ETA's Ceasefire, The End of Spanish Colonialism?

That could very well be the title for Joe Gandelman's post about the decision by ETA to give peace a chance in the resolution of the Basque conflict. He instead called it "Basque ETA's Permanent Cease Fire: The End Of Basque Terrorism?".

I know I said I was not going to waste any ink on the posts by ill informed Americans regarding the issue of the ceasefire.

But there is one thing you can not call Joe Gandelman, and that is that he is ill informed.

He is very knowledgeable about a lot of issues, including the Basque conflict. The problem with his post seems to be on the point of view he choses in this case. Yes, being moderate can be tricky when it comes to a centuries long drive for self determination.

More so, his opinion in this matter sheds light on a simple fact, Americans do not take the side of the underdog anymore.

But lets cut to the chase.

For starters, the opening question:

Has Spain finally seen the day that many Spaniards have prayed for? Is the era of Basque terrorism finally over?

Maybe the Spaniards should pray so they can leave behind their colonialist past, and also to make sure that the people they elect to public charges do not use their power to repress an entire nation. Violence generates violence, and Madrid has the upper hand when it comes to who is responsible for the bloodshed in the Basque Country for the last 500 years.

Then he gets into the business of making the king look good:

During the final months of the Franco government, ETA was Enemy Number One. And, indeed, ETA literally changed Spain's history forever when in 1973 it killed prime minister Carrero Blanco by planting a massive bomb under his travel route on a street in central Madrid. Franco had planned on Blanco as his successor. So he had to instead choose Prince Juan Carlos — who proved to be a democrat at heart and what Spaniards called "the motor of change" in transitioning Spain to democracy and helping integrate it into the European community.

If the king was such a democrat at heart, then there was only one thing to do at the death of his master; renounce to the crown and go hide somewhere. Let me remind you here and now that if Juan Carlos is the head of a monarchy today is thanks to the actions of people like Francisco Franco and Adolph Hitler.

And just to say it plain and simple, democracy and monarchy are not two concepts that you can mix, they oppose each other on the basis of what they stand for.

What is funny is that there is so many out there that are willing to call Spain a democracy. Would you describe a country in which you can go to jail for speaking your own language a democracy?

Spain as a democracy has closed down schools, worker unions, news papers and political parties just because.

That can not be considered a democracy, unless you see it from the view point of someone that comes from a country were people feels perfectly fine with something called the Patriot Act.

Now check this paragraph:

Once Franco died it became clear that Basque separatism was not going to go away, even as the new government began to give more autonomy to Spain's various regions. Predictions that the Basque separatists could be brought into negotiations and eventually work with Basque moderates seemingly fizzled. There were periodic announcements of truces. And then it'd be bloody business as usual.

Here you have the classic media non sense. The Basque drive for self determination has nothing to do with separatism. What the Basques desire is independence, pretty much what the USA got from England. And the move by the bulk of the Basque society towards their right to self determination can not be shoved in some file under ETA's armed struggle. I can go into some generalizations about Americans that would include the KKK and Timothy McVeigh.

And Spain can do as it pleases when it comes to giving more autonomy to Spain's various regions, they are welcomed to do so. What they can not do is to dictate the future of the occupied nations of Navarre (the Basque Country), Catalunya and Galiza.

The right of those nations to their self determination is protected by the UN Charter, the same piece of paper that gave the Jews the chance to have their nation, Israel.

Don't expect the right-wing Israelis and the right-wing Jews to defend this right to the self determination of all nations, after all, that would require for them to accept the existance of Palestine and the Palestinian people, and that takes a huge amount of courage.

And now, the kicker:

Still, as the news reports suggest, Spaniards have had their hopes raised many times when it comes to ETA, only to resign themselves that domestic terrorism would not go away. Will it be truly different this time?

Joe, don't ask ETA, they already did the right thing.

Go ask Mariano Rajoy, José María Aznar, Angel Acebes and all the other PP members who made sure that all the crimes commited by the Francoist would go unpunished, but that today are very eager to put all kinds of roadblocks in front of the Basque nationalists and the members of today's Spanish government willing to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Because that is something that many people around the world forget about this young democracy in Spain, that not a single Francoist was ever put to trial for the crimes commited against people of all the nations that conform Spain.

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