Do you think Julio Medem had a great idea doing this?
I mean, he will be respected by 51% of the basques but he is now one of the most hated persons in the rest of Spain.
I think he should not have messed up with politics.
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MovieChat Forums > La pelota vasca. La piel contra la piedra (2003) Discussion > Do you think Julio Medem had a great ide...
If I ever make a film about the opression of the Tibetans by the Chinese and because of that they hate me in China, so be it.
Julio Medem had the courage of taking his star power and shedding some light on the struggle that the Basque society is undergoing on their quest for self determination, he should be commended for it, not too many directors, film makers or actors are willing to do something like that.
The Spaniards hate a Basque artist, so, what's new?
I´m sorry Iraskle, opression of the Tibetans by the Chinese??? What are you talking about?? I am basque and I live in Madrid because of the opression held by the terrorists against my family. I definitely don't hate Julio Medem, and I respect his opinion, but I can't share the same one.
Julio Medem had the courage of taking his star power and shedding some light on the struggle that the Basque society is undergoing on their quest for self determination????
I am sorry, you are talking about the part of the basque society who wants that determination, which is almost total now, with basque police, sharing less money with the rest of spain, etc etc. Although I respect the fact that basques may want total independence I can't beleive you still think basques are opresssed by the central government, because who's opressed is my family who can't even visit the basque country simply because my grandpa had a factory and refused to give money to ETA. Opression is entering some places in the basque country speaking spanish (the official language in Spain), and being threatened by extremist-separatists for the only fact of being from Madrid. I don't beleive you know much about this conflict.
To have your schools described as "hotbeds of terrorism" only because children learn in Euskara and taking into consideration the Basque point of view, that is oppresion.
To have media outlets with Basque as the main language (Basque happens to be an official language in the Basque Country besides Spanish, like newspapers and radio stations, closed down (Egunkaria case), that is opression.
To be arrested in the middle of the night, held incommunicado for five days, tortured, jailed without a timely trial, and then released for lack of evidence after posting a high bail, that is opression.
To be forbidden to display the Ikurrina, the Basque flag at Irunea/Pamplona which happens to be a Basque city during the San Fermines, that is opression.
To relocate Basque political prisoners to remote jails as to make it more difficult for their families and friends to visit them, that is opression.
To refuse to set free Basque political prisoners who suffer of a terminal illness as specified by the law, that is opression.
To accuse any individual or group that works towards the advancement of Basque language and culture of being part of the "ETA entorno", that is opression.
To deploy paramilitary groups in the Basque Country to harass, kidnap and torture Basque and non Basques, that is opression.
To shut down Basque political parties, that is opression.
To prevent Basque musicians from performing in cities around Spain, that is opression.
To demand from international film festivals not to screen a documentary by a Basque director, that is opression.
To blame the whole of the Basque society for the Madrid bombings even knowing that the clues pointed to an islamist terrorist group, that is opression.
To manipulate the media as to make the terms Basque and Terrorist interchangeable, that is opression.
To issue threats against the Basque President for his plan to call for a referendum that will allow the Basques to decide their future, that is opression.
You are not a Basque, you are a Spaniard who longs for someone like Francisco Franco to rule you, and who reads from a fascist panflet about how to claim to be a Basque and not being able to live in Euskal Herria because ETA is demanding a ransom from your wealthy father.
You are not different from a Chinese that desires for Tibet to remain part of China or an Israeli who desires to steal the land from the Palestinians.
Let the Basques be what they want to be, let them be one.
"To have your schools described as "hotbeds of terrorism" only because children learn in Euskara and taking into consideration the Basque point of view, that is oppresion."
- Are you aware that one of the "exercises" was writing in Euskera "how to do a kidnapping"... This generated controversial, but there is no problem with Euskara. It is accepted in Spain that in every place people study/speak not only spanish.
To have media outlets with Basque as the main language (Basque happens to be an official language in the Basque Country besides Spanish, like newspapers and radio stations, closed down (Egunkaria case), that is opression.
- Closed because they did criminal activities, not for being independentists or write in Euskara
To be arrested in the middle of the night, held incommunicado for five days, tortured, jailed without a timely trial, and then released for lack of evidence after posting a high bail, that is opression.
- "released for lack of evidence", this did not happen to Miguel Angel Blanco who was executed by the terrorists just for being voted in the elections. Is being voted enough evidence to kill a man?
To be forbidden to display the Ikurrina, the Basque flag at Irunea/Pamplona which happens to be a Basque city during the San Fermines, that is opression.
- there is no problem with the Ikurrina. The real problem is the spanish flag, which is hated.
To relocate Basque political prisoners to remote jails as to make it more difficult for their families and friends to visit them, that is opression.
- political prissioners or terrorists? a man who kills is a terrorist. There is not any pacific independentist in jail.
To refuse to set free Basque political prisoners who suffer of a terminal illness as specified by the law, that is opression.
- never heard of that, can you specify the name of one?
To accuse any individual or group that works towards the advancement of Basque language and culture of being part of the "ETA entorno", that is opression.
- that is fake. No one put the PNV (nacionalist vasque party) in the "ETA entorno". However PNV works towards the advancement of Basque language and culture
To deploy paramilitary groups in the Basque Country to harass, kidnap and torture Basque and non Basques, that is opression.
- if you speak of GAL, GAL members are in prission as well. Spain does not accept terrorists, even if they fight another terrorists.
To shut down Basque political parties, that is opression.
- One political party was shut down because it is related to a terrorist group, with proofs.
To prevent Basque musicians from performing in cities around Spain, that is opression.
- there is no problem with Basque music. Just as an example, does Alex Ubago have any problem in being succesful in all Spain?
To demand from international film festivals not to screen a documentary by a Basque director, that is opression.
- demand is not opression. Forbid would be opression, but ask for something does not constitute any kind of opression.
To blame the whole of the Basque society for the Madrid bombings even knowing that the clues pointed to an islamist terrorist group, that is opression.
- it is false that the whole Basque society was blamed. ETA was wrongly blamed. I understgand this mistake because some months before ETA had a bomb planned for Madrid and a truck was caught with lot of TNT. What was all these explosives for?
To manipulate the media as to make the terms Basque and Terrorist interchangeable, that is opression.
- This is absolutely false. I am not saying that there is no manipulation on TV because there is manipulation in both Spanish and Basque TV but I NEVER heard in any media that Basque and Terrorist are interchangeable terms.
To issue threats against the Basque President for his plan to call for a referendum that will allow the Basques to decide their future, that is opression.
- What the basque president wants to do is not legal. What was changed was the penalty for doing it. If you consider that every law is a threat to every person that breaks it... this law can be considered a kind of threat.
You are not a Basque, you are a Spaniard who longs for someone like Francisco Franco to rule you, and who reads from a fascist panflet about how to claim to be a Basque and not being able to live in Euskal Herria because ETA is demanding a ransom from your wealthy father.
- You are complaining because some people is mixing up basques and terrorists but your position is not coherent with the fact that you are calling every spanish a fascist. People like you and people who thinks that all basques are terrorists just suck.
Let the Basques be what they want to be, let them be one.
- One, great, free... I've heard that before. A fascist said it.
- If you want to be an independent country there is no problem for me but I cannot understand those who support terrorists
Irakasle,
You are a liar, a fake victim, shameless, manipulator, inconsequent, you apologize the terrorism (as this “Basque musician” banned in Spain do), and your discourse is quite bored. Too many times I have heard the same garbage.
Having to handle the people like you, THAT IS OPRESSION.
I honnestly think Julio Medem did have a great idea doing what he did. I think his addition to the debate at least is far more relaxed, gentle and subtle than most of what is posted in forums such as this, and what is printed in Spanish day to day press. Seen the movie? It features people talking. In words. About themselves and eachother. Sitting down.
shareKillingentelletilti,
A lot of people who stand for the dialogue don’t like “La pelota vasca”. This film tries to encourage the dialogue but it fails. Medem don’t support the terrorism, of course, but at the same time he went too far away looking for the causes of ETA. He went so far away, that sometimes in the film the terrorism looks like a disproportionate response to a brutal Spanish oppression. And this is fake now days. Grotesquely fake.
The scene of the teacher beating the children while shouting them “YOU ARE SPANIARDS” and the children crying “NO, WE ARE BASQUES”…is shameful, unjust, and fake in the Spanish democracy.
The radical Basque nationalists have their roots in the racist, pre-nazi and shameful work of Sabino Arana. The film does not remark it.
Apart from this, there is a clear manipulation by Medem during the edition of the film. The impartial spectator is carried in a very subtle way towards the pacific Basque separatist cause.
Those people favorable to the nationalist cause enjoy more time talking than those who are not favorable to the Basque separatism.
After looking the “pelota vasca” one of the few things in clear is that the Spanish Police is a bunch of torturers, which is a shameful and fake statement in the year 2004.
Medem manipulates a film that tell us that we are manipulated. Ridiculous.
The government asked in foreign festivals not to show the film, because the conclusions suggested in this subtle way, are not just. This could deform the actual reality of ETA abroad. And this is a very bad thing.
800 murders, in Spain, in Europe, in a democracy, this is the most important reality of the “Basque conflict”, indeed.
Encouraging the dialogue is not the only one important thing. The way in which you want to encourage dialogue is also very important. Medem fails in the way.
Look, do you remember in “Raging Bull” the famous combat in which Robert de Niro is defeated? Well, a friend of mine reedited this scene in order to make a joke. In the scene edited by him, Robert de Niro wins. That is the power of a manipulated edition.
Well I don't know.
Is it a question of faith at some point? I mean sure Medem will make a basque friendly film, him being basque, living the frustrations of the apparently neverending aggression and the thus following stigma. No artistic expression is ever objective, let alone this one, I don't see why it should be expected to be. Every adult knows this. The inclinations of the artist shines through. That's how it works.
Now if Medem a) encourages his interview objects to lie or b) edits what they've said to make it look like they've said radically different things than what they actually have, then that would be horrific. Is that what you're saying?
Iñaki Ezkerra asked Julio Medem to remove his appearance in the film. He said that the way in which the film is edited, doesn’t reflect the reality of the Basque conflict, and in some way, the movie humiliate the victims of ETA.
Gotzone Mora said that she leaved the project of Medem when Medem tried to twist her opinion in order to admit that the terrorist who dies when his own bomb explodes accidentally is also a victim comparable to those who are murdered by ETA. Medem called her again and promised her that he would offer her a private showing of the film before it was released. Gotzone Mora accepted, and one year later she received an invitation for the premiere. She reclaimed a private showing before the premiere as Medem promised her, and in her own words she got “horrified and scandalized”. By the way, her bodyguards (Civil Guards) leaved the room at the middle of the showing, absolutely outraged. Gotzone Mora asked Medem to remove her appearance in the film.
Both Iñaki Ezkerra and Gotzone Mora still in “la pelota vasca”, saying what Medem wanted them to say in order to reinforce his own point. They were thinking about breaking a lawsuit against Julio Medem.
Almost all the not nationalist people who appeared in the film complained about the way in which Medem chose their words during the edition.
The number of pro-nationalists talking in "la pelota vasca" is clearly higher to the number of not nationalists. This is an objective data.
Incidentally, no one of the Nationalist people interviewed in “la pelota vasca” complained, and all of them liked the movie, and supported Medem during the whole polemic. Rather suspicious.
Of course I am not saying that “la pelota vasca” is a mere nationalist pamphlet, but when you talk about a so painful problem, even the subtle manipulations can hurt to many people and can deform a lot the reality.
You have lots of good points, the basque conflict being, yes, extremely painful and not at all anything to go lightly about. Myself, I don't believe in the nationalist idea - anywhere, as I find the idea easily encompasses a certain racism, and I believe it is not really suited for the world of today (I am not Basque nor Spanish and am talking at a general level right now), and have had serious conflicts with some of my basque (absolutely passifist) friends over this. They get very worked up and feel easily attacked, and I find it hard to have a calm discussion without being accused of utter stupidity or met with "you don't belong to a minority group and will never understand".
On the other hand I find the basque conflict in general, and the gap, alienation and enmity created by the extremely low witted and cruel actions of ETA in specific, seem to endanger a sound preservation of the basque cultural heritage, and this is also a serious and very real problem. Over this I have a lot of conflicts with my Spanish friends who - probably because of the degree of anxiety connected with the topic - appear to be appalled by the idea of "basque cultural heritage" at all. In these discussions I get accused of being some kind of overtly cultural relativist, violent romantic hippie without respect for human life.
So - in simple words - I've missed calm voices - basque and spanish - discussing the matters sitting down on chairs, if you know what I mean, as opposed to jumping around and flailing their arms. And in Spanish media - though I don't follow them as closely as I don't live in Spain anymore - the tendency is that the conflict is mostly commented from a Spain United and No Questions Asked perspective, if I may put it so tabloidly. So I really don't think there's a big danger of Medem brain washing the world quite so quickly. His is one lonely voice. It is lamentable, and very worth noticing, what you say, that the non nationalist people have been unhappy with the outcome of the film and the editing of their interviews, but do I think the film was a good idea? Absolutely.
I understand what you mean. But you must understand that it is very difficult to establish a quiet dialogue with somebody who stands for, not molest but outraging ideas.
Look, I am Galician. There are three historic nationalities in Spain, namely Cataluña, Galicia and Pais Vasco. There is a deep truth when the people talk about the Spanish oppression, the suppression of our cultures and the imposition of a supposed Spanish universal culture. I have seen photos from the 40´s in which some posters hung in the streets of the Galician cities and villages are shown, with the words:
“Es de cumplido caballero hablar el idioma cervantino. Hable castellano, no sea bruto”.
In Galicia, during the Franco´s dictatorial regime, many nationalists were shot, or closed in jail, just because of their ideas. But it is unjust to say that we are the owners of the “Franco´s oppression” as many Basques (radical and moderates) do. This is absurd and unjust.
Here, as in the Basque country, we suffered the cultural oppression, but in some way the cultural oppression is not so different to the political repression which Franco applied all across Spain (in Madrid, in Andalucia, in Murcia or whatever the region).
This is what is so outraging to me. The shameful robbery of the pain, the monopoly of the “victim-of-the-oppression” status that the Basque nationalists are carrying out.
The pathetic switch between 'Franco´s oppression' and 'Spanish oppression'.
The oppression DID exist. The oppression did exist during centuries. But you can not ignore that Spain without the Basque Country, without Galicia or without Cataluña is not Spain anymore. Saying that there is oppression today in whatever the zone of Spain, is delirious.
The second point, is that once you had the misfortune of loosing some of your cultural identity, by repression and oppression, you cannot invent it. Since many time ago the Basque nationalism (I am including here both the moderate and the radical) is reinventing the Basque History. And this is very dangerous. Yes, DANGEROUS. You cannot make the Spain of today paying the faults and crimes of the Spain of 30 or 300 years ago. You can not make Spain the guilty of all your frustrations and social problems, and to teach this to the children at the school.
Some people is starting to say that “Spain is the country that never existed”.
As a Galician, I feel myself outraged when I saw this old photos, or the ancient documents which meant almost the legal suppression of the Galician language. But we are now in 2004, and this is what the Basque nationalists need to learn.
The third point is the delirium tremens phase in which many nationalists (pacific and non pacific) are stuck right now. The very idea of a Basque race is delirious from the anthropologic point of view. Spain have suffered along its history so many invasions, conquests, re-conquests, cultural waves and immigration and emigration movements, that talking about a specific Basque race today is ridiculous.
"you don't belong to a minority group and will never understand". My conversation with that guys would finish just here.
I am Galician, so am I Celtic? I have clear skin but dark eyes. I am tall but my hair is dark. No, the Galician race is a mix of Celtics, Romans, Moors, Vikings, Jews, etc, etc, etc. And in the Basque country happened the very same thing. And the most sad thing, is that the Basque nationalists look at this as a disgrace, instead of looking at this as a wonderful mix of races and cultures (including the prehistoric Basque one), which is what Spain actually is today.
And in the very middle of all this mess we have ETA, shooting and bombing people as if they were a punisher God with right to execute people without trial and jury.
They call themselves the last European indigenous. It would sound funny if their delirium of greatness had not taken so many innocent lives. The manipulation of information made by some Spanish media is anecdotic and secondary if you compare that with the barbarism of ETA.
I like Medem as director of fiction, but in my opinion, he could have saved “La pelota vasca”.
Einstein said: “The nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of the Humanity”
Rodriguito, you forgot Iparralde and the northern Catalonian country, which are not in Spain.
Basque and Catalonian are European nationalities, not Spanish ethnic minorities.
Basque language is not officialy recognized in Iparralde, the french part of Basque Country, that is against liberty and respect of culture.
And besides...
(to "poncet" who said : "Basque happens to be an official language in the Basque Country besides Spanish"
Hem, hem... Wasn't there a part of Nafarroa where euskera is not official?
To have newspapers with basque political features, even with French as the main language (and 10 to 20% of basque) like "Enbata", closed down, that is against liberty of expression.
I recall that the political party "Batasuna" is forbidden in Spain but legal in France. That is not only against liberty of thinking : that is simply STUPID.
To "by - parasrrpp" who said : "´m sorry Iraskle, opression of the Tibetans by the Chinese??? What are you talking about?? I am basque and I live in Madrid because of the opression held by the terrorists against my family. I definitely don't hate Julio Medem, and I respect his opinion, but I can't share the same one."
If you really are basque start learning basque first : you mixed up "iraskle" with "irakasle" (which means "teacher")
I also recall that Julio Medem tried to be neutral but he did what he could : lot of people with other points of view refused to be interviewed or to appear in the movie.
+This movie is not a journalist report. It is an art work in which emotions and beauty are important. All the journalists who wrote critics about it forgot that point of view.
As an art work anyway I think it's a touchy movie full of emotions... The artistic impression was strong.
Please, everybody, fight "FOR" Love&Peace, NOT "AGAINST" War, respect people and Culture, study and make efforts TO THINK BY YOURSELF, stay cool, be zen.
Basque and Catalonian are European nationalities? I have never know about a basque or catalonian passport, or basque or catalonian frontiers. The people that live in the Basque Country and Catalunya have the spanish nationality, but they can be called "basques" or "catalonians", the same as a guy that lives in New York can be called "new yorker", but he is american, that is his nationality.
shareYou really don't know the meaning of the word nationality do you? Even the Spanish constitution declares that there is a Basque and a Catalan nationality... A different thing is the State you happen to belong to
shareHi all,
I have seen the movie and read the book, which gives you a better perspective about the whole thing and want to express my opinion. I am spanish (from Asturias) and obviously not a basque nationalist.
Iñaki Ezkerra asked Julio Medem to remove his appearance in the film. He said that the way in which the film is edited, doesn’t reflect the reality of the Basque conflict, and in some way, the movie humiliate the victims of ETA.
Gotzone Mora said that she leaved the project of Medem when Medem tried to twist her opinion in order to admit that the terrorist who dies when his own bomb explodes accidentally is also a victim comparable to those who are murdered by ETA. Medem called her again and promised her that he would offer her a private showing of the film before it was released. Gotzone Mora accepted, and one year later she received an invitation for the premiere. She reclaimed a private showing before the premiere as Medem promised her, and in her own words she got “horrified and scandalized”. By the way, her bodyguards (Civil Guards) leaved the room at the middle of the showing, absolutely outraged. Gotzone Mora asked Medem to remove her appearance in the film.
Both Iñaki Ezkerra and Gotzone Mora still in “la pelota vasca”, saying what Medem wanted them to say in order to reinforce his own point. They were thinking about breaking a lawsuit against Julio Medem.
Answer: in fact some people felt offended but it is as well very true that many victims are shown like Eduardo Madina, Marixabel Lasa, Cristina Sagarzazu, Javier Elzo and some others that I don't remember right now. Do you think they would take part if they would feel the movie goes against the victims?
I remember Marixabel Lasa speaking how ETA broke her life and tears came to my eyes and you can feel the horror of terrorism. So I didn't have the feeling that the movie humiliates the victims.
Almost all the not nationalist people who appeared in the film complained about the way in which Medem chose their words during the edition.
The number of pro-nationalists talking in "la pelota vasca" is clearly higher to the number of not nationalists. This is an objective data.
Answer: don't forget Medem offered also many not nationalist people to take part in the movie and they refused. In fact when the movie started he says: This film will always miss those who didn't want to take part into it. So I don't see any discrimination there.
Incidentally, no one of the Nationalist people interviewed in “la pelota vasca” complained, and all of them liked the movie, and supported Medem during the whole polemic. Rather suspicious.
Of course I am not saying that “la pelota vasca” is a mere nationalist pamphlet, but when you talk about a so painful problem, even the subtle manipulations can hurt to many people and can deform a lot the reality.
Conclussion: I don't think the movie manipulates and I think it helps and contributes to the dialogue since it lets everybody express their own opinions in front of the camera. So I don't think it twists anything. The point is that it is showing people who reported tortures from the police and as a spanish I am ashamed if this is true. We all know some reports are false but the testimony of Anika Gil (who was put back to freedom after 5 days because she was found to be innocent) and some other people seems to be totally realistic. For me it is also hard to admit that there are other victims of this conflict because we have always seen the victims on one side (maybe that is what Gotzone Mora considered to be outrageous). However, should we put a blind in front of our eyes before these facts? That doesn't mean that our police is *beep* and they are all torturers but let's not turn our back to reality , please...
HORI BETI GERTATU IZAN DA ESPAINIAN EUSKALDUNA DEN GUZTIARI GORROTO DIOTE ETA GAINERA BERAIEK DIRA BAKEAREN KONTRA DAUDEN LEHENAK ZER IZANGO LITZATEKE PP ETA PSOE-REKIN EUSKAL HERRIAN BAKEA BALEGO?
shareNot everybody knows euskera, buddy. People who post in a public forum should make their opinion possible to read for everybody. I would really like to know what you have to say.
"Military Intelligence is a contradiction in terms."- Groucho Marxshare
jun zaitez pikutara motel
GORA EUSKAL HERRIA ASKATUTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Viva España libre de los asesinos vascos.
shareI think the same...but I could say "Viva España libre de Eta" and I could add "Viva El país vasco independiente"
But the Basque people, in overall, are not killers.Is a different culture inside the spanish culture.
In my opinion, the government of Madrid could give to the Basque country a chance to be independent. Is almost the same case of another countries. The people (or, better, some people) in Quebec wanted to be independent from Canada, because the felt that they had a different culture. Finland was part of sweden, but the culture difference was a reason to search independence.
Quebec had a referendum, and stills being part of Canada. But they had a chance to decide. Finland is now independent from Sweden.
I'm sorry if I'm comparing different situations. I'm mexican and I'm 18. I accept that I'm so far from the roots of the problem of the Basque nationalism. But I think that this could be so different giving to the Basque people a chance to deicide If they really want to be independent.
Is only my opinion, not a royal truth.
P.S.: The basque country is a rich territory and has much resources. Is that a reason to don't let it separate?
(my english is not perfect, but i hope that you can understand)
Well, my comment was ambiguous. Of course, I ment that part of basque citizens that kill innocent people thinking that it will make their region independent.
Basque Country has never been an independent state, so there's no reason for it to be independent. The majority of basque people has never liked to be independent, but the corrupt way of educating children in basque schools (supported by the nationalist governemet of PNV) has created an artificial basque nationalist feeling in the youth over the years. Maybe, when this young children educated in the ultranatioalism that supports the terrorism of ETA become majority the Basque Country will be independent... But if now liberty is just a dream for the more-than-a-half of people that feel spanish as far as they feel basque people by that time that won't be a problem, because they will have all emigrated tired of watching their friends and relatives killed or their businesses burn, as the ones of the jews were under the nazis.
Basque Country has never been an independent state, so there's no reason for it to be independent.
This is the dumbest thing I ever heard. An example: The USA weren't independent until they fought for their independency from Britain. Would you also agree that there was no reason for their independency because they never were independent before it? And all the other nations which ever gained independency from another country? Further, it is not true that the Basques never were independent. The Basque culture is probably one of the oldest in Europe, probably the last remaining original one from the time before Indo-Europeans invaded the continent. Since this time the Basques always were oppressed by foreign powers, unable to gain their independency back which they once had in ancient times, but strong enough to keep a lot of their culture through the centuries. It is insolent to refuse the right for self-determination and independency for such an old culture, especially since a modern and democratic Europe - including Spain - claims to guarantee tolerance, freedom and self-determination for ALL of its cultures, nations and minorities.
The majority of basque people has never liked to be independent
Who are the "Basque people" you mention actually? What you mean are the Spanish and French who moved into the Basque Country and live there and which now call themselves "Basques". Go to the (unfortunately few) small villages in the countryside, where the original Basque people still are a majority, this is where you learn what the Basque people really want.
But if now liberty is just a dream for the more-than-a-half of people that feel spanish as far as they feel basque people by that time that won't be a problem, because they will have all emigrated tired of watching their friends and relatives killed or their businesses burn, as the ones of the jews were under the nazis.
You totally exaggerate here, that's ridiculous. Besides, the only time where you really have to feel unsafe in Spain (including the Basque Country) nowadays is in the nighttime when the many adolescents drive drunk and kill themselves and others on the roads. And how dare you to compare the situation of the Spanish in the Basque Country to the jews in Nazi Germany! A free and independent Basque Country would be much more tolerant towards Spanish people and culture than the Spanish ever were towards the Basques.
share
EUSKAL HERRIA HEDATU!
shareHello.
The problem is not that some Basques want to get independent but the fact that some use terrorism to get it and many other justify their attitude and coerce other Basque inhabitants into thinking in the same way or leave their home.
They even want to force non-pro-independent Basque provinces to join them, and even some other provinces in Spain and France whose people feel Spaniards and French.
Their excuse is always the same, Franco killed a lot of Basques. They forget that Franco killed a lot of people all around in Spain, and Franco was Galician, not Castilian. We got rid of Franco but now we have new fascists, the nationalists.
They also argue that Spain invaded the Basque Country, but such thing has never happened, the Basque country has never been a state itself.
Nationalisms in Spain are new invention made by some politicians.
We just want to live peacefully speaking in Spanish, Basque, French, English, Catalan or whatever.
ETA is not a revolutionary group but a mafia.