Tuesday, November 20, 2007

180 Signatures

We continue with the aftermath of Keith Johnson's pathetic diatribe against Euskera, the Basque language.

This appeared at EITb:

Life

Answer to the Wall Street Journal

180 professionals refute Basque is "little suited to" modern life

11/19/2007

After an article by the Wall Street Journal on the Basque language caused an uproar, researchers, writers, professors and journalists representing 20 institutions in eight countries sign a letter refuting the article.

180 individuals representing twenty different institutions, media and universities in eight different countries have sent a letter to the U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal whose paramount objective is to correct the misinformation and inaccuracies of an article written by Keith Johnson regarding the Basque language. The signatories to the letter believe a resolute and official retraction is appropriate and required from the Wall Street Journal and demand it is given the same status that Keith Johnson's article: front page status.

The signatories show in a five-pages long letter that Basque is perfectly suited to contemporary life, including to science, unlike what Johnson points out in his article.

The professionals behind the letter include University professors from the Basque Country, Valencia, Madrid, Argentina, California, Mexico, Boise or Venezuela, Basque engineers working at technology industries, people working at the edge of technology in the Aeronautic industry or even revolutionary scientists like Pedro Miguel Etxenike.

Writers such as Bernardo Atxaga, who has had his novels written in Basque language translated into more than 30 languages, or prominent politicians such as Pete Cenarrusa, former Secretary of State of Idaho (1967-2003) sign the letter. There are also lawyers, journalists or bertsolaris who take issue with Jonhson's article.

You can read the whole text sent on Sunday to the Wall Street Journal in eitb24.com.


Information came to us that both Keith Johnson and his wife have attended FAES (Aznar's extreme right think tank) conferences, my guess is that Rupert Murdoch is footing the bill.

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