While providing strong evidence that education can contribute to ethnic violence in influential ways, the findings of the Sri Lankan and Cypriot case studies do not necessarily apply to a larger set of cases. Additional analysis is needed to explore whether the educational mechanisms help explain ethnic violence in a broader array of cases. The case studies in this chapter pursue this objective.

The first case explores ethno-nationalist violence between Palestinians and Israelis but focuses on Palestinian militants. I selected the case because the Palestinian territories strongly fits the statistical findings, as it has very high levels of education relative to its economy and very ineffective political institutions. Moreover, unlike Sri Lanka and Cyprus, data exist on the level of education of Palestinians who were directly involved in violence. I therefore analyze the education of individuals who participated in ethno-nationalist violence against Israelis and explore whether the educational mechanisms shaped their participation.