A Useless article by Basque Writers

national | miscellaneous | news report Friday September 27, 2002 22:02 by Koko

KoKo

On friday, 27th of september, two basque writers have written this article for El Pais showing how frustrated they fill about how things are going on in the Basque Country. It is a sincere article. And the title says a lot.

Another useless article

IBAN ZALDUA AND PATXI ZUBIZARRETA

Also sign this article the writers Ana Arregi, Bernardo Atxaga, Jorge Giménez, Joxemari Iturralde, Anjel Lertxundi, Inazio Mujika eta Jabier Muguruza.

1. The useless ness of basque literature cannot be worse for basque writers: nothing that we write or could write seems to be able to prevent this twister of violence and revenges in which we find ourselves. Less then, an article like this, one more between thousands, all published all this years in newspapers and magazines. But nonetheless....

2. We assist amazed to another act of our collective tragedy: the closing of the activities of a political party, Batasuna, and the opening of a process that will, for sure, take it to it's full illegalization. Decisions like these, that are terrible in any democracy that deserves such a name, are enworsen in our case, since they will leave without a legal political representation to a minoritarian but still very important part of our society, and they are also rejected by a big part of basque citizenship. Even if there are connexions, support and complicities that could unite Batasuna with ETA (still to be proven in a court), to not to allow the radical separatism to have a way of expression in the political system do not drive us but to feed the idea that their proposals have no place in this democracy: this is precisely what the forces from the so called patriotic left (ezker abertzalea) are saying since the times from the transition. In other words, and as it has already been stressed more than once: we have no doubt that the relations between Sinn Fein and the IRA were or are simmilar that those who unite Batasuna and ETA; but What would have happened to the irish peace process -still not over- if the british government had left that party out the law? To not to condemn a killing, even if we feel revolted by it, is not a reason enough to carry on with this process of exceptionality as the one proposed by the parliament, the government and the judges; Javier Pérez Royo has already explained this very clearly in these pages. But it also counterproductive, if what we really want is to achieve a permanent situation of peace in good conditions so that we can all live together and not go further in increasing the social fracture.

3. Having said so, we want to stress that, we still believe that the most immediate problem is that of ETA´s violence and it´s environment. To be against the illegalization of Batasuna does not mean that we agree with it´s proposals. We do not admit the argumentation, nearly biologistic, from the "patriotic left" spokes persons, that everything, until the worse crimes than could have been commited, are a natural product from a conflict enrooted back in the tunnel of history. The situation of elected member of the PP and the PSE, as for a lot of other persons who have tried to place their political option, has enworsed the situation and produces a terrible moral rejection. We do not say all this in order to be politically correct, to ask for an apology or because all these condemns have become a legal imperative (which, by the way, makes the concept of condemn something more superficial), but because we believe it is like that, and we think that it is necessary to repeat it.

4. Now, we believe that the measures put forward by José María Aznar's Government, are not only undemocratic, they will solve nothing, but just the opposite; it was the president who has warned more suffering to come. Specially taking into account what seem to be the motivations that have pushed him to take hard measures: an attempt in the short term to change the political landscape in the Basque Country, on one side, and the revenge on the other. We would like to be wrong, but we cannot remove from our heads the idea that behind the new political party law there is an attempt from the PP-PSE agreement to achieve, through the state of exception, what they were unable to achieve at the democratic regional elections in may 2001: once Batasuna has been removed from the map, it would be even easier for them to obtain the majority in the most important townhalls and in the provincial councils at next local elections, and in the basque parliament at next regional elections. Of course we find it absolutely legitimate for those forces who back the spanish constitution aim for the political majority in the Basque Country; but we find it condemnable, nonetheless, the operation made that underlies this political exceptionality. As for the wish for a revenge, to make pay to all those we perceive as an enemy for the past pain inflicted -a wish for revenge understandable probably at a personal level, but unjustifiable at a political level-, there is nothing more than read or listen to some public declarations made by some spokesperson of the PP and of the PSOE to understand until what point underlies the idea of "an eye for an eye", not that much in the core of the speech that in the surface of it. We do not believe that the revenge and the anger will be a good political guide. Primo Levi wrote about revenge: "I believe in reason and in discussion as supreme tools for progress, and I put forward justice to hatred". We have serious doubts about the justice and the actions undertaken by the government and the courts.

5. Of course, this process must be understood in this involutionist clima of cutting down of basic freedoms that are living the occidental democracies at least from the 11th of september of 2001 and probably from before. The way to confront immigration, economical differencies or conflicts like the ones in the Balcans, Chechenia or Palestine, and the actions in Afghanistan, show the growing of the militarist option as a political guide to be followed. From this perspective, the way the spanish government is taking the basque conflict is significative for three reasons: on one side, it is useful to hide controversial policies (as education, labour policies, immigration policy...); on the other hand, it is creating an idea of spain totaly unified, that do not trust any nationalism that is not it´s own ant still further from the plurinational nature of spain (a nature in which the right to secession could be accepted), finally it would seem a sample, at the scale of the orientation to conflict resolution given by the USA or Israel. THe ilegalization with Batasuna is a step further, terrible, but one more, on top of others that come from before, like the situation of ETA prisoners and their families, the denouncing of tortures, the terrible punishments that fall on youngs who practice street guerrilla (the same action, burning a rubbish bin, has a worst punishment in the basque Country than, for example, in Valencia), or the repeated discrimination, that part of the public institutions apply to the basque speaking minority in Navarra, real laboratory for politial essays for the PP in this field.

6. The putting in place of a complete state of exception in the Basque Country is a necessary precondition for the appliance of an exclusively policial solution (or even militar) to the basque conflict, in front of the options that make stress in dialogue and reconciliation. We are not as naïve as to think that ETA cannot be finished through a militar way and to turn this country in a peaceful place: history gives more than one example for this; amongst others the Basque Country for the last to centuries. Another question would be the price: the price we would have to paly noy from a material and a moral view, and that the conflict would reproduce later with all its violence, once again, within one or two generations. Franco achieved peace, but he planted the seed for hatred in one part of basque society (and in the spanish also), and still we are paying the consequences; ETA has done so aswell, in its own way: for these 30 years it is the one who has achieve more to generate hate and anger from big part of basque society (and evidently, the spanish). We think if it is legitimate, and specially what future for the state to carry on on this path, feeding this twister of moral misery in which we sink more an more.

The removal of the right to demonstrate (already denounced by Amnesty International) and the happenings which in Bilbao, in which the Basque Police blocked violently a march in principle peaceful, with thousands of people, make the worse prediction on this matter

7. Those undersignin this article are not sure of everything, not like the polititians at boths sides saying: "or with me or against me". We have doubts, questions, fears. We write from the edge of a knife, useless articles like this.

Nonetheless, we are forced to write them.