Anti-Basque sentiment

Anti-Basque sentiment is a long started Spanish build of mixing propaganda and envy sentiment among the Spaniards to justify the abolition of the Basque rights, their juridical and political system, their culture, language and identity. It has had several fases of tries of international spreading through the history, mainly for the preparation of wars against the Basques or which a Basque participation.

Actually there are also several attemps, the last of them being the Jose Maria Aznar government diplomacy trying to get a UN resolution against the Basque terrorist group ETA.

Aznar also got the inclussion of some Basque political parties in the list of terrorist organizations, although paying it with his participation in the war of Iraq against the overwhelming wises of 90% of Spaniards.

History of Anti-Basque propaganda

This is a completely non-sense article. The political parties mentioned above only are the voice of terrorist group ETA which has killed several hundred people all over Spain.

when I first learnt about Wikipedia, this subject instantly came to my mind. If there is one single topic that is subject to eternal arguments between both sides, it's the Basque situation. I'm afraid such articles are going to be subject to neverending changes from people who support one side or the other.

I think the idea of Wikipedia is great. But in order for it to work, it's articles need to be as objective as possible, in order to avoid topics which end up being nothing but a dead-end argument over who is actually right.

As far as the Basque Country is concerned, this is extremely difficult, because the notion of what is actually "objective" varies radically from the Basque Country to the rest of Spain (just saying that is subjective, because may Basque would argue that their land is not a part of Spain. Nonetheless, its actual status is such, and although I have absolutely nothing against its independence, it is not a reality at the present moment).

The situation is right now something like this: The Basque Country (considered as the territory in which the Basque live, or at least where Basque culture and language still exist) is a region divided in three parts: two of them in Spain and the other in France. In it, there is a large portion of the population (which the Basque nationalist parties claim to be a great majority, the Spanish nationalist considering it is only half of it) which would like to be independent.

Among these, there are many different sectors, from the moderate, conservative nationalist party (which governs one of the two spanish parts of the Basque Country), to the more radical and recently prohibited Batasuna. Batasuna is often considered as the "Sin Feinn" of the Basque country, that is, the party which promotes the same ideology as ETA, the well-known Basque terrorist organization, although, according to them, not necessarily supporting their actions (although not condemning them, explaining that violence is just a result of the ongoing conflict).

What the Basque nationalist claim is that there is a conflict going on, in which both ETA with its killings on one side and the Spanish police and politicians with its tortures, unjustified arrests and prohibition of Basque media, parties (Batasuna) on the other.

Although in the Basque Country the "concept" (god it's hard to be objective) that there are actually tortures, or that the incarceration of certain people and the prohibition of Basque newspapers, radios, political parties and cultural associations is widely accepted, in the rest of Spain they are viewed as a fantasy made up by the nationalists to gain sympathy for their cause. Generally without any sort of discussion, everytime somebody is arrested in the Baque Country and charged with being somehow linked with ETA, everybody accepts it, and if anyone dares to disagree, it is inmediately pointed out as a supporter of the bands criminal actions.

So, with such two different "realities" being lived in the two parts (the Basque believing that there is a two-sided conflict between two nations, the Spanish just thinking it's a bunch of murderers and their accomplices being put into jail the police), it's hard to dream of any sort of consensus.

PS: Okay, I know that wasn't exactly objective. But I tried. I swear. But since I can't help being a little subjective, I'm going to explain my point of view: I live in Madrid, I was born here and spent my entire life here. My family name is Basque, though, and I was always interested in their culture, which is, from my point of view (being subjective, remember) fascinating. It's one of the oldest known languages in the world, and its origins are a complete mystery. I have also spent all my life trying to understand both sides, which, I must say, could drive anyone out of his mind. I know very well what the people here in Madrid think, and also travel whenever I can to the Basque Country, where I like to see what they think too (actually there it is much easier to find diversity of opinions, there are also many Basque who don't support independence).I do not have anything against the Basque gaining its independence, although its reamaining as a part of Spain wouldn't crush my world either. I am just really worried about all the violence going on. And, although most of the Spaniards outside the Basque Country do not think so, this violence is not only composed of ETA's pointless and brutal murders, but of the tortures and unjust detentions of which hundreds of Basque are subject almost on a weekly basis (in the Spanish media, this is usually seen as a success of the police against ETA, although days before most of the detainees are released without charges and no news of it are ever heard).

Anyway... Probably someone will come over and delete my post, or just insult me and say that I am a terrorist or a Spanish fascist. I guess my point in the end is to say that, at least from my side, being a Madrid-born guy, I swear I bear absolutely nothing against the Basque, actually, it is more of the opposite.

Oh, and I love Wikipedia. Great idea.