There are no counter-examples
One may have examined my last two posts and scratched their head and said to themselves "Well, what about..." I can only find one serious counter-example, which I address
here. I will now address the most obvious examples which might lead one to wonder if there is a linguistic base to terrorism. Before I get into the examples, please simply imagine how easily negotiations fall apart over small miscommunications, even when both sides are speaking the same language.
Country |
Issue |
Language |
Israel | Palestinians | Most Palestinians speak Hebrew. Few Israelis speak Arabic. Palestinians have to know two languages just to get by in their "own" country. Imagine having to understand a Russian immigrant in the IDF yelling orders in his accent-ridden Hebrew. Remember, your life is on the line. A tribe from Peru was also made honorary Israelis. Their Hebrew must also be interesting. |
Colombia | FARC & ELN | This case is mostly about the drug war, however, the concerns of indigenous populations, speakers of Native American languages, have been adopted by the "terrorists." |
Mexico | Chiapas | Again, the Chiapas rebels adopted the concerns of local Native American speakers, who are most numerous, of all Mexican States, in terms of percentages, in Chiapas. |
Switzerland | Four languages | The first three, and next eight, Swiss Cantons, spoke German. All but one of the non-German speaking Cantons were conquered by Switzerland, or attached by outside powers. The law in Switzerland is published in German, French, Italian and Rhaeto-Romansh. This is one of the more stable countries on Earth. |
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