The End of an Era?
This past week the terrorist organization ETA has announced it is dissolving. One of the last holdovers of the radical movements of the sixties and seventies in Europe, it has finally stopped killing. People tend to forget that Europe was not free of terrorist killings before ISIS appeared. But there were already many shootings and bombs going off thirty years ago.
ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, Euskadi and Freedom) is a relic of the dime-a-dozen radical organizations within Europe that decided to get their utopian message across with weapons and death. Some have European origins, others Middle Eastern, such as Abu-Nidal. There was Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Fraction, RAF) in Germany, Action Directe in France, November 17th in Greece, Grupos de Resistencia Antifascista Primero de Octuber (GRAPO, First of October Antifascist Resistance Groups) in Spain, Brigate Rosse (Red Brigades) in Italy, the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, and many others, some lasting only for a few years, others for decades, still others splinter groups of splinter groups. Most of these originated in the era of people's revolutions and idealism that still beats today, with praises of Marxist-Leninist theories. Though when put into action, they have been shown to not work on large, national bases, the utopias of total equality still attract idealists all around the world.
However, ETA is one of the longest lasting terror organizations that has continuously existed. It was founded in 1959 on four basic pillars, the defense of the Euskera language, ethnocentrism (you're Basque, you're in; you're not, you're out), anti-Spanish actions, and independence of all the Basque provinces in Spain and France, including both Navarras. Its first important action was the assassination of Franco's Vice President, Admiral Luís Carrero Blanco. But the next action, against innocent civilians in a café in Madrid, broke the organization in two, between targeting specific military and governmental objectives, or simply killing anyone.
It continued well into the 80's, with one of the most notable massacres in 1987, in the supermarket Hipercor in Barcelona, with 21 dead and over 40 injured. Then came other killings in the nineties and the new century. In 1997 they kidnapped a city councilman of Ermua, Miguel Ángel Blanco. The terrorists threatened to kill him if all the ETA members held in prison were not transferred to prisons in the Basque region. The government said no, and the councilman was killed. Millions of Spaniards held vigils across the country, and then marched to protest his murder. ETA was falling on hard times.
It continued falling on bad times with the bombing of a Guardia Civil housing facility in Santa Pola, Alicante, killing a 57 year old man and a six year old girl who lived there because her father was a Guard. The girl was the same age as my daughter. One of the last killings was at Barajas airport in Madrid in 2006, in the parking lot of Terminal 4. Two died there, including a man sleeping in his car while he awaited the flight his family was coming on.
Now, after ETA had already given up its weapons cache to international observers some time ago, it has declared itself finished. In its declaration it has asked for forgiveness from some victims, but not all. It only asks forgiveness from those it considers had no part in the Basque conflict. It leaves out all political and military deaths it caused. That has caused an uproar in some areas of the government and in victims' associations.
I say, let sleeping dogs lie. The history is done. The dead will remain dead, whether or not their killers ask pardon. Besides, saying you're sorry is only words. They might be filled with sorrow, or they might be as empty as a cookie jar in a house filled with sugar hungry kids. Accept that they have declared the end of their fight. It was about time. Terror hasn't ended, merely shifted its face. But one little peace branch makes a difference.
ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, Euskadi and Freedom) is a relic of the dime-a-dozen radical organizations within Europe that decided to get their utopian message across with weapons and death. Some have European origins, others Middle Eastern, such as Abu-Nidal. There was Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Fraction, RAF) in Germany, Action Directe in France, November 17th in Greece, Grupos de Resistencia Antifascista Primero de Octuber (GRAPO, First of October Antifascist Resistance Groups) in Spain, Brigate Rosse (Red Brigades) in Italy, the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, and many others, some lasting only for a few years, others for decades, still others splinter groups of splinter groups. Most of these originated in the era of people's revolutions and idealism that still beats today, with praises of Marxist-Leninist theories. Though when put into action, they have been shown to not work on large, national bases, the utopias of total equality still attract idealists all around the world.
However, ETA is one of the longest lasting terror organizations that has continuously existed. It was founded in 1959 on four basic pillars, the defense of the Euskera language, ethnocentrism (you're Basque, you're in; you're not, you're out), anti-Spanish actions, and independence of all the Basque provinces in Spain and France, including both Navarras. Its first important action was the assassination of Franco's Vice President, Admiral Luís Carrero Blanco. But the next action, against innocent civilians in a café in Madrid, broke the organization in two, between targeting specific military and governmental objectives, or simply killing anyone.
It continued well into the 80's, with one of the most notable massacres in 1987, in the supermarket Hipercor in Barcelona, with 21 dead and over 40 injured. Then came other killings in the nineties and the new century. In 1997 they kidnapped a city councilman of Ermua, Miguel Ángel Blanco. The terrorists threatened to kill him if all the ETA members held in prison were not transferred to prisons in the Basque region. The government said no, and the councilman was killed. Millions of Spaniards held vigils across the country, and then marched to protest his murder. ETA was falling on hard times.
It continued falling on bad times with the bombing of a Guardia Civil housing facility in Santa Pola, Alicante, killing a 57 year old man and a six year old girl who lived there because her father was a Guard. The girl was the same age as my daughter. One of the last killings was at Barajas airport in Madrid in 2006, in the parking lot of Terminal 4. Two died there, including a man sleeping in his car while he awaited the flight his family was coming on.
Now, after ETA had already given up its weapons cache to international observers some time ago, it has declared itself finished. In its declaration it has asked for forgiveness from some victims, but not all. It only asks forgiveness from those it considers had no part in the Basque conflict. It leaves out all political and military deaths it caused. That has caused an uproar in some areas of the government and in victims' associations.
I say, let sleeping dogs lie. The history is done. The dead will remain dead, whether or not their killers ask pardon. Besides, saying you're sorry is only words. They might be filled with sorrow, or they might be as empty as a cookie jar in a house filled with sugar hungry kids. Accept that they have declared the end of their fight. It was about time. Terror hasn't ended, merely shifted its face. But one little peace branch makes a difference.
I appreciate you creating a greater understanding of the history of this movement.
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