With the declaration of a permanent ceasefire by "Basque Homeland and Freedom" (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, ETA) on the 22nd of March to begin on the 24th of March of this year, a new dawn breaks in Basque history and Basque politics. There may be those who doubt this peace but I remain hopeful that the Basques will be able to reconcile their internal differences and begin this journey anew. The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has agreed to begin talks on the Basque ceasefire beginning this summer 2006 and many in the Basque region are expectant of the promise of change after forty years of conflict. To date, progress on the peace talks has been slow without any discernable results and with many expressed frustrations of waiting Basques for the peace process to begin in earnest.
Author Bio(s)
J. P. Linstroth obtained his D.Phil. in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He is presently Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution and Anthropology at Nova Southeastern University, and a co-recipient of the President’s Faculty Research and Development Grant at NSU and an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Grant for a collaborative study on ethnicity and identity among migrant groups in conjunction with the Georg-August University of Goettingen, Germany. Much of his work has concentrated on understanding gender, history, nationalism, and violent struggle in the Spanish-Basque region. In 2005 he was invited by Basque Peace Foundation, “Gernika Remembered” (Gernika Gogoratuz), to present a paper on the Basque conflict. His trip to Gernika, Spain was also co-sponsored by the Basque Government. He has been recently invited and sponsored by the Department of Justice of the Basque Government to give a talk in November, 2006 at the “2nd International Conference of Human Rights” in Bilbao, Spain. He can be contacted at linstrot@nova.edu.
Keywords
Basque, peacebuilding, reflection
Publication Date
11-2006
DOI
10.46743/1082-7307/2006.1074
Recommended Citation
Linstroth, J. P.
(2006)
"Commentary: Basque Avenues toward Peace: Building the New Road to a New Dawn, a New Beginning,"
Peace and Conflict Studies: Vol. 13:
No.
2, Article 4.
DOI: 10.46743/1082-7307/2006.1074
Available at:
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/pcs/vol13/iss2/4
