independence day.

international | miscellaneous | news report Thursday September 11, 2003 18:35 by ipsiphi

it is not yet 300 years since the war of 1713-1714

The Catalan people have gathered as usual in the cities of the their lands to remember, celebrate, reflect, formulate and send out their not so unique messages.

The official state level celebration has been mor low key than last year, when readers might remember in a land making decision the Catalan Government changed internet address from http://www.generalitat.es to http://www.generalitat.net
This morning the wreathes were laid.
As always the stalls of independence groupings gathered at the eternal flame which commerates the events of September 11 1714, and listened to speeches. There was a marked difference in the selection of books, t-shirts and lapel pins on offer this year. The youth section of the ERC, the Left republican party which hosts numerically the highest number of independence activists have decided to focus on remembering prisoners and looking forward to their new place on the World stage. The planned Ebro river project which last year attracted the most upset was this year less in evidence. Kids have a new t-shirt in the style of superman with a Cat/ERC logo. Nunca mais flags were visible last year the Prestige was still sailing without papers and legal right on open seas under a flag of convenience. The logo of "Spain" the famous "bull" has pleasantly been subverted by a "Cat". The European car national id stickers "CAT" and others were freely available. The english language info. project http://www.freecatalonia.com has also launched t-shirts.
The Irish interest books were fewer than in previous years, a curious mixture of Collins and Sands. It was encouraging to see books and pamphlets representing alternative and other political visions on offer this year. It was also good to see the "Papales para todos" (Papers for all) slogan be dsitributed by the Catalan left and independence groupings. The most popular Lapel pin this year was the periennial favourite the Catalan flag of four yellow bars on a red background. Many versions are available. This flag predates the Spanish flag of two yellow bars on red background. The independence version has a blue triangle and star. The really important VIP Catalan government version has a gold border and crest. The author was pleased to sport a new version in recycled steel of the international Occupation symbol.

Today was announced by the various collectives who do this sort of thing, the next demonstration against the continuing occupation of Iraq and Palestine, which shall be celebrated on the Saturday 27th of Sept. One year after those collectives convened the first demonstration calling for no war on Iraq. That shall be the say after the Lehandakari (taoiseach) of neighbouring Euskal Herria addresses the open session of the Basque home rule parliament to discuss his plans for modified independence. There were as always many Basque flags visible on the streets of Barçelona today.

The Leader of the Socialist party branch of the PSOE new labour is currently in Chile. The elections for the succesor to Jordi Pujol who has served many years as PResident of the Generalitat were decided several days ago for mid-November.

Many are aware in this cosmopolitan city of two milion habitants the capital of a nation of ten million of the events that effect the largest immigrant communities to Catalonia. The problems besetted by migrants from the Iberian Peninsula being naturally the most familiar. The flags of Andalucia only reminding the writer that in the same summer that has seen Andalucia join with the Canarias and the Magrheb to form an indymedia collective, that the wave of Andalucian migrants to Catalonia of the 1960s have now parented a generation who in turn have children who are the "superCats" of tomorrow. As familiar as the peninsula is through the sharing of TVespaña and the fact that 70% of the Catalan people profess ability to speak the Castillian language, has always meant the cultures and experiences of South and Central America have been known here. The relationship is a special one. People, ideas, hope and fear and crossed the Atlantic both ways in many hundred years. The murder of a protester in Cancun at the current meeting of the WTO is naturally another step to solidify the anger. The writer refers the reader to http://www.chiapas.indymedia.org the imc homesite of the EZLN, with simply the reminder that this net of sites that is indymedia owes one of its most potent roots to the decision made by the neo-Zapatista movement to take the struggle, the cry of Basta! to the middle and working classes of Europe and North America in the final years of the 20th century.

Our history did not begin on September 11th be it the eleventh day that the Levellers approached the English crown to petition for common rights to common ground.

Our history did not begin on September 11th be it the eleventh day that the Catalans have built into their architecture of indentity and independence.

Our history did not begin on September 11th be it the eleventh day that the Popular Unity party led by Allende in 1970 was toppled by the CIA.


Our history did not begin on September 11th of 1978 when a young catalan communist and independence activist was murdered by the secret police in Spain.

Our history did not begin on any September 11th.

Do you do not need photographs to learn this.

Autonomy begins with Self!
BASTA