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March 11, 2004
Madrid
Provisional IRA and neo-Nazi varieties of fascists left bombs outside two of my drinking establishments when I lived in London. The IRA regularly receives the sympathy of people calling themselves progressive but their actions were no different than that of the white supremicist maniac with murder on his mind. It makes my blood-boil when I hear casual support for people who were intent on murdering me and my friends (the Nazi murdered three people, the IRA phoned in a threat and the device was defused... a small mercy). Today's attacks in Madrid bring on the same emotions. Spaniards called for public comment are right to take on news organizations for referring to ETA as "separatists" because this trivializes the massacre and is a grotesque insult to other Basque political groups. I note Reuters was calling the bombers "guerillas" as of 4:08 a.m. ET but by 5:03 a.m. ET the same murderous psychopaths had morphed into "armed Basque separatists" (the Reuters "key facts" list describes ETA as Western Europe's "most active guerrilla force"). Is there a fascist political movement Reuters will not lend rhetorical cover? It is worth repeating the following sentiments.
"Those responsible for this tragedy will be arrested and they will pay very dearly for it," Acebes said at Atocha.
The government convened anti–ETA rallies nationwide for Friday evening.
"What a horror," said the Basque regional president, Juan Jose Ibarretxe, who insisted ETA does not represent the Basque people. "When ETA attacks, the Basque heart breaks into a thousand pieces," he said in the Basque capital Vitoria.
"This is one of those days that you don't want to live through," said opposition Socialist party spokesman Jesus Caldera. "ETA must be defeated," referring to the group as "those terrorists, those animals."
And then... Though not a distortion to the views of all Basque separatists. At least one denies responsibility for the massacre, crediting instead his friends in the "Arab resistance."
And then... Daimnation! links to Iberian Notes' coverage of events.
And then... I have been waiting to read Paul's thoughts. He posted about the bombings about an hour before I post this link.
I am also forwarding Paul's link to Debbye. We do not yet know who was responsible for today's atrocity, only the kind of mind that produced it. Shortly after 9/11 I was asked by a pacifist friend, "Can't we just give them what they want?" I said, "They want Spain." Or rather, Andalusia. She had no idea what I was talking about. An odd thing about racism is that one of its primary effects is to fail to take seriously the worldviews of people that differ from our own. The irony is all too often that racism is expressed by people who think a rhetorical transformation of murderers into ewoks is enough to save the day. Provided, that is, we all agree that real evil takes the form of branded goods and "over-consumption" (and decide to sell Israel down the river, of course). It isn't.
And then... The Dissident Frogman says it (via Debbye). There is another thing to remember about that day in September. There were those who said, "We are all Americans now" and meant it for as long as it allowed them to parasitize the suffering. Now there are those who say, "Today, we are all Spanish." Time will tell. I think the Spanish already know who they can rely on.
Posted by Ghost of a flea at March 11, 2004 06:06 AM
Comments
Excellent post, Nick, from beginning to end, and thanks for the link.
Posted by: Paul Jané at March 11, 2004 06:35 PM
Thanks Paul. You and yours are in my prayers.
Posted by: Flea at March 11, 2004 08:03 PM
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