Basque Fatherland and Freedom

ETA

12/12/2006

Basque separatists are often blamed for terror attacks they do not commit, such as the devastating March 11, 2004 bombing of three commuter trains in Madrid in which Muslims murdered 201 innocent people in the name of Allah and wounded another 1,400. While we have no interest in the who, what, and why of Spanish terror which is unrelated to Islam, the fact that ETA violence is used as a counter to the claim that Islam has a virtual monopoly on terror today, this drama is worthy of a brief review.

First, the evidence suggests that the Basque separatists were the victims of terror nearly as often than they were the perpetrators. The August 5th, 1979 attack by the Spanish National Action group serves as an example. Their sole purpose was to combat the Basque Fatherland and Freedom organization known as ETA. In fact, Spanish National Action was funded by the Spanish government and organized their security forces.

Basque Fatherland and Freedom is a nationalist organization dedicated to a separate nation-state for the Basque people, an ethnic group inhabiting areas of northern Spain and southwestern France. There are between two and three million Basques in the region, many of whom speak an indigenous, non-Indo-European language called Euskara. Basque Fatherland and Freedom is usually referred to by its Euskara acronym, ETA.

In that pursuit, the ETA has earned the undesirable distinction of being one of Europe's most notorious and enduring terror groups. It was founded in 1958 from the remnants of another Basque separatist party because of discontent with the more accommodating policies of the mainstream Basque National Party. Since its founding, ETA has been responsible for hundreds of attacks in Spain, France, and elsewhere. It has also maintained ties with other terrorist groups both inside the Basque region and beyond, including the Irish Republican Army and Venezuela's Red Flag (both of which we have covered in this timeline). In total, over the course of the past five decades, Basque separatists have been credited with killing fewer than 900 people. Over that same period Muslims have murdered 7,000,000, out terrorizing the ETA 8,000 to one.

The bulk of ETA's attacks have been focused on businesses and Spanish government officials, especially members of the security services and the judiciary. The Basque's most common tactics are bombing and assassination. Similar to the IRA, the ETA often issues warnings prior to attacks and they most always claim credit for what they have done. The group's most notorious "success" was the assassination of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco in December 1973. At the time, he was seen by many as the most likely successor to Spain's dictator, Franco.

Conditions in the Basque homeland changed significantly with the end of the Franco regime and the return of representative government in Spain in 1979. While Franco had sought to suppress Basque nationalism, the new government has offered significant autonomy to the Basque provinces. In a deal completed in 1980, the Basque region acquired its own parliament, as well as control over taxation. As a result, the frequency of ETA attacks has ebbed over the years. They have even attempted several ceasefires, including a 14-month session that lasted until December 1999. While there have been some ETA attacks since 2000, the group has claimed fewer victims and appears to be losing its viability. Further, its September 2004, December 2005, and January 2006 bombings were all preceded by warnings and did not kill anyone. ETA's last deadly attack occurred in May 2003, when two policemen were killed by a car bomb in the province of Navarre.

In March 2006, the ETA declared a permanent ceasefire and expressed a willingness to join the political process. The decision was probably linked to the Muslim Madrid train bombings in March 2004. The attack was originally blamed on the ETA, though it was soon discovered to be the work of militant Islamists. But the ruthlessness of that attack served as a wakeup call - no one in their right mind wanted to be associated with such senseless carnage.