Big event on my birthday, Part 1

Two things happened on my birthday last week.

Firstly, ETA declared that they would lay down their arms and cease violent activities in pursuit of a separate Basque nation, apart from Spain. Thus ends ETA's violent 43 year reign of terrorism through Spain and parts of France, which resulted in over 800 deaths. There was no apology of course, no reference to the victims, and no clear delineation of how the disarmament process would proceed.

So much bravado
(image from online.wsj.com)

At the end of the clip, they raised their fists defiantly and demanded independence for the Basque region. Big words for an organization whose senior members have been getting arrested for the last several years. For all their bluster, white hoods and black berets, let's get one thing straight--for the last several years they've been getting pounded by both the French and Spanish, and have been significantly weakened. In the post-9/11 world there is no patience or sympathy for the romantic notion of "freedom fighters" (at least in the West), even among their own people, whether it's the Real IRA, ETA, ELF, or what have you. And this was the reality that ETA faced, as they were losing support in the Basque region across Spain and France.

ETA was formed in 1959 as a response to Franco's effort to quash all independent cultures and languages in Spain, including Catalan. Though it might seem extreme to Americans, many of the regions in Spain are autonomous, much like (but not as extreme as) Quebec. They have their own language, own cultures, own system of regional government, own tax structure. These are important to maintain, no doubt. (Especially Catalan! What a beautiful language; it sounds a mixture of Spanish and French.) But in light of Spain's World Cup win in 2010, can someone from San Sebastian that rooted for the national team still say, "No, I'm not Spaniard, I'm Basque," or someone from Barcelona say, "I'm Catalan first, Spanish second?" For one glorious moment, everyone was a Spaniard; can he or she now go back (metaphorically) and truly claim only his or her regional citizenship?