Introduction to Separatist Terrorism

Separatists seek nationalist aims, usually desiring to secure self-determination or home-rule for a certain faction or geographic community. Separatist terrorists (also called nationalist terrorists) use acts of terror to force the creation of a new state, or to join with another existing nation with which the separatist community is closely aligned.

Many groups who engage in separatist terrorism claim that they are neither extremists nor terrorists, but are rebels or freedom fighters. Separatist groups successfully garner international attention and sometimes even sympathy for their causes. Separatist actions that use violence against unarmed citizens who are not directly related to the conflict, however, constitutes terrorism.

The editors have chosen several articles that focus on separatist terrorism in Russia, Israel, Spain, and Ireland. Both the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) have used terrorist violence to promote separatism. However, ETA supports the creation of a new, Basque state independent from Spain while the IRA wishes to dissolve British rule and unite Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic. The Basque conflict is driven by ethnic conflict; the conflict over Northern Ireland is fueled by religious tensions. The Russian-Chechen and Palestinian-Israeli conflicts are propelled by both ethnic and religious tensions.

The primary sources included deal with specific instances of terrorism committed by separatist groups. The editors acknowledge that the nature of nationalist-separatist groups is complex, and that such groups may cycle through stages of legitimacy as revolutionary forces and illegitimacy as terrorist networks. For example, this chapter features a series of articles on the IRA that charts its legacy from the Irish Revolution to the latest terrorist actions of its newest splinter groups. The chapter also covers separatist, anti-colonial violence in Africa and Asia during the 1940s–1960s. In all cases, the editors' primary goal is to provide primary sources that will allow the reader to form their own opinion about these complex issues.