BEING A BASQUE MYSELF LIKE I AM I CANNOT RESIST LOVING MY HOMELAND AND THE PEOPLE HERE. WHAT I ADMIRE IN BASQUE PEOPLE THE MOST IS THAT THEY ARE LOYAL AND NOBLE. BASQUES´ LOYALTY DATES CENTURIES BACK IN TIME, WHEN MONARCHS STARTED TO VALUE IT.
IN ORDER TO ACKNOWLEDGE ANY CLAIM LAID TO US WE HAVE TO SUPPLY IT WITH A HOLISTIC APPROACH. IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY´S CASE AS TO BASQUE PRISONERS´ FAMILIES´CLAIM TO GET THEM TRANSFERRED TO THE BASQUE COUNTRY IT IS SIMPLY JUST. THESE FAMILIES ARE HUMAN BEINGS WHOSE DEMANDS HAVE TO BE MET. THESE RELATIVES HAVE SUFFERED AND ARE STILL SUFFERING HAVING THEIR SONS AND DAUGHTERS FAR AWAY FROM THEM. THESE FAMILIES ARE FILLED WITH A SENSE OF GRIEVANCE, HAVING HAD THEIR PROPERTY CONFISCATED AND BEEN FORBIDDEN TO SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE, AMONG MANY OTHER SETBACKS DURING THE DICTATORSHIP.
EVERYONE OF US HAS EQUAL RIGHTS . PRISONERS AS WELL ARE EQUAL UNDER THE LAW. HOWEVER, BASQUE PRISONERS ARE DISPERSED IN NON-BASQUE PRISONS ACROSS SPAIN. THAT IS WHY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DEMONSTRATED IN SUPPORT OF BRINGING IMPRISONED BASQUE INSURGENTS TO THE BASQUE COUNTRY, ON JANUARY 10TH 2015. WE NEED INTERNATIONAL HELP TO GUARANTEE ALL BASQUE PRISONERS ARE BROUGHT BACK TO THE BASQUE COUNTRY. THESE PEOPLE´S RELATIVES´ RIGHTS SHOULD BE DEFENDED.
DICTATORSHIPS ARE NOT GOOD AND THEY PROMPT RESISTANCE. IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY THE WIDESPREAD OPPRESSION TARGETED AGAINST BASQUES MEANT THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE OF THE BASQUE LANGUAGE, AND LED TO AN ARMED MOVEMENT. THIS MOVEMENT COULD NOT TOLERATE THE TYRANNY AGAINST OUR LANGUAGE, THE BASQUE LANGUAGE. A HUNDRED BASQUE PRISONERS FROM THE ARMED MOVEMENT WERE TORTURED BY THE DICTATORSHIP.
REALITY RULES, AND AS SUCH, THE BASQUE COUNTRY HAS ITS OWN PECULIAR CULTURE AND IDENTITY. BASQUE PEOPLE DEFEND THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE FACTORS WHICH EQUATE THEM TO AN INDEPENDENT REGION:
– A LANGUAGE OF ITS OWN, EUSKERA, WHICH IS NOT RELATED TO ANY KNOWN LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD.
– AN ANCIENT HISTORY, DATING BACK TO THE PALEOLITHIC PERIOD. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVENTH CENTURY THE BASQUES STARTED TO ESTABLISH THEMSELVES AS THE DUCHY OF VASCONIA.
– HAVING GONE THROUGH THE BASQUE FUEROS EXPERIENCE OF RULING THEMSELVES SEPARATELY. THE FACT THAT BASQUES POSSESSED A BASQUE CONSTITUTION, MEANING BASQUE FUEROS, SET THE STAGE FOR AUTONOMOUS RULE. THE KINGS BACK THEN, HAD REASONS (LIKE ACKOWLEDGING LOYAL SUBJECTION AND DISTINCTIVE LEGAL TRADITIONS, AMONG SOME) FOR GRANTING THESE RIGHTS TO THE BASQUES. U.S. PRESIDENT JOHN ADAMS MENTIONED THE BISCAYAN FUEROS AND REFERRED TO THEM AS A PRECEDENT FOR THE U.S. CONSTITUTION.
– OUR ADAMANT ATTITUDE TO KEEP EUSKERA AND BASQUE CULTURE INTACT.
– HAVING BEEN REPRESENTED BY SABINO ARANA Y GOIRI, THE INFLUENTIAL LEADER WHO LET BASQUES REALIZE WHAT GOAL WE ALL SHOULD BE ACHIEVING.
– BEARING THE SPREADING OF LIES, SUCH AS SAYING BASQUE PEOPLE WERE LOWLIFES.
– MANY YEARS´ EXPERIENCE IN BEING SUCCESSFUL FIGHTING FOR OUR INDEPENDENCE AGAINST MANY INVADERS.
TWO BASQUE CULTURE SAMPLES I RECOMMEND YOU ALL ARE THE BAND KEN ZAZPI, AND THE 2014 BASQUE MOVIE LASA Y ZABALA, DIRECTED BY PABLO MALO.
NO FIGHT CAN LAST SO LONG IF THERE IS NO TRUTH BEHIND IT. OUR TRUTH IS OUR LANGUAGE, CULTURE, OUR LOYALTY, AND WORLDWIDE LOYALTY RECOGNITION OVER THE CENTURIES. LOOKING BACK AT HOW THE BASQUES FOUGHT AGAINST THE ROMANS, THE VIKINGS, THE GERMANIC TRIBES AND THE MUSLIMS, WE CAN STATE BASQUES HAVE ALWAYS LOVED INDEPENDENCE, AND HAVE GAINED RECOGNITION FROM THE WISE. THE QUESTION TODAY IS: DO BASQUES REALLY LOVE INDEPENDENCE AS MUCH AS LONG BEFORE?