Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Little Has Changed

I found this article of opinion by a Professor Will Fowler at News Scotsman:

Healing wounds of Spain's past

Published Date: 28 September 2008

WITH reference to Gerald Warner's column about Spain's law of historical memory ('Digging up a history of murder and propaganda', Comment, September 21), the Spanish Civil War and the Franco era – a period of history that spans nearly four decades – was to prove deeply traumatic for the people of Spain. It resulted in a death toll estimated at between 500,000 and one million people and the exile of approximately 700,000 Spaniards.

Under Franco, and between 1939 and 1950, a further 875,000 Spaniards were imprisoned and, in many cases, disappeared, in concentration camps that, until recently, had been a "secreto a voces" (a secret that was known about but only uttered in private). There were no elections, the press was censored, the "other" languages of Spain (Basque, Catalan and Galician) were banned; Masons, Jews and Communists were officially persecuted, and the repression meted out by the Guardia Civil was brutal and systematic.

Franco was not overthrown. Once he died of natural causes on November 20, 1975, it was the members of his own regime who, in liaison with the formerly banned opposition parties, negotiated Spain's transition to democracy. It was to prove an extremely successful transition. However, the success of the Spanish Transition was in great part due to the pact of silence that enveloped the entire process. Spaniards were not given a say on whether the crimes committed against humanity under the Franco regime should go unpunished. They were not even allowed to find out what had happened to their disappeared relatives.

It was with a view to face up to the past that the Spanish parliament started to discuss the possibility of passing a Law of Historical Memory in 2006.

It is a law that aims to "contribute to close the wounds that are still open", recognise the rights of those who suffered under the Franco regime, award moral and financial compensation and facilitate the search for missing relatives.

Most Spaniards hope this law does precisely that. So that never again are people imprisoned, tortured or killed for political reasons. Readers would do well to bear in mind this perspective and to question the credibility of a commentator like Mr Warner who justified the bombing of Guernica, described Picasso's Guernica as "grisly daub", called the democratically-elected Second Republic an "obscenity", its defenders a "gang of butchers", and referred to the agreed exhumation of Federico García Lorca's body as a "stupidity".

Professor Will Fowler, Department of Spanish, University of St Andrews


Although he is right in 99% of what he says I would like to ask what is the measure of success that he uses for Spain experiencing a transition not from an era (as he calls Franco's murderous regime) to a democracy but from a dictatorship to a monarchy.

Gladly enough someone by the name of Rafa Tarrat commenting from Euskal Herria wrote this:

Er... well. Spain does not seem having changed so much from Franco's time. Spain now bans political parties not because they do something forbidden, but because they do not declare what Spanish (ultranationalist) authorities want them to declare. Four have been banned, all them being Basque nationalist parties. Elections called under such conditions are far from being democratic. Spanish government closes newspapers and radios for political reasons. We have seen two dailies, one radio and several magazines die in that way. Basque, Catalan and Galician tongues, despite their apparent officiality, cannot been used in statal instances, even if they are located territorially on Basque, Catalan or Galician ground. The Civil Guard continues torturing Basque arrested suspects, or even not suspects, it is enough to be Basque and young. Several arrested have died under Civil Guards sophisticated methods, the responsibles being condecorated. Do not think all that happened only in Franco's days. Suarez, Gonzalez, Aznar and Zapatero have done nothing to stop that; in fact, they have been the best impulsors. Spanish constitution orders to the army to repress any secession, even if that secession has come after a democratic process. Judge Garzon has done nothing to stop torture inside Spain's borders.

Please, help us!


I agree with Rafa.

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TVE to Finance Basque Film

This is strange, TVE will "sistematically" endorse Euskara-spoken movies according to this note published at Variety:

Duo to cook up Basque 'Kitchen'

Spain's TVE, EITB team on culinary film

By John Hopewell

MADRID -- Spanish pubcaster TVE and Basque state TV network EITB are teaming to finance Basque-language "Sukalde kontuak" (Kitchen Stories) with industry vet Angel Amigo producing for Juan Luis Ezkurra's San Sebastian-based Zurriola Group.

Directed by Basque dramatist-TV director Aizpea Goenaga, "Kitchen" stars Basque actors Isidoro Fernandez and Ramon Aguirre.

Pic is set at a Basque school for young chefs and gently satirizes the region's pride and devotion to its local gastronomy. One central irony is that none of the students really want to be a chef.

"Instead of churches, we have gastronomic clubs, and instead of priests, chefs," Amigo told Daily Variety at the San Sebastian Festival, which wrapped on Saturday.

Further financing looks set to come from Spain's Ministry of Culture. TVE will take international rights to "Kitchen."

Pic is one of the first features made under TVE's new drive into regional-language production. TVE has financed Basque-language films before but this is the first time it will do so systematically.

TVE head of cinema, Gustavo Ferrada, said that the pubcaster would also co-finance Marc Recha's Catalan-language "Petit Indi" and Angel de la Cruz's "Los muertos van deprisa," partly shot in Galician.


And Catalan and Galizan films too, I say those guys in TVE are up to something.

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Basque-phobe of the Week : Louise Lemelin

The doubtful honor of "Basque-phobe of the week" goes to a pro-torture Canadian judge by the name of Louise Lemelin.

She has decided to deny the right to habeas corpus to Basque political prisoner Ivan Apaolaza, by doing so Lemelin tells the world that the law in Canada is not for everyone, just like in South Africa back during the Apartheid regime.

Here you have the note from The Canadian Press:
5 hours ago

MONTREAL — A Quebec judge has denied a bid for freedom by an alleged Basque terror suspect who faces deportation.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Louise Lemelin ruled Tuesday she would not hear a motion for a writ of habeas corpus from Ivan Apaolaza Sancho's lawyers. Lemelin would not hear the motion because Sancho is not a Canadian citizen.

His lawyers say that means their client is denied his only recourse to fight what they call an unlawful 15-month detention based on evidence obtained through torture.

Lead lawyer William Sloan said in an interview he'll appeal Lemelin's decision.

"When it says everyone in the charter with respect to rights to habeas corpus, it means everyone except immigrants," Sloan said sarcastically.

"We have two different legal systems, one for human beings and one for immigrants who don't quite make it because they don't have the right to habeas corpus."

Sloan has argued the government's case against Sancho is based on evidence obtained through torture and should be thrown out.

Sancho is wanted by Spanish authorities in connection with a series of car bombings linked to ETA, a Basque separatist group.

Sancho admits to being part of the Basque nationalist movement, but denies having any ties to the group.

He faces deportation to Spain where, his supporters say, he faces the risk of being tortured. Canadian immigration officials ordered Sancho deported in May.

"Once again, Canada's courts are legitimizing evidence obtained by torture," Sancho said in a statement.

"I can only hope that Canadians of good conscience continue to speak out against this continued injustice, in my case, and in the case of others.

He has been in detention since June 2007 after the RCMP arrested him while aboard a ferry near Quebec City.

While an Immigration and Refugee Board commissioner rejected some federal evidence that appeared to be obtained through torture, he ruled there was more than enough additional evidence, including police warrants and affidavits, showing Sancho had ties to ETA.

Sloan has argued much of this evidence should be stricken.

A pre-removal risk assessment must still be performed before Sancho can be deported.

Sloan says he plans to revive his argument about evidence obtained through torture at that point.

"(The Immigration and Refugee Board) is just looking at the consequences of the deportation, so its position is going to be whether or not the evidence was obtained through torture.

"The only thing that counts is whether he'll be tortured or killed when he gets back."

Sancho had lived under a number of aliases using forged documents since arriving in Canada in 2001.

He lived mainly in the Vancouver area, rooming initially with Victor Tejedor Bilbao, another alleged Basque terrorist living illegally in Canada who was deported in June.

Sancho moved to Montreal in late 2006.

Has anyone in Canada inquired in Spain about what ever happened to Victor Tejedor, has he been charged? Remember, many Basques that have been extradited to Spain are now free without ever being charged, but only after spending at least four years in jail. Such totalitarian behaviour is the one that Louise Lemelin is endorsing with her decision.

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Eskubideak : Defence and Special Courts and Laws

We just received this announcement via email:

Dear colleagues,

The next 24th and 25th of October will take place at the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados del Señorío de Bizkaia (Bizkaia Bar Association), in Bilbao, the Conference "The right to a defence vs. Special Courts and Laws", organized by AED-EDL, Eskubideak and the Basque Council of Lawyers.

The ojectives and aims to discuss will be: To identify exceptional measures in an international context and their impact on human rights and fundamental freedoms. The position of the legal community on this situation. Assessment of a specific situation in relation to the Basque context. To identify exceptional measures and their implementation in relation to civil and political rights. Academic assessment. A lawyer’s professional activity, faced with exceptionality. The role of lawyers, who must demand a justice system that respects human rights as the only framework in which it is possible to exercise the Right to a Defence. Criminalization of lawyers’ professional activity. Mechanisms for the protection of lawyers in their professional activity –defending the defence counsel.

Through this message we would like to invite you to this Conference and to spread the invitation to any lawyer, jurist and person that could be interested in the matter.

There will be simultaneus translation to Basque, Spanish, French and English.

Best regards,

Communication office of Eskubideak




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Monday, September 29, 2008

Energy Forum at BEC

This note comes to us via EITb:

Bilbao Exhibition Centre to host European Future Energy Forum

09/29/2008

The Centre has been chosen by organizer 'Turret Middle East' to host a meeting which is scheduled to take place next year from the 9th to the 11th of June.

As from 2009, the Bilbao Exhibition Centre is to add another international event to its calendar: the Centre has been chosen by organizer Turret Middle East to host the European Future Energy Forum, the first edition of which is scheduled to take place next year. In the final stage of the selection process, Bilbao completed with Copenhagen, Reykjavik and Frankfurt for the honour of staging the European edition of what has become a strategic event following on from the first World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) in January this year.

The candidature of the Bilbao Exhibition Centre was part of a package which included support from the Basque government, the Department of Innovation and Economic Promotion of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, Bilbao City Hall, Bilbao Convention Bureau and Destino Bilbao. The city's selection is made all the more significant by the standard of the other candidates short listed: Germany is Europe’s leading player for renewable energy sources in terms of consumption, output and technological advances, Denmark is the world's leading producer of wind power and Iceland boasts exceptional geological and geothermal resources.

The balance was tipped in favour of Bilbao by the level of investment in the country, the extraordinary recent growth in renewable energy sources, the prominent position of the Basque Country in the field, with strong support from business and institutions, and the success of Gastech 2005, an event which broke records at the Exhibition Centre.

World Future Energy Summit

The first ever World Future Energy Summit featured 220 exhibitors and attracted over 11,000 visitors from 77 countries, including royalty, heads of state, energy and environment ministers, top entrepreneurs and other high-ranking personalities.

In the wake of the success of the summit, and seeking to provide a global benchmark event for policies on energy, investment development and alternative, renewable infrastructures, organising firm Turret Middle East decided to organise a forum outside the Near East every two years, so as to extend the brand to a broader geographical area.

As a result, the Bilbao Exhibition Centre will host a biennial blend of commercial exhibitions and technical seminars on renewable energy sources and their application. This is an area which is undergoing spectacular growth, involving specialists from the fields of energy, architecture and finance.

Organizers with proven prestige

Turret is an English-based firm with broad experience as an event organizer in many different sectors all over the world. It has also maintained links with RAI, DMG and Reed Exhibitions among others, so its representatives work at the highest possible levels. Around 18 months ago it established a subsidiary in Abu Dhabi (to cover the Middle East market), where it has already organised five fairs in the fields of recycling, foodstuffs and renewable energy sources, all of them highly successful. The firm's prestige and track record in organising specialist events means that expectations are high for the success of this fair at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre, aimed at the energy market.


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Saturday, September 27, 2008

Protest in Baiona

Basque activists and Xabi Larralde, spokesman for pro-Basque independence party Batasuna, walk behind a banner which reads, "Recognize and Respect the Basque country" as they demonstrate in the centre of Baiona, Euskal Herria, September 27, 2008.

The demonstration was organized to protest the operation against members of Batasuna where 12 people were arrested.

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Update On Raid In Iparralde

Just a couple of days ago the mean stream media (news corporations key to the propaganda effort by Spain against the Basque people) was calling those arrested in the pre-dawn raids by French police by labels like "militants", "separatists", "leftists" and such.

Now that they are free without charges, they are just "people".

All 14 arrested in French Basque sweep freed without charge

Sat Sep 27, 2:49 AM ET

French authorities said Saturday 14 people arrested this week in a major operation within the Basque separatist movement in southwest France have been released after no charges were brought against them.

The 14 people -- not 12 as originally reported -- were released from custody "in stages starting Friday night into the early hours of Saturday," said the Paris prosecutor's office, which is in charge of anti-terrorism throughout France.

Seven of the arrests were in connection with the 2006 attack on the hotel in the southern French town of Bidarry and five others were part of a probe into the financing of Basque groups, a legal source in Paris had said on Wednesday.
The detainees had been held since Wednesday in several cities in the southwestern Basque region such as Bayonne and Pau and included two senior figures of the separatist political party Batasuna.


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Fascists Against Euskal Herria

It is not the first time Euskal Herria experiences the combined threat of fascist minded European "leaders". Back in 1936, Hitler and Mussolini in support of Franco attacked the Basque Country. Today a "democratically elected" minister by the name of Zapatero (in reality no more than the messenger boy for Juan Carlos Borbon, true successor to the afore mentioned Franco) is relying on France's Nicolas Sarkozy (the French version of George W. Bush) to clamp down on Euskal Herria's political rights.

This note you are about to read was published at France 24:

Spain looks to France for help against Basque separatists

Friday 26 September 2008

Spain is increasingly seeking France's help against the Basque nationalist groups ETA and Batasuna, which Spain considers the political arm of the terrorist ETA and which has been barred in Spain from taking part in elections since 2003.

By Adeline Percept, France 24 correspondent in Spain

Considered by the Spanish government to be the political branch of the terrorist organisation ETA, the Batasuna, Unity in the Basque language, party is in the cross-hairs of Spain's justice system and the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government.

The crackdown against the organisation intensified after June 2006, when the ceasefire agreement between the government and ETA was broken.

After the arrests on Wednesday, September 24, of 11 alleged members of Batasuna in the French Basque Country, Zapatero, said yesterday, while in New York for the UN General assembly, that he does "not exclude the possibility of asking France to ban Batasuna".

In a press release a couple of hours later, Javier Zaragoza, Spain's attorney general, is urging "unconditional collaboration in order to establish a penal process enabling the banning of Batasuna in France".

These statements come in the midst of violent retaliatory actions in Spain's Basque Country, where a police officer was killed in Santona (Cantabria) on September 22 in one of several attacks to take place over recent days.

The French-Spanish collaboration has proved to be the cornerstone in the fight against radical separatism.

"In the 80s, France viewed ETA as a Spanish problem." Antonio Elorza, a political expert at Madrid's Complutense University, told France 24. "In those days, members of ETA travelled to and fro between the two countries completely at their ease. Since his arrival in power, Nicolas Sarkozy has made a huge contribution to Spain's struggle against ETA."

Even if the French branch of Batasuna does play an important role in the organisation, it is less active than its Spanish counterpart.

"There's a big difference between Batasuna in France and in Spain," said Elorza. "Batasuna in Spain is clearly the political arm of ETA, like Sinn Fein and the IRA in Ireland. ETA is active in Spain and until now, 15% of the Basque population has supported the terrorist organisation. That's why ETA has a special rapport with Batasuna, a rapport which couldn't exist in France – popular support there is much more limited. So Batasuna's strategies are different on the two sides of the Pyrennees, but they are complementary."


Two relevant issues come out of this situation.

1) Spain and France are accepting that the so called "Basque conflict" is of an international nature since it involves two countries (with statehood) and one nation (without statehood). Therefore, according to the international treaties, the international community has the obligation to stop making up excuses for Spain's violent campaign of repression against the Basque people and activelly take part in the resolution of the conflict.

2) The Spaniards recognize that they are not willing to truly involve themselves in a peace process for Euskal Herria like England did in regards of Northern Ireland when they included Sinn Fein. Instead, Spain has banned Batasuna and many other political parties and electoral lists, choosing to incarcerate as many Basque activists as they can. They refuse to follow the path shown by England and instead they put all their chips on the support by a fascist minded individual like Nicolas Sarkozy. Just like in 1936, Spain resorts to Europe's worst characters to "solve" its political disagreement with Euskal Herria.

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Eusko Flickr : Solidaridad


Solidaridad
Originally uploaded by Soniko

Friday, September 26, 2008

Always Blame ETA

If you read this blog on a regular basis you know by now that I often refer to a "Madrid based Ministry of Propaganda" and that I always criticize the media outlets that parrot whatever press release by the Spanish government regarding the Basque issue.

Why do I call it propaganda?

Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the cognitive narrative of the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda.

In this case, the political agenda by Madrid against the Basque people.

All of this explains what you are about to read from Sky News:

Jet Causes Panic In Spain Resort

11:19am UK, Friday September 26, 2008

A military jet breaking the sound barrier has caused panic in the southern Spanish town of Malaga.

The two loud blasts were heard in quick succession, sparking fears that terrorists had targeted the resort.

"It was very loud and it sounded like a bomb, but it's a false alarm," a government spokesman confirmed.

The scare came just days after the government blamed Basque rebels ETA for killing a soldier and injuring at least 12 people in three bomb attacks in northern Spain.

Conchita Vila, the owner of the El Tubo bar in Malaga, told the AP news agency the booms shook her apartment.

"It scared me. I live on the first floor and the whole house moved," she said.

Local authorities received a flood of calls from concerned residents.

There are several Spanish military bases nearby to Malaga, as well as an American air force refuelling base in the town of Moron de la Frontera.


Who wins from keeping the Spanish people terrorized?

Juan Carlos Borbon and his henchmen who always cry wolf in order to continue to erode the political rights and the civil guarantees of the Spanish citizens in general and the Basque citizens in particular.

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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sarkozy's Anti-Basque Crusade

It was just a matter of time before France's Nicolas Sarkozy would start showing his full support for Juan Carlos Borbon's repressive campaign against Basque society.

Yesterday 17 Basque citizens from different political parties and associations were detained in pre-dawn raids, once again the name of Basque-phobe judge Baltasar Garzon was mentioned as the mastermind behind the operation.

Here you have the article regarding this issue published at the International Herald Tribune, a news outlet close to the Spanish Ministry of Propaganda:

French police arrest 17 suspected Basque militants

The Associated Press
Published: September 24, 2008

PARIS: Police arrested 11 suspected Basque militants Wednesday in southwest France in two separate investigations, including the financing of terror attacks in France and Spain, officials said.

The 11 — all French nationals — were being held in police custody after being questioned Wednesday.

Seven were questioned in connection with explosions in 2006 that slightly damaged a hotel in the French Basque country owned by acclaimed chef Alain Ducasse, according to a judicial official in Paris. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation and asked not to be identified by name.

The four other suspects were questioned as part of a preliminary investigation into an alleged illegal money transfer from the Basque Communist Party in Spain to people residing in southwest France and close to the Spanish Basque movement, the official said.

French police searched the French headquarters of the pro-independence Batasuna party, authorized in France but banned in Spain. Batasuna members were reportedly among those arrested.

The investigation into Communist Party funds allegedly transferred to France to finance attacks was opened based on information supplied by Spanish anti-terror judge Baltasar Garzon.

The arrests were made in sweeps along France's border with Spain. Officials had originally reported 17 arrests.


Like I said, yes, they were 17 arrests that violate the political rights of the Basque people living in Iparralde under French occupation. Yet, the Spaniards and their supporters in the international arena claim that the Basques are Spaniards and that the Basque conflict is not of an international nature.

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From Ziortza to Markina

This article comes to us via EITb:

Land of pelotaris

Between Ziortza-Bolibar and Markina-Xemein

09/24/2008

The lands that saw the birth of The Liberator Simon Bolivar’s ancestors, the ‘Basque Pelota University’, a collegiate church and much more...

A collegiate church that is one of the most important jewels of the Basque religious and architectural heritage. The ‘Basque Pelota University’, the court in which more players have trained and played all around the world. And the lands that saw the birth of The Liberator Simón Bolivar’s ancestors. We find all this and much more in the localities of Ziortza-Bolibar and Markina-Xemein –one only locality until last year– in the Bizkaia’s Comarca (Land) of Lea Artibai.

We start at the Collegiate Church of Ziortza, also known as Santa Maria de Cenarruza. A two-kilometre path, before arriving at the locality of Bolibar, leads us to this collegiate, which was an important hospital and a monastery of the Coast Road to Santiago. It was built in the year 968 and, after being abandoned for years and suffered a fire, it has been recovered and occupied by the Cistercian Community of the Monastery of La Oliva, in Navarre. This site consists of a 14th-century church, a Renaissance cloister, and two access gates with different coats of arms.

We go down to Bolibar through the same path that has led us to the Collegiate (BI-2224). Crossing this locality, different monuments devoted to Simon Bolivar tell us that his family was from these lands.Besides the museum named after the Liberator, we find the first monument erected in his honour in Spain and paid by the Government of Venezuela.

We must also stand out the Church of Santo Tomás, dating from the 10th century and rebuilt during the 17th and 18th centuries. Leaving Ziortza-Bolibar behind –the locality adopted this name after the separation from Markina-Xemein last year–, the BI-633 road leads us to Markina-Xemein, famous due to its Basque Pelota court, known as the ‘Basque Pelota University’ because many pelotaris (Basque Pelota players), who now play all around the world, were trained here. Nevertheless, Markina is much more than a Pelota court. The point of reference is a triangular park, known as the Prado, the axis of most of the activities in the locality. To the right of this triangle, we find the Pelota court. On the other side, just opposite the court, the Church-Convent of La Merced. And, closing the triangle, the town’s old quarter which is made up by parallel streets crossed by the Zear Street.

There are other interesting buildings: the Antxia Tower-House, the Ansotegi Palace, the Town Hall, and, among many others, the Baroque Andonaegi Palace.Near the park, crossing the Xemein Avenue, we will get to the Xemein Quarter, annexed to Markina since 1952. There are outstanding tower-houses: Barroeta, Bidarte, Ubilla, Kareaga and Ugarte; nevertheless, if something must attract our attention, that is the Church devoted to Our Lady of La Asunción. The biggest church in Bizkaia is a monastery that became a Renaissance temple in the 16th century. Near the church, we will find a classic graveyard, with neo-Greek and neo-Egyptian elements on the gravestones.


I have been to the area and I recommend you visit it whenever you have a chance.

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Piperade's Recipe

This recipe comes to us thanks to The New York Times:

Recipes for Health

Stewed Peppers With Tomatoes, Onions and Garlic

By Martha Rose Shulman
Published: September 24, 2008

Variations of this dish appear throughout the Mediterranean region. The Basque piperade -- made with slender, slightly piquant peppers called piments d’espelette and stirred into scrambled eggs along with bayonne ham -- has some heat, while Italian peperonata is sweet through and through. A North African variety, chakchouka, is spiced with fiery harissa and a blend of caraway, coriander, cayenne and garlic, and it usually is served with eggs poached right on top of the stew. See the variations below.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 plump garlic cloves, minced

3 large red peppers, or a combination of red and yellow peppers, thinly sliced or chopped

1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes, drained of some but not all of its juice

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet or heavy casserole over medium heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes, and add the garlic and peppers. Cook, stirring often, for five minutes, and add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Continue to cook for another five minutes until the peppers are tender.

2. Add the tomatoes, thyme, salt and pepper, bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer, stirring from time to time, until the tomatoes have cooked down somewhat, about 10 minutes. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer over low heat for another 15 to 20 minutes (or longer), stirring from time to time, until the mixture is thick and fragrant. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve as a side dish, as a topping for pizza, pasta, polenta, rice or bruschetta, as a filling for an omelet, or stir into scrambled eggs.

Yield: Serves six

Advance preparation: The stewed peppers will keep for about five days in the refrigerator.

Variations:

French Piperade

Substitute one large green pepper, or two small ones, for one of the red peppers. Add one minced jalapeño or serrano chile. At the end of step two, beat six to eight eggs in a bowl and stir into the pepper mixture. Cook, stirring over low heat, until the eggs are just set but still creamy. Remove from the heat, divide among four plates, and serve.

North African Chakchouka

Use two green peppers, two red peppers, and two Anaheim peppers. Increase the tomatoes to 1 1/2 pounds. Along with the tomatoes, stir in one teaspoon harissa or more to taste. (Harissa is a North African chile paste; you can find it in Mediterranean markets.) Add 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds, 1/4 teaspoon ground caraway seeds, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne. When the stew has cooked down to a thick, fragrant mixture, stir in two tablespoons of parsley. Taste and adjust seasonings. With the back of your spoon, make four depressions in the vegetables. Break an egg into each depression. Cover and cook for five to six minutes until the eggs are set. Sprinkle the eggs with salt, pepper and parsley, and serve.


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Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

New Ideas

As we all know by now, Spaniards openly reject new ideas, that is why they have been so slow in getting the grasp of concepts like justice, democracy, law, self-determination, freedom and many others that define modern societies.

Back in 2003 the Spanish establishment, including of course the news outlets (main stream media) launched itself against a documentary called "The Basque Ball : The Skin Against the Wall" by Basque film maker Julio Medem. They unleashed a campaign of hateful lies and misconceptions against a director that had been courageous enough to leave aside the fame he obtained thanks to his movie "Sex and Lucia" to tackle the issue of the Basque struggle for peace and self-determination. He invited people on both sides of the issue to freely expose their reason to be for or against the Basque people's will to decide its own future. Hypocrites as always, the members of the pro-Franco Partido Popular (PP) first refused the invitation to participate in the film to then insist that their voiced had been silenced with this documentary.

Well, the Spanish media is back at demonizing a movie director for dearing to address the issue of ETA from a perspective that is different to that of the Spanish extreme-right.

Here you have an article regarding this appeared at Yahoo News:

San Sebastian festival tackles ETA in film which divides critics

by Virginie Grognou
Tue Sep 23, 6:34 PM ET

The armed campaign by the Basque separatist group ETA came to the San Sebastian film festival Tuesday with the screening of "Shot in the Head", a film which had critics sharply divided.

The third feature of Spanish director Jaime Rosales had been anxiously awaited at the festival in the Basque city following the news of three ETA car-bombings in Spain at the weekend, which left one soldier dead and 11 people wounded.

"Tiro en la cabeza", ("Shot in the Head"), filmed in just two weeks, tells the true life story of two Spanish policeman who were killed by ETA gunmen in southwest France last December.

"I wanted to show that there is nothing more absurd than people killing each other for ideological reasons. It is a film about the absurdity of violence," Rosales told a news conference.

But the filmmaker took a huge risk in deciding to shoot to the film without any dialogue at all.

The viewer can see the characters speaking, but only hears the background noises, mostly cars, in a novel technique that left many frustrated, even bored.

Rosales shows the "normal" life of a member of ETA, Ion, played by a Basque actor, Ion Arretxe, with his family, but which ends when he kills one of the policeman with a shot to the head.

The film left journalists at the festival divided, with some criticizing his "ambiguous" vision of the Basque problem and over-sympathetic portrayal of the ETA killer, and others hailing his courage in taking an artistic risk.

The director defended the film by saying he "simply wanted to bring new ideas."


Somehow it reminds me of "The Battle of Algiers". Hopefully it will be screened all over the world.

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Research on Multiple Sclerosis

This note was published at EITb:

European network to investigate gene causing multiple sclerosis

09/23/2008

Ten research teams will investigate the genetic component of the multiple sclerosis’ treatment, they will do it from the University of the Basque Country.

The University of the Basque Country hosted a conference in which lecturers introduced the European scientific network that will look into the new customized treatments for multiple sclerosis. The talk took place at the so-called “Classrooms of the Experience” located at University’s premises in the old part of Bilbao’s city.

The multiple sclerosis is a chronic neurological disease with no definitive cure. It currently affects 400,000 people in Europe, 2,000 in the Basque Country.

During the presentation it was possible to listen to the Belgian professor Koen Vandenbroeck ‘s speech. Vanderbroek is a scientist that works for Ikerbasque, a Foundation created by the Basque Government that primarily aims to help develop scientific research in the Basque Country by attracting researchers and helping them establish themselves in the field of research. Belgian researcher will be the main coordinator of the study.

A European scientific network will investigate the genetic component of the multiple sclerosis’ treatment and it will do it from the Basque University. Ten research teams from five different countries will work on a 2, 3 million Euro-project during four years. The aim is to use genetics to advance towards a customized medication.

The project also offers training internships intended for young researchers.


.... ... .

Political Prisoner Released in Myanmar

In Yahoo News they posted a news article regarding the liberation of a political prisoner by the name of Win Tin, a journalist.

Here you have it with, some comments:

Longest-held political prisoner freed in Myanmar

2 hours, 39 minutes ago

Myanmar's longest-serving political prisoner, journalist Win Tin, was freed Tuesday after 19 years behind bars and vowed to continue his struggle to achieve democracy in the military-ruled country.


The Basque political prisoner Joxe Mari Sagardui "Gatza" has been incarcerated in Spain for 28 years. Spain is also a military-ruled country due to the fact that Juan Carlos Borbon (the true ruler) has a military education and acts as the commander in chief of Spain's military forces. Every four years the Spaniards are allowed to vote for Borbon's second in command, a mere minister.

Win Tin's release came as part of an amnesty granted Tuesday to 9,002 prisoners around the country. It was not immediately clear how many of those released were political prisoners. Amnesty International said last month there were 2,050 political prisoners in Myanmar.


Spain sentenced members of two Basque organizations seeking amnesty for the Basque political prisoners to 10 years of incarceration. So, far from considering the release of political prisoners Spain is actually expanding the amount of Basques in Spanish jails.

The amnesty came just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the junta's deadly crackdown on anti-government protests that were led by Buddhist monks. The U.N. estimated at least 31 people were killed when the army fired on peaceful protesters in the Sept. 26-27, 2007 crackdown, sparking global outrage.

The 78-year-old Win Tin said he would continue to wear his light blue prison uniform as a show of protest against the junta, which has ruled Myanmar for 46 years.

"I have to continue with my unfinished task of trying to achieve democracy in Myanmar," Win Tin told reporters at a friend's home in Yangon after his release from the notorious Insein Prison. He appeared alert and healthy despite recent reports that he is ill.

Asked how it felt to be out of prison, Win Tin replied, "I will be happy only when all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, are released."

A longtime journalist and poet, Win Tin became active in opposition politics and helped found Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy opposition party in 1988. He was a close aide to Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who is currently under house arrest.

Win Tin was arrested on July 4, 1989, during a crackdown on opposition politicians. Tried in a military court, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for allegedly being a member of the banned Communist Party of Myanmar.

Last week, Spain banned two Basque political parties, including the Communist Party of the Basque Lands (EHAK for its initials in Euskera, the Basque language).

He was most recently sentenced in March 1996 to an additional seven years' imprisonment for writing to the United Nations about prison conditions and for writing and circulating anti-government pamphlets in prison, which authorities characterized as "secretly publishing propaganda to incite riots in jail," the statement from London-based Amnesty said.


Iñaki de Juana was sentenced to an additional two years of imprisonment for writting to articles of opinion regarding the prison conditions for Basque political prisoners. Today Spain asked the Interpol for the whereabouts of Iñaki de Juana citing a letter read the day of his liberation from jail. Spanish authorities characterized the letter "as terrorism apology". London-based Amnesty is keeping quiet about the rabid persecution against de Juana even after he completed his jail sentence beyond the grace time given to all other prisoners in Spain.

The United Nations and international rights groups had repeatedly called for the release of Win Tin and referred to him as the longest-serving political prisoner in Myanmar.


The United Nations has never called for the release of Basque political prisoners in Spain and France. The United Nations has never referred to Joxe Mari Sagardui, Nathalie Meningon and Briggitte Mohnhaupt as the longest-serving political prisoners in Europe.

While incarcerated, Win Tin had two heart attacks, a hernia operation and suffered from high blood pressure, diabetes and spinal inflammation, according to international media groups.


The infamous Guardia Civil tortured Basque journalist Peio Zubiria who suffered of Ankylosing Spondylitis, then a judge ordered him imprisoned. Just last week Martxelo Otamendi who was arrested along with Zubiria during an operation against Basque newspaper Egunkaria took his own torture demand to Strasbourg. Many Basque political prisoners who suffer of terminal illnesses have been denied the early release as marked by Spanish law.

State-controlled media announced the prisoner amnesty Tuesday, saying that freedom was granted to prisoners around the country who exhibited good "moral behavior."

"The government is trying to transform these convicted prisoners into citizens who can contribute to the building of a new nation," the Myanma Ahlin newspaper said, adding they were released "so they could participate in the fair elections to be held in 2010."


Spain puts Basques in jail for contributing to the building of a new nation, the Basque Country.

The elections are part of the junta's long announced "roadmap to democracy," which will give voters the first chance to cast ballots since 1990.

Critics say the roadmap is a sham designed to cement the military's power.

In 1990, Suu Kyi's opposition party won a landslide victory that the junta refused to acknowledge. Instead, the generals stepped up arrests and repression of dissidents. Suu Kyi has spent more than 12 of the past 19 years in detention, mostly under house arrest.

The government often grants prisoner amnesties to mark important national days, but usually most of those released are petty criminals.


Good thing Spain is considered to be a democratic state while Myanmar is largely seen as a military dictatorship.

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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Jewish Blogger Supports Hitler's King

There is a Jewish blogger by the name of Joe Gandelman who did everything he could to win the "Basque-phobe of the week" award some months ago.

This week him and his underlings have been posting about how McCain (the Republican candidate to the US presidency) dislikes Zapatero.

Thanks to the tag Spain at the bottom of one of his posts I was able to find one from last November in which Joe Gandelman has nothing but accolades and compliments for Juan Carlos Borbon, the king of Spain.

Admiring a power figure that belongs in the middle ages is bad enough, but to admire an individual that rose to power thanks to the meddling of two of Europe's worst dictators is too much.

How did this happen?

Simple.

Back in 1936 a military coup d'etat against Spain's democratically elected government was staged by an dimwit little man called Francisco Franco. The rebellion was bound to fail until Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini decided to support Franco and his followers. Thanks to an air bridge set in place by Hitler's Luftwaffe Franco's troops were able to leave Africa. With the military aid provided by the two fascist powers Franco was able to win a long and devastating war. He then proceeded to rule Spain with an iron fist, unleashing a genocidal campaign against everyone who opposed him. After the death of Admiral Carrero Blanco at the hands of Basque freedom fighters his only other option to perpetuate his government was to impose the figure of the king to the Spaniards in the person of Juan Carlos Borbon.

So, if it hasn't been for Hitler's support Franco would have failed in his military uprising, and if it hasn't been for Franco's decision to name him king, Juan Carlos could have never been back to Spain's throne. So in all reality, Borbon has to thank Hitler for the life of luxury and unchecked power he and his family enjoy today.

This is what Joe Gandelman (a Jewish that supports the Zionist occupation of Palestine) thinks of Juan Carlos (a man who is king thanks to Hitler) and how he came to power :

When I lived in and wrote from Spain between May 1975 and December 1978, I had the supreme pleasure of a lifetime, to live in a wonderful country that, before my astounded journalistic eyes, made a peaceful “evolution without revolution” transition to democracy from the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.

And most Spaniards agreed there was one seemingly-quiet and above-the-fray man who had the guts to help make it happen — perhaps more than anyone else.


Evolution without revolution? More like a pact of complicity and silence to ensure that non of the high profile members of Franco's regime would ever be prosecuted for their crimes against humankind.

Joe Gandelman's intellect is so limited that he thinks that there can be democracy where there is a king. When a country is ruled by an individual who is above the law that applies for the rest of the citizens there can never be a democracy, it is called a monarchy.

The guts? Borbon had Spain's armed forces backing him up, who needs guts?

To this day, he still doesn’t get the credit that so many Spanish journalists and foreign diplomats (who would talk about it privately from 1975-1978) gave him. He navigated his country, and what some felt was a reluctant and potentially resistant military, through the dangers of shifting a nation and its establishment towards democratic elections and to until-then-taboo more relaxed social values.


Spanish journalists and foreign diplomats worked together on a propaganda campaign to sanitize Franco's regime, which included to clean up Juan Carlos Borbon's act. After the war and despite having provided Hitler with his limited support (Spain's military was not up to task) during the war, Francisco Franco became an important ally for the USA in its "cold war" against the USSR. So the US based news agencies were quick to implement a campaign to divest Francisco Franco of its unholly alliance with the Axis and make him look like a palladin of capitalism against the communist threat. And that is exactly what Joe Gandelman is doing today, to continue to convince people that Franco was not than bad after all.

The military obeyed Franco, the military knew there was a reason for Franco to name Borbon his succeso, Borbon was educated in military intitutions, the military knew some steps had to be taken to release some pressure, the military was part of the plan to "transform" Spain into a democracy, the military knew that there can not be true democracy when the figure of a king is imposed to a society by you guessed it, the military.

I hope you are ready for this:

And the bottom line is that King Juan Carlos, handpicked by Franco (who was widely believed to have thought KJC would be pliable to the kind of establishment he had in place when he was living) risked it all. He stood at the middle of an incredibly-dramatic and dangerous period of democratic evolution and never blinked in the face of rightist and leftist resistance (sometimes manifesting itself in sporadic violent acts).


Franco took Juan Carlos (notice who Gandelman insists of capitalizing the word king being that he is the citizen of a republic one would expect less submission to such an anachronistic figure).

Rightist resistance? He represented and represents the right! Who else can represent the right more than a king educated in military institutions?

Now check this one out:

When I was there everyone knew that the easiest way to halt the democratic evolution would have been for someone to rub “El Rey” out.

But the King was a toughie. He persisted, and democratic Spain had a man on the inside who could have resisted the change but instead quietly did what he could do to encourage and consolidate it.


Gandelman is tip-toeing around the fake coup d'etat staged by Borbon's closest friends, the one that people like him hail as the pivotal moment in which Borbon "proved" his unflenching compromise with democracy.

Maybe Gandelman could care to explain to us how is it that non of those who took part in the "coup d'etat" against Borbon was sentenced to the firing squad. Another compromise to advance towards peace and transition leaving behind "the hatred that divided the nation"? More like a covert operation to remind the Spaniards that Borbon could summon the military at any time he pleased, a stark reminder for every one to stay put and keep quiet, like in Franco's times.

The post continues with Gandelman's "moderate" view about the consequences of having an authoritarian ruler like Borbon ordering an elected Latin American president to shut up, until he says this:

But Juan Carlos KNOWS what REAL fascists were like.


Of course, he is one.

Did you know that Juan Carlos Borbon was the "de facto" ruler of Spain even before Franco's death?

Did you know that he co-signed many of Franco's death sentences against those prosecuted for opposing Franco's regime?



Note: I do not link back to Joe Gandelman for one simple reasons, he does not allow my comments at this blog, so this is the way I excerzise my right to reply.

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Friday, September 19, 2008

Oxford's Comfort

When one hears of Oxford one thinks of excellence in education.

Then you read the article titled "Basque discomfort" at Oxford Analytica and you start to doubt it.

This is what they say about themselves:

About us

Company Profile

Oxford Analytica is an international, independent consulting firm drawing on a network of over 1,000 senior faculty members at Oxford and other major universities and research institutions around the world.


Impressive, over one thousand of them, so, let us analyze the article:

Basque discomfort

Basque Regional President Juan Jose Ibarretxe of the moderate Basque Nationalist Party will attempt to trigger on Tuesday a referendum on Basque autonomy, when he appeals to the European Court of Human Rights over the Spanish Constitutional Court’s decision to outlaw the referendum.

Ibarretxe first floated the idea of a “consultation” in September last year, and narrowly passed it in the regional parliament only with the support of a parliamentarian thought to be close to Basque terrorist group ETA. The Basque branch of the nationally ruling Socialist party (PSOE) and the main national opposition party (PP) rejected the idea, and appealed to the Constitutional Court. The Court ruled in favour of the national parties, saying that only the central government could call such a referendum.


September last year?

For the love of Pete, Ibarretxe has been talking about a referendum, consultation or whatever you want to call it since at least 2003. Something tells me that the author started doing research about the issue less than a year ago, a week perhaps.

The vote, scheduled for October 25, was to ask whether to have enter a dialogue with ETA, and whether to hold a political debate on the "right to decide of the Basque people" -- implying eventual cessation of the Basque Country from Spain. The central government strongly opposed both proposals.


Now, this time the author willfully misdirects the readers, Ibarretxe's first question is not "whether to have enter dialogue with ETA" but "if they favor a negotiated solution to the conflict if the armed Basque group ETA was willing to end violence".

That is a big difference. The way the author poses the question plays right into Spain's preposterous accusation that Ibarretxe is advancing ETA's agenda departing from the notion that when it comes to Basque self determination "everything is ETA", meaning, the Basque society does not deserve a shot at independence because it favors violence.

Echoes of Ghandi's non violent campaign to liberate India from England come to mind, but that independence process in particular is the exception to the rule due to one simple fact, colonialist powers ALWAYS resort to violence when it comes to their colonies wanting to regain their sovereignty.

One more thing, all what Ibarretxe wants is to reform the political relationship between the Basque Autonomous Community (which includes only three out of the seven Basque provinces) with Madrid, a far cry from independence.

Following the failure of its attempt to engage in dialogue with ETA in 2006 -- for which it had been harshly criticised by the opposition -- it has ruled out any return to the negotiating table, instead opting to crack-down on all organisations associated with the terrorist group. This resulted in the ban by the Constitutional Court of two political parties believed to be ETA’s political wing and which enjoy respectable representation in Basque local and regional assemblies. The second proposal was seen as a clear challenge to the constitutional order and territorial integrity of Spain. It was opposed not only by the PSOE and PP, but also the Spanish public at large. Moreover, it created divisions within Ibarretxe’s PNV, which ultimately benefited the Socialists in March’s general election.


Terrorist group? This from a citizen of a country that is taking an active part in the murder of dozens of thousands of innocent civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine over oil and gas profits.

I am not even going to mention the principle of law called "presumption of innocence".

And what about this grammar gaffe: "two political parties believed to be ETA’s political wing"... two political parties, one wing. Man I am glad I did not waste my money studying at Oxford.

Ibarretxe is unlikely to succeed with his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. But in order to save face, he might opt for snap regional elections, trying to capitalise on growing tensions between the Basque country and the central administration following the ban of the ‘pro-ETA’ parties. For Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, this might mean less cooperation from the PNV on the national level; an unfortunate result as his minority government depends on the support of regional parties. However, Zapatero’s categorical support of the constitution and hard anti-terror stance leaves the PP with no room to criticise him.


Well, look it that, the author knows that Strasbourg will betray the Basques, like every other international community's organization in the past.

Something tells me that this Oxford educated chap does not favor the independence of Wales and Scotland.

.... ... .

Spain Bans EHAK

Another day, another Basque political party banned thanks to a law that reminds us that Francisco Franco's ideology is alive and kicking in Spain.

The main stream media, as usual, has been repeating the same header: "Spain bans another party for ties with ETA".

Therein lies the problem, when they say another they point to the fact that there has been other bans, which takes us to the first Basque political party banned in "democratic" Spain: Batasuna.

Yes, Batasuna was banned back in 2003 accused of being ETA's political wing. Five years later and the Spanish government has been unable to produced one single piece of evidence to support the accusation, despite having seized documents and computers the night that their para-military forces raided Batasuna's headquarters and offices all over Euskal Herria.

The case ended up in Strasbourg and a verdict regarding if Batasuna is or is not ETA's political wing has not been reached, yet, Spain bans EHAK stating that they took over Batasuna.

Here you have The International Herald Tribune's article regarding the most recent case of Apartheid like repression by Spain against the Basque people:

Spain: another Basque party banned

MADRID, Spain: The Spanish Supreme Court has banned a Basque nationalist party on grounds that it is linked to the armed group ETA, the third ruling this week against pro-independence groups in the troubled region.

The court outlawed the Communist Party of the Basque Lands on grounds it is a tool of Batasuna, the banned political wing of ETA.

The move announced Thursday night means the government will shut down the party's offices and seize its assets. The nine party members who hold seats in the Basque regional parliament will retain them but will be stripped of party affiliation.

Earlier this week the court outlawed another pro-independence party, Basque Nationalist Action, and Gestoras Pro Amnistia, an advocacy group for jailed ETA members. In both cases the court cited links to ETA.

The Communist Party of the Basque Lands won its seats in the 75-member Basque Parliament in 2005. Prior to that election, Spain's opposition conservative Popular Party had pressed the Socialist government to file suit and have the party banned under a law devised specifically to go after Batasuna, which was outlawed in 2003.

The Spanish attorney general refused, however, saying there was insufficient evidence. Conservatives complained that this allowed ETA to retain a voice in the parliament.

In 2006, the government negotiated with ETA after the group declared a cease-fire. The peace talks failed and ETA resumed violence in a matter of months.

In January of this year the government did move against the Communist Party of the Basque Lands and Basque Nationalist Action, asking the Supreme Court to declare them illegal.

The Popular Party welcomed the latest Supreme Court ruling, but said it came too late.

The party's spokesman on judicial affairs, Federico Trillo, said the conservatives will ask Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido to appear in Parliament and explain why the government now felt the two parties had to be banned, but did not think so in 2005.

"Those who have had an unexplainable and unexplained change of criteria must assume their political responsibilities," Trillo said Thursday night.


Notice how Spain's politicians haggle about the issue of timing when in reality they work together when it comes to removing the political options for the Basque society to excercize its right to have political representation.

.... ... .

A Basque Voice : Leherensuge

It has been six long years as the lone voice in defense of the Basque right to self determination in the English speaking blogosphere's desert.

Finally, I am not alone anymore, Maju is the author of a blog called Leherensuge, and his is a clear voice in favor of Euskal Herria's freedom.

Here you have the link, which has been added to my list of "Must Read Blogs":



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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Two Basque Books

Via the Idaho Statesman we get this article about two books that have the Basque Country, its culture and its the identity of its people as a background:

Bask in a couple of new Basque books

Through fiction and nonfiction, authors Dave Boling and Colleen Fillmore portray the history, beauty and strength of Basque culture.

BY ERIN RYAN - eryan@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 09/18/08

Every five years, Downtown Boise sees red - and white and black with a wink of green. Colors twist in the lithe bodies of Oinkari dancers celebrating their heritage and patron saints. It is Jaialdi, a time to feast with friends and family and reflect on traditions carried from distant soil on the shoulders of past generations.

The next Jaialdi is set for 2010, but in the meantime, two new books ought to stir up local Basques and admirers of their singular culture. One dreams the lives of families in the Basque Country before and after the Nazi devastation of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. The other examines dietary history and modern culinary habits of Boise Basques, weaving health aspects with customs that go beyond the plate.

'GUERNICA: A NOVEL' BY DAVE BOLING

Dave Boling once saw a Basque woman dancing on the lip of a wine glass. The image nearly became the title of his first novel, a sweeping historical romance and surprising resume bullet for a 56-year-old veteran sports writer.

Boling spends most of his time following football and basketball for the Tacoma News Tribune, but in airports and hotel rooms between assignments, he managed to write a book. Then, he managed to get it published in a year, an eye-blink by industry standards. A lot of writers who write for a living lose their hunger for it off the clock, but Boling said it felt like recess.

"All those times I woke up at 4 a.m., I didn't have to set my alarm clock. I woke up because I wanted to get writing. In a way, it was a bit of an escape," he said. "When I was really focused and the writing was going really well, I was in that town; could see it and hear it and smell it."

That town is Guernica, known as the Basque cultural capital. On April 26, 1937, Germany's Luftwaffe blasted it with 100,000 pounds of explosives. Bombs dropped for more than three hours, and machine guns cut down many of those who tried to flee. When the fire finally burned down, a third of the population was dead and 70 percent of the city destroyed.

The atrocity was a Nazi military exercise and a strategic move by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who hoped to break the spirit of the Basque resistance.

Many histories have been written about the city, but Boling wanted to write a story about the passion and fortitude of its people. He married into the culture and always has been struck by its vibrance.

"At first, the whole thing seemed to me to be about dancing, drinking, eating and having fun. That was at the core of being Basque," Boling said. "It was later that I learned there were these very close family ties and real reverence for their history, culture and heritage."

"Guernica" ($26, Bloomsbury USA) traces the twining lives of Miguel Navarro and Miren Ansotegui, their experiences painting vivid pictures of real events and imagined people. Boling visited the city and the surrounding Basque Country more than once while he was writing the book and worked to give his words and characters authenticity.

He researched for years, using nonfiction as a framework for his developing fiction. He consulted his Basque in-laws, professors of Basque studies and a Spanish publishing company to make sure the story rang true.

"If there has been criticism, it's that my characters are too appealing, too valiant, too strong. There is a feeling that characters have to be deeply flawed to be real. I don't agree with that," he said, joking that he has been blasted much more severely in his day job by Seattle Mariners fans.

"More than reviewers from newspapers or the literary types, I hope the Basque community really attaches to this. In a very special way, this is a tribute to them, their love for family and closeness in personal relationships and high character.."

COLLEEN ASUMENDI FILLMORE: BASQUE DIET

When Colleen Asumendi Fillmore was a child, she thought everyone was Basque. Her Irish mother had mastered the cuisine cherished by her Basque father, and the tongue, tripe and chorizo she ate seemed as normal as macaroni and cheese.

"I grew up Basque. I didn't realize it was a special ethnic group," she said.

While she did not develop her mother's skills in the kitchen, Fillmore inherited her passion for good food and healthy living. She earned an undergraduate degree in restaurant management at Idaho State University and a master's degree in human nutrition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before becoming a registered licensed dietitian.

"I love to learn about the body, and with food, you study anatomy, physiology, organic chemistry. You come to know how anything will metabolize," she said.

Fillmore is director of child nutrition programs for the Idaho Department of Education and earned her doctorate in adult learning and leadership from the University of Idaho in 2005. Her dissertation had exactly the same title as her book, which was born in the fashion of an industry myth. A worldwide publisher of academic research, VDM offered to turn her thesis into a book.

"Basques of Boise: Adult Dietary Culture and Tradition" ($64, VDM) tells a story that is neither frilly or linear. It is a dissection of Basque food and the people who consider it part of their identity.

"The food we eat defines who we are and entwines with our sense of self," reads Fillmore's introduction. "This exploration was not intended to change a cuisine that has been in existence for hundreds of years, but instead, bring awareness to the field of ethnic dietary intake and how this unique group fits within the latest nutrition research."

Fillmore's subjects are not identified by their real names, but she said if you know the local Basque community at all, some of them will be unmistakable. She observed them participating in cultural functions at the Basque Center, counting heads, plates and portions and entering ingredient data into USDA-approved software. She analyzed about a dozen meals.

She compared its staples to those of classic Mediterranean fare, noting that fish, olive oil and fresh vegetables are prevalent. The saturated fat levels are good, as are percentages of iron, protein and vitamins A and C. Calories and sodium are a little high and calcium and fiber are a little low, but Fillmore said party menus are not ideal indicators of day-to-day balance. And, even for a student of nutrition, USDA guidelines don't hold a candle to the significance of culture when it comes to food.

"There are a lot of things I had done ever since my childhood that I didn't realize were part of the tradition forever and ever. They mean more to me now," Fillmore said. "I really believe you can tell the story of who people are by what they eat."


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Eusko Flickr : Catalans al Aste Nagusia 08


CATALANS AL ASTE NAGUSIA 08
Originally uploaded by Dani Morell

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Boise's Autumn Season

This note comes to us via EITb:

Autumn season kicks off in Boise for Basques

09/15/2008

A crowded Basque center celebrated the opening of the autumn season in Boise meeting for their traditional September dinner.

More than two hundred members of the Basque community in Boise, one of the largest Basque communities and the most active in the world outside the Basque Country, met on Sunday to mark the beginning of the autumn season packed with exciting events.

In the next weeks we will see Dave Boling, author of "Guernica" at the Basque market, the registration of new dancers at Boiseko Gazteak, pala and mus tournaments, the Mortzila dinner, and many more events to come.

"There are many Basques in the cities around Boise and they are not coming to Boise. They are building their own Basque centers," one of Euzkaldunak members told eitb24. "Far from decreasing, this is growing" she added referring to the extension to the Basque culture in the some areas of the United States.

According to Euzkaldunak, there were 26 children at the dinner, which everyone applauded and considered a good number to continue their good work keeping the Basque traditions alive.


Will they discuss then ban on ANV?

Not a chance.

For them Basque culture and identity has nothing to do with people being incarcerated and outlawed for defending those very same concepts, for them, Basque culture and identity are something to keep safe in museums and themed restaurants and bars.

.... ... .

Spain Bans ANV

This is not a news article from Spain under the murderous dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

Neither a note from six years ago when Spain was ruled by an extreme-right party lead by a fascist and genocidal maniac by the name of Jose Maria Aznar, responsible along with George W. Bush and Tony Blair for the murder of dozens of thousands of Iraqi civilians.

No, this is breaking news, it is happening just now, when Spain is ruled by an allegedly socialist party led by a "well intentioned" politician by the name of Jose Luis Rodríguez, responsible along George W. Bush and Tony Blair for the murder of dozens of thousands of Afghan civilians.

Yes, in today's Spain, an authoritarian state that a lot of people fancy calling it a "young democracy", a Basque political party has been banned accused of being the continuation of another political party, Batasuna, a party that six years ago, you read that correctly, six years ago was accused of being ETA political wing without the Spanish government having produced a single piece of evidence to support the accusation.

Here you have it, the article appeared at Yahoo News:

Spain's Supreme Court bans Basque party

Tue Sep 16, 8:13 AM ET

Spain's Supreme Court has banned a party in the country's Basque region because of its links to armed separatists ETA, the court's head said on Tuesday.

The court had already banned the ANV (the Nationalist Basque Action) from taking part in Spain's general elections in March, but had stopped short of preventing party members from carrying out other activities.

The court's ruling on Tuesday meant the ANV would be dissolved and its assets seized, court head Francisco Jose Hernando said in a brief statement outside the court.

ANV's 400 or so local councilors in the Basque Region and Navarra, in northern Spain, would be expected to stand down under the ruling.

The Spanish authorities say the ANV has taken over representing ETA from Batasuna, the political wing of ETA, which is already banned.

From Wednesday, the Supreme Court will start to study whether to also ban Basque party PCTV.

Last week, Spain's Constitutional Court also banned a plan by the Basque Country's government to hold a referendum-style vote on the region's future.

Basque Country Premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe, a member of the moderate Basque Nationalist Party, said the region's government would appeal to Europe over the ban, branding it "an abuse of democracy."

Spain's Socialist government has said from the start that the vote would be illegal and could not go ahead.

Ibarretxe has not clarified whether he wants the Basque Country to secede or just obtain more powers from Madrid.

The Basque Country already has autonomy over many areas including health and education, which it has used to promote the unique Basque language.

(Reporting by Inmaculada Sanz, writing by Sarah Morris, editing by Myra MacDonald)


.... ... .

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Basque Treasure

This article by EITb describes a social event in which people thanked Pete Cenarrusa for his effort to advance Basque culture:

"Pete, you are a treasure"

09/13/2008

Friday’s dinner had a sole purpose, to honor Pete Cenarrusa, founder of the Cenarrusa Foundation, for his work to promote the Basque culture and language.

More than a hundred Basques, Basque Americans and supporters of the Basque culture met Friday evening in downtown Boise for Pete and Freda Cenarrusa’s Lamb Barbecue.

“Pete, you are a treasure”, Dave Bieter, Mayor of Boise, told Pete Cenarrusa during the presentation, before finishing his speech with a “Gora Pete”.

Friday’s dinner had a sole purpose, to honor Pete Cenarrusa, founder of the Cenarrusa Foundation for Basque Culture, which promotes the culture and history of the Basques by providing resources for performances, presentations and programs to organizations throughout Idaho and Oregon.

Idaho’s current Secretary of State Ben Ysursa also joined Dave Bieter in thanking Pete for his work to promote the Basque culture. They were followed by all the grant recipients, who thanked Pete and the Foundation for their help as each one of them made a brief presentation of how the funding helped their organizations.

This year’s grant recipients were the Basque Museum, Biotzetik Basque Choir, Boise Fronton Association, Boiseko Ikastola, Jordan Valley I.O.N. Heritage Museum, Oinkari Basque Dancers, Oñati Euskal Dantzari Taldea Ontario Oregon Basque Club and Txoko Ona Basque Club.

The dinner was followed by Basque music, raffles and a pala exhibition in the Fronton.


Pete Cenarrusa was the guiding light for the 2003's Idaho Memorial that recognized the right of the Basque people to its self determination.

Unfortunately the commitment of the Basque community of the USA towards Euskal Herria does not go beyond the cultural aspects, if their commitment would ever match the one by say, the Irish, the Albanians or the Jewish communities, Spain would not feel so sure that its multiple crimes against the Basque people would go unnoticed nor unpunished.

We need more Pete Cenarrusas!

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Sloppy News Coverage

My goodness!

Talk about some sloppy news coverage regarding the current events in Euskal Herria.

I would like for you to start by reading this article published at Monsters & Critics:

Police clash with Basque protesters in northern Spain

Europe News
Sep 14, 2008, 14:46 GMT

Madrid - Police clashed with Basque separatists during a protest march in the northern Spanish city of San Sebastian on Sunday, media reports said.

Police fired rubber bullets after some of the marchers pelted the officers with stones, the reports said. Two people were arrested.

The clashes erupted after police tried to stop the march, which was called by an organization seeking an amnesty for jailed members of the Basque separatist movement ETA.

Authorities had earlier banned the march.

On Thursday, Spain's top court ruled that a plan by the Basque regional government to stage a referendum-like vote on the self- determination for the northern region was unconstitutional.

The Basque parliament had approved holding the vote on October 25, but the Spanish government and opposition conservatives lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court.


Anyone that reads the article would think that all the events described in the article are related when in reality they are two diametrically separated incidents.

The police force mentioned in the first part of the article is the Ertzaintza, the Basque regional police. The Basque regional police acted on orders of an authoritarian individual by the name of Javier Balza who is the mastermind behind a campaign of repression by the government of the Basque Autonomous Community against the part of the Basque society generally associated with the pro-independence left.

Which takes us to the second part of the article, it is that same government of the Basque Autonomous Community the one that got its proposal rejected by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

You get it now? The bully in the first part of the article and the victim in the second part of the article are one and the same, the government of the Basque Autonomous Community.

So, while Madrid supresses the rights of the entire Basque people, some Basque politicians supress the rights of a certain sector of the Basque people.

This is why a peace process is needed, but one in which the international community will make sure that Spain will not resort to its old tricks and that a true disposition to a peaceful resolution of the conflict will be the driving force so once and for all the Basque people can enter the international arena as a free and sovereign nation.

As for the article, Monsters & Critis should know better than to depend on the Spanish Ministry of Propaganda to get its information about what is going on in Euskal Herria.

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Saturday, September 13, 2008

Spain Issues Threat

Like I said in the previous post, Spain will make sure that Strasbourg violates the rights of the Basque people.

Here you have an article published at B92 that contains the threat by a Spanish politician:

Basques take referendum case to Strasbourg

13 September 2008 | 10:29 | Source: EuroNews

MADRID -- The Basque question is beginning to rear its head once again, reports say.

It comes as moderate nationalists take their demand for the right to hold a referendum on self-determination, rejected by Spain’s Constitutional Court, to the European Court of Human Rights.

Madrid has turned Juan José Ibarretxe down. The Basque Prime Minister remains positive.

“We accept the court’s decision but we aren’t resigned to defeat. We will peacefully pursue our social goals, and our political and legal ones forcefully to defend our rights wherever necessary,” he said.

The moderate nationalist-dominated Basque parliament wants the vote in October. Do not hope for much from Strasbourg, warned Spain’s deputy minister, Maria-Teresa Fernandez de la Vega.

“Mr Ibarretxe is free to knock on any door he likes, but we’re convinced those who respect democratic procedures, above all the European parliament, will never accept an attack on legal principle such as this one.”

The Basque country enjoys more autonomy than most European regions-within-a-state that have campaigned for more self-rule. Opinion polls regularly show most Basques want more freedoms.


Anyone that is familiar with the UN Charter and the principle of self-determination is aware that Ibarretxe's lukewarm call for more autonomy for the citizens of the Basque Autonomous Community could never be considered an attack against any legal principle but Maria Teresa Fernandez knows that Spain counts with the silent complicity of the international community when it comes to the state sponsored violence used by Madrid against the Basques people. This is why Spain so openly tramples the human rights and civil liberties of an entire people. Madrid has an entire arsenal of laws created ad-hoc to supress the Basque drive for self-determination.

Strasbourg should know by now about the assasinations, abductions, cases of torture, attacks on language and culture that at the every day bread in Euskal Herria, and they should know that Juan Carlos Borbon and the two main political parties in Spain (PP and PSOE) are to blame for what amounts to Apartheid.

But Strasbourg also know that the old colonial powers, the same powers that recognized Kosovo's independence a few months ago will rally behind Madrid on this one, and since they finance the Human Rights Court well, you can imagine.

So, lets wait and see how this one plays out.

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To Strasbourg

I have been posting about the so called Plan Ibarretxe that calls for a new political relationship between the Basque Autonomous Community (which comprises only three out of the seven Basque provinces) and Spain since 2002.

The entire project resides in the right of the Basque people to be consulted about what they want to do, a true exercise on self determination, at least for the Basques living in the provinces of Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa.

The plan is criticized by the Basques that want full independence for the entire Basque Country and loathed by the Spaniards who hate every single initiative by the Basque people even if the initiative is an overly cautious one like the so called Ibarretxe Plan.

The Constitutional Court in Spain said no to the referendum demanded by Ibarretxe, so now the president of the Basque autonomous community is talking about taking the case to the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg.

That is what this note published at Yahoo News talks about:

Basque government to seek ruling by European rights court

Fri Sep 12, 1:54 PM ET

VITORIA, Spain (AFP) - Basque country leader Juan Jose Ibarretxe said Friday he would appeal to Europe's highest rights court after Spanish judges ruled out a referendum next month on the political future of the region.

"The time has come to turn to a European court to defend our right to express ourselves to decide on our future," said Ibarretxe after a special meeting of his government.

He called on all citizens and political parties in the Basque country to draft their own pleas to the European Court of Human Rights individually by September 23, saying his government would forward them to the Strasbourg-based court.

Spain's Constitutional Court on Thursday unanimously upheld a move by the central government and the main opposition Popular Party to block the October 25 referendum which the Basque parliament had approved by a narrow majority in June.

It ruled that under Spain's 1978 constitution the Spanish state "has the exclusive authorisation to call popular consultations by means of a referendum."

It also said the plan infringed the constitution by seeking the opinion of part of the population on an issue that concerned the whole country.

The moderate nationalist government of the northern region wanted to call a referendum on whether to hold peace talks with the armed separatist group ETA -- provided it renounced violence -- and the Basque people's right to "self-determination", which is seen as a coded reference to its right to secede from Spain.

The armed Basque separatist group ETA, blamed for the deaths of 823 people in its 40-year campaign for an independent Basque homeland, has long defended the Basque people's right to self-determination.

The proposed referendum would ask voters two questions:

1: "Do you support a process aimed at negotiating an end to violence if ETA first demonstrates, unequivocally, its will to definitively end violence?"

2: "Do you agree that Basque political parties should begin a process of negotiation to reach an agreement on a democratic accord on the Basque people's exercise of the right of self-determination and that this accord be submitted to a (regional) referendum before the end of 2010?"

Ibarretxe said the court ruling was an "attack on the Basque government" which had "confirmed our worst fears ... by putting reasons of state above reasons of democracy."

"We find ourselves in the situation of being unable to express an opinion," he said, "a situation which is unusual in 21st century Europe."

Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said she was convinced the European court would not accept "any challenge to the law."

"We will defend the position of the Spanish government which was upheld by the Constitutional Court," she told a press conference following a cabinet meeting.

Ibarretxe "seems determined to maintain his plan at whatever cost, even though it divides Basque society and is against the constitution," she added.


As much as I don't agree with Ibarretxe's proposal and as much as I am sure that Strasbourg will rule against the Basque people I have to say that this is one more instance in which the basic rights of the Basques are being trampled by the authoritarian and fascist Spanish government.

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