Settlers in Contested Lands

This book deals with the very important, yet until now neglected, phenomenon of settlers in disputed territories. Settlers feature in many protracted territorial disputes and ethnic conflicts around the world. Explaining the dynamics of the politics of settlers in contested territories in several contemporary cases, the book illuminates how settler-related conflicts emerge, evolve, and are significantly more difficult to resolve than other disputes. Written by country experts, the cases include Israel and the West Bank, Arab settlers in Iraqi Kurdistan, Moroccan settlers in Western Sahara, settlers from Fascist Italy in North Africa, Turkish settlers in Cyprus, Indonesian settlers in East Timor, and Sinhalese settlers in Sri Lanka. While they have many similar characteristics, these cases also exhibit key differences in levels of settler mobilization and the impact of settlers on peace processes that help explain different outcomes of settler-related conflicts. By addressing four common topics (right-sizing the state; mobilization and violence; the framing process; and legal principles versus pragmatism), when taken together the cases raise interrelated questions concerning the role of settlers in conflict in contested territory. They examine particular discourses and framing contexts of the settler problem and how they influence the overall impact of settlers in peace processes. Finally, they investigate the causes of settler mobilization and identify relevant conflict resolution mechanisms.