taking the gun out of basque politics

It has been exactly one year since the arrest on October 3 2004 of "Mikel Antza" (Mikel Albizu born 1961), a writer attributed with leading the organisation ETA since 1992, thought to be directly responsible for 120 deaths.
He was arrested with his partner "anboto" (Soledad Iparagirre - born 1961) who is blamed for 14 deaths.

They were detained in a villa at Salíes-de-Béarn with 17 other presumed members of ETA, a quantity of arms, 1,300 kilograms of explosive and two SAM7 rocket launchers (supplied by irish dissident republicans).

This morning the succesors to that couple were arrested (also in France) along with a quantity of arms in the 6th joint operation between Spain and France aimed at the total disarticulation of the terrorist group.

Harriet Aguirre, (suspected lieutenant to ETA leader Garikoitz Aspiazu who succeeded Mikel Antza) and Idoia Mendizábal and one un-named person were arrested today in France.

Amongst the crimes they are suspected of was the murder of a young socialist militant in the basque,
Eduardo Madina in 2002 who had taken part in the "basque forum" an opportunity for all sides to the conflict within the basque to search for a solution.

In 40 years the terrorist group have killed over 850 people.

In the last year ETA has carried out several small attacks indicative of its weakness, all came with warnings indicative of its awareness of public opinion in the basque after march 11 on a variety of targets :-

* madrid motorway service stations on the first day of weekend holidays.

* an ESB partner electricity station.

* various tourist resorts.
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The basque parliament is currently preparing a constitutional reform document which will be debated between its coalition of centre nationalists, left wing parties and the local varient of the spanish socialist party. That reform will address the continued revitalisation of the language, the recuperation of identity and renewed financial investment in the industrial heartland of the Bay of Biscay where the basques live.

"Bake" is the basque for peace.

Most people there know that, their beautiful language is heard ever more frequently as it "de-politicises" and most basques are waiting for "bake" and many of them have a fair idea of how to achieve it, given half the chance, and almost none of them believe the gun is going to get it or has helped much in getting it so far.
Instead the rhetoric and myth of "national liberation" and /or "national oppression" has spawned a fascistic group of murderers who distort the reality of the historic repression and attempt to monopolise the realities of cultural or economic inequality .

For those who know little about the history or contemporary culture of the basque people or their contribution to Europe and the world, the continued presence of the terrorists has made it lamentably more difficult for those who are committed to solely peaceful political and cultural development to find space in international media.

All-too-often only certain types of basque political activists are heard. "the basques have terrorists".

The basques are just the same as anyone else.

They have the same worries, and the same problems with jobs, housing, health, precarity.
They protest the same way as we do.
they have critical mass, they have rts! they do some of the best graffiti on the continent. They're worried about nuclear power and pollution.

That didn't end last year nor does it end today.

But only when the gun is taken from their politics will the real story be heard.

Do yourself a favour find a basque (they're diasporic just like the Irish) and talk to them about their home and try not to mention the "national question". Imagine you had just met an irish boy or girl and tried not to start the conversation on what its like to be alive today in the globalised world that affords you both shoes, and avoid the "which part of ireland are you from?" or "are you kathurlick or protestant?".
Talk about Sub Sahara instead. Ask what basques and irish can do about that.