create national identity for a ‘nation’. In most cases, it aims at protecting or establishing an autonomous state for particular identities such as cultural, ethnic, race, language, or religious, or a combination of some or all of these identities (Kate, 2001). National movements consider some elements of their nation as natural and long standing; therefore they intend to maintain these elements, thereby reacting to any foreign elements with an intention to expel them. This discussion will consider nationalist movements and make a comparison and contrast in regard to the Northern Ireland and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. It will discuss the claims presented to justify each movement’s objectives. Additionally, it will analyze the attempt at nation- building using at least two theoretical perspectives. Besides, it will discuss the special challenges or resistance; success or failure of each movement and the implications thereof for understanding of national movements. National movements in Northern Ireland have been entrenched for quite a long time. Generally, since the late 12th century, Ireland has been ruled by England at varying degrees. As a result, nationalist movements arose to seek for identity of Irish people and culture. Berberoglu (1995) observes that Ireland was a country that had been constantly resettled and invaded. In the 12th century, Normans having invaded southern Britain gave way to the British colonization cycle where Ireland became one of the colonies; Ireland, specifically the North has an imperial relationship with Britain up to this day. This imperial relationship has had social, economic, cultural, and political effects on North Ireland and its people (McKittrick & McVea, 2002). This situation has not gone down well with most of the North Ireland people who most of them view it necessary to seek their own identity in all the aforementioned aspects. Due to this, North Ireland is still struggling to be a modern state with its unique, productive, and distinct culture. The nationalist struggle for independence in Northern Ireland gained force in the 19th century’s latter half. It is important to note that prior to the split of Ireland, Ireland have had numerous nationalist struggles. McKittrick and McVea (2002) cite the following as some of the most notable Ireland nationalist struggles. The first was early nationalism that was associated with Grattan and O’Connel and was seeking more autonomy from the England parliament. The second nationalist movement was the Young Ireland and Repeal Association that propagated for Irish nationalism. It is during this period that the militant republican movement known as the Irish Republican Brotherhood emerged. This movement was demanding that British withdraw from Ireland. The other notable and famous Ireland nationalist movement was the Land League. This movement was mobilizing towards fair land distribution in Ireland and agitated for tenant rights. The land league movement believed that the British had taken their ancestors land in an unjust manner (Valone & Bradbury, 2008). Additionally, there was cultural nationalism that gained prominence in the late 19th century onwards. This nationalist movement was committed to upholding and promoting the Gaelic Irish culture. The cultural nationalism resulted to sprouting of cultural nationalist movement such as the Celtic Revival which was initiated by writers and artists of Anglo- Irish background who wanted to further the Irish culture and individual native identity (McKittrick & McVea, 2002). Other movements that were involved in cultural nationalism in order to uphold and promote Irish culture and language were Gaelic Revival and Conradh na Gaeilge After the split of Ireland into Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland began to witness its own form of conflicts that brought about the need for nationalist struggle. Valone and Bradbury (2008) notes that, historically, Ireland and Northern Ireland to be specific has been a nation of nationalist struggles evidenced by numerous nationalist movements that have sprouted to move the agenda of political independence and cultural identity forward. This situation has not changed even in present times. Presently, Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, with a few nationalist preferring to be part of the united Ireland. It is critical to point out that nationalist as a term, is restricted to mean a tradition mostly political that is in favour of united Ireland which is independent, the independence of which should be achieved through non- violent means (Gerard & Krishan, 2006). History shows that nearly all the nationalists in Northern Irelands were and still are Catholics. The nationalist view that is there regarding Northern Ireland is that it was created out of the only Ireland part that had a Unionist and Protestant majority. However, there is a possibility that in an event of Catholics outnumber Protestants in the coming years; the majority of the Northern Ireland people may favour a united Ireland rather than an independent Northern Ireland (McKittrick & McVea, 2002). Contrary to this opinion, most notable nationalist movement in the Northern Ireland, Ulster nationalism, which was started in 1946 and is dominant up to date seeks Northern Ireland independence from the UK without uniting with the Republic of Ireland. The movement is seeking to make Northern Ireland an independent sovereign state which is separate from Wales, Scotland, and England (Valone and Bradbury, 2008). There are two main theoretical perspectives that explain the nationalist movements in Northern Ireland; functionalist theory by Gellner and Conflict theory by Marx. Umut (2010) explains that Gellner viewed nationalism as a principle of politics that presumes that the national and political unit must be coherent and that it has become an inevitable sociological need in the contemporary world. Therefore, there is need for the movements and the national government to work together to achieve the intended objectives of nationalism. Despite some challenges, it is evident that Northern Ireland movements and the national government are making attempts to reduce conflicts and attain the nation people’s wish of independence and sovereignty. That notwithstanding, conflict theory as espoused by Marx is evident; there is conflict between nationalists and the ‘outsiders’ and definitely conflict between nationalists and people of Northern Ireland and their masters, Great Britain. As noted by Marx, such conflicts emanates because of the desire to control others and in the process make a gain at the expense of those controlled (Umut, 2010). The conflicts between the antagonizing groups are basically because of the perceived gains or loss in the foreseeable future; this defeats the essence of nationalism and nationalist movements. That is why it can be deduced that there is a possibility that Northern Ireland may not achieve political independence and cultural identity which are the movements’ main objectives in the near future just as they have failed to achieve in the past. Just like most nationalist movements across the world, North Ireland nationalist movements have faced a number of challenges most of which are quite special. The first major challenge that should be noted is the fact that they have often failed to take into consideration the religious and cultural complexity and diversity of the people living in Northern Ireland. Valone and Bradbury (2008) argue that most of the North Ireland nationalists consider the diversity and complexity but the religious groupings especially most of the Protestants consider themselves as Britons hence beating the objective of the nationalism. The same can be said of the Catholics where some consider themselves as Britons but majority consider themselves Irish. Additionally, allegiance, group membership, and loyalty to nationalist movement is somewhat affected hence becoming a challenge to the nationalism among the movements in Northern Ireland; difference of unionist and nationalist perceptions and highly debated Irish identity have been attributed to lead to this situation (McKittrick & McVea , 2002). These challenges facing nationalist movements in Northern Ireland have made them not to achieve success in regard to their goals and have also dragged the time for attaining their aims. In regard to national movements in Israeli- Palestinian conflicts, it is no doubt that these movements have been part of this long- standing conflict and often influence the direction of the conflict. Tessler (1994) argues that Israeli- Palestinian conflict has a long history that dates back from the late 19th century to the present. Basically, the conflict is based on claims of ownership of some areas by both parties. The conflict has been fuelled by two major national movements namely the Zionism and the Arab nationalism. Specifically, Palestinian national movements’ emergence is dated to interwar period where the Palestinians were opposed to the Zionist immigration and ultimate settlement. They, therefore, responded against this move hence development of Palestinian nationalism that sought restoration of their ‘original land’ and their identity (International Humanity Foundation, 2010). Zionist movement was central to the return of the Jewish to the ‘Land of Israel’ as it sought the solution for the persecution of Jews in the Europe and Russia in the late 19th century. Zionist movement was established in 1897 as a political movement. The movement main objective was to ensure that a nation- state is established for the Jewish people in Palestine, hence, becoming the Jews of the World haven in addition to providing them with a place where they will have self- determination right. The Zionist movement encouraged immigration by mobilizing funding through and utilizing funds from Jewish National Fund and the World Zionist Organization. The funds were used in purchasing land which was in the Palestine region from the (British & Ottoman rule Tessler, 1994). On the other hand, Arab nationalism was dominant during the Ottoman rule. The Arab leaders in the region around Palestine had identified that Zionists were having ambitions that could threaten their existence and that of their territory. Berberoglu (1995) says that this perception was due to certain activities and developments that were taking place in the region such as Jewish acquisition of Arab land for settlement that led to displacement of fellaheen from the lands that they were using for their farming activities. Such incidences only served to increase tension between the Jewish and the Palestinians in the region as the later felt that their land was being dispossessed. International Humanity Foundation (2010) identifies two main Palestinian National movements that are dominant in present day and have significant impacts on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. These two movements are Fatah and Hamas. Fatah is not based so much on fundamentalism but rather represents some aspects of secularism and is capable of making a democratic transformation. According to the Democratic State Demand that the movement made in 1969/1970, the movement objective is to free Palestinian land from occupation by Zionists so as to recover their identity Tessler (1994). In the demand, the movement explained that Fatah was not against the Jews as a religious and ethnic community, but rather was struggling against them because of the expansionist, racist, and colonial system. Also, the demand stated that the final objective of their movement’s struggle was to restore the independence of the democratic Palestine State where all citizens, irrespective of religion, will enjoy equal rights. The second major Palestinian movement is the Hamas which considers Islam as the solution to the regions problems. The movement involves Jihadism in confronting those they perceive as the Palestinian oppressors- the Jewish. They also intend to repossess the land they believe was taken away from them by the Jewish (Tessler, 1994). According to the movement’s charter of 1988, they aim at raising flag on Palestinian every inch. The movement believes that their struggle against the Jewish is a struggle for justice, a struggle against injustice in order to regain their homeland. Apart from that, the movement aims at instilling patriotism among the people of Palestine as part of their religious belief. They sum the charter by stating that liberation of Palestine through jihad is each person’s obligation. In their latest political program of 2005/2006, the movement list their main goal as sovereign, independent, and free Palestinian state on the entire territory of Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, and the West Bank without ceasing even a single inch of their original Palestine land (International Humanity Foundation, 2010). The movement justifies their goal by saying that Palestine is part of Islamic and Arab countries, and therefore, they should end Jewish occupation of their land and establish their own independent state and its capital will be Jerusalem. It is worth noting that apart from seeking the aforementioned goals, Hamas movement is also working on the following programs; social policy, international relations, educational policy, religious education, and cultural and media policy among others. The attempt of nation- building is very clear in the nationalist movements involved in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. As a matter of fact, all the movements involved are or were directly intending to build the nation. The two theoretical perspectives regarding the same are nation-building mythology from Anderson functionalist perspective and Marx’s conflict theory perspective. Anderson argues that nation- building is more of invention of stories than true narratives (Kate, 2001). He further argues that the nationalists’ intentions are most likely guided by the internal conventions and premises of present autobiography and biography. Inj explaining his position he talks of nationalism in official terms that it entails multiethnic empires. In the case of Israeli- Palestine conflict, it is true that the modern form of nationalist movement is inspired by the narratives of the past. Those involved in the Palestinian movement have been told stories of how the Zionist movement took over their historical land and occupied hence the need for reposition regardless of the means of achieving that end. On the other hand, the Zionists believe that it was right for the Jews to return to the ‘Land of Israel’ because that is where they belong and are entitled to, historically. In regard to Marx’s theoretical perspective, the movements are based on the need to control the means of production which in this case is land. Kate (2001) argues that every nation aims at making itself productive and wealthy in order to meet its people’s needs and have control on other less wealthy nations as well; as such, they are always motivated with the desire to own th means of production and control production processes. The conflict between Israel and Palestine is about land ownership; each party claims ownership of the land in addition to intending to expend the territories further in order to have an expanded factor of production that is land. Such control will facilitate ability of either of the nation to meet its people’s needs and enlarge its economic prospects (Umut, 2010). Movements from both the Palestinian and Israeli sides have had their share of challenges although the nature of challenges differs. Gerard and Krishan (2006) note that Palestinian movement challenges comes mostly from the Western countries who perceive these movements as terrorist groups who are threat to international peace and security. As a result, these movements’ agendas have not been embraced by Western countries and most of international community hence making slow progress towards achievement of its agenda. In fact, most countries have backed Israel in the conflict. Similarly, the Zionist has not won the support of Arab countries who consider the movement evil. Even though this has not affected the movement from achieving and maintaining its objectives, it has continued to aggravate tensions in the Middle East (International Humanity Foundation, 2010). Lastly, it is evidently clear that nationalist movements were and are still paramount in facilitating nations’ search of political independence and liberate their people from any kind of oppression. Most movements have many similarities and a few contrasts. In the case of nationalist movements in Northern Ireland and Israeli- Palestinian conflicts this is evidenced by the fact that they all seek political independence of their respective nations. They have all set objectives and strategies of achieving these objectives. However, they are different in a number of respects. The movements in Northern Ireland seek independence but in peaceful ways whereas movements in Israeli- Palestinian conflict seek political independence through violence especially considering the case of Hamas movement in Palestine that uses jihad to achieve its ends. Another contrast that can be observed is that movements in Northern Ireland differ with some section of the nation’s population regarding independence as a separate country from Republic of Ireland or independence when in unity with Republic of Ireland. This is not the case in Israeli- Palestinian conflict where the movements and the populations are not divided on the objectives. References Berberoglu, B. (1995). The National Question: Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Self- determination in the 20th Century. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press. Gerard, D., & Krishan, K. (2006). The Sage Handbook of Nations and Nationalism. London: Sage Publications. International Humanity Foundation. (2010). Nations and Nationalism. Harvard Asia Pacific Review, Vol. 6, Issue 1. Kate, N. (2001). The Blackwell Companion to Political Sociology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley- Blackwell. McKittrick, D., and McVea, D. (2002). Making Sense of the Troubles: The Story of the Conflict in Northern Ireland. New Amsterdam Books. Tessler, M. (1994). A History of the Arab- Israeli Conflict. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Umut, O. (2010). Theories of Nationalism: A Critical Introduction. New York: Palgrave. Valone, D., & Bradbury, J. (2008). Anglo- Irish Identities. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press. Read More