Spain & terrorism (catch all)

[AdamG]

Spain ‘won’t have enough tanks’: Catalonia to vote on independence, defy Madrid

The Catalan regional parliament has set November next year for a referendum on the Spanish province’s independence. The government in Madrid blandly said the vote won’t happen, but activists wonder how it might be stopped.

http://rt.com/news/catalonia-indepen...endum-date-188

[davidbfpo]

A lengthy update on terrorism and reconciliation in Spain, principally the long struggle between ETA and its opponents (including the Spanish state) until ETA declared a permanent ceasefire two years ago:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25349626

Given the often strong public role in the conflict, with mass demonstrations against ETA's actions, this is not a process involving minority groups.

[davidbfpo]

A new book 'Endgame for ETA:Elusive Peace in the Basque Country' by Teresa Whitfield, pub. by Hurst. From their website:

The violent Basque separatist group ETA took shape in Franco’s Spain, yet claimed the majority of its victims under democracy. For most Spaniards it became an aberration, a criminal and terrorist band whose persistence defied explanation. Others, mainly Basques (but only some Basques) understood ETA as the violent expression of a political conflict that remained the unfinished business of Spain’s transition to democracy. Such differences hindered efforts to ‘defeat’ ETA’s terrorism on the one hand and ‘resolve the Basque conflict’ on the other for more than three decades.

Endgame for ETA offers a compelling account of the long path to ETA’s declaration of a definitive end to its armed activity in October 2011. Its political surrogates remain as part of a resurgence of regional nationalism — in the Basque Country as in Catalonia — that is but one element of multiple crises confronting Spain.

The Basque case has been cited as an example of the perils of ‘talking to terrorists’. Drawing on extensive field research, Teresa Whitfield argues that while negotiations did not prosper, a form of ‘virtual peacemaking’ was an essential complement to robust police action and social condemnation. Together they helped to bring ETA’s violence to an end and return its grievances to the channels of normal politics.

Link:http://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/endgame-for-eta/

[davidbfpo]

An interesting article on ETA, even more so as the catalyst has not been reported:

An important arsenal of shotguns, pistols and revolvers divided into four drums and buried in a forest north of Paris was found by the French police on 12 October, Spain’s national day. The arms cache belonged to ETA, the Basque terrorist group that ended its violent campaign for independence five years ago on 20 October 2011, but has so far refused to dissolve and decommission its weapons

Link:https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/diego-muro/eta-is-terrorist-group-still-active?

[davidbfpo]

A superb article in the FT 'After ETA: Spain's history of violence', which reminds one how the Spanish people, including those living in the basque region peacefully opposed ETA's violence - notably when executing elected politicians.

It maybe behind a registration wall:https://www.ft.com/content/8ad74460-...d-198855707e9d

[davidbfpo]

Hopefully this is the end as ETA declares an end to its violence and arranges for its weapons in France to be handed over. A short BBC News report that starts with:

Police in France have found nearly 3.5 tonnes of weapons, explosives and other materiel in eight caches handed over by Basque separatist group Eta.

(Reminds us later) Four years later, in 2010, Eta announced it would not carry out further attacks and in January 2011, it declared a permanent and "internationally verifiable" ceasefire but refused to disarm.

Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39540081

[davidbfpo]

The attacks in Catalonia, Spain - with a car driven down Barcelona's main street, killing fifteen and injuring dozens have been well covered here. The NYT had an excellent report, plus a BBC overview and The Soufan Group (TSG) a commentary.

NYT:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/23/w...cks-imam.html?
BBC:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40964242
TSG:http://www.soufangroup.com/tsg-intel...a-terror-cell/

Spain sadly has long experience of terrorism, nationalist and Islamist. One feature has been massive public displays of solidarity and yesterday 500k people walked in Barcelona, joined by the King. See:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41063293

Two video clips are different and illustrate how Muslims denounce the terrorists, who are suspected to be inspired by ISIS. First:

The sister of two terrorist suspects has condemned the attacks in Spain which left 15 people dead.

Link (55 secs):http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-e...demns-violence
Then:

Xavier Martinez, the father of three-year-old Xavi who died in the Barcelona attack, hugs Imam Driss Salym.

Link (40 secs):http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_...ctim-hugs-imam

Not to overlook the response of the emergency services, including one police officer @ Cambrils, who when suspected bombers were challenged shot four of the five dead.