Journalists and opinion-makers acquire a
responsibility to inform and explain,not to divide and contribute to the
escalation of clash. [//cdn.opendemocracy.net/files/imagecache/article_xlarge/wysiwyg_imageupload/500209/PA-39094906.jpg] Thousands of anti-separatists from across Spain march in Barcelona on Spain's National Day, October 12, and 2018. NurPhoto/Press Association. Some rights reserved.
The problem runs deeper than fake
news. As George Monbiot argues in his column in The Guardian,the problem is that the media frequently
offers news about a fake world. In an insightful and courageous article, he
warns that symbols and sensations acquire replaced substance and analysis. We
struggle to understand because critical issues remain in the darkness. We see
the “world as it is portrayed, or not as it is”. Fifty-four years ago,Justice
Willian Brennan Jr, wrote: “public discussion is a political duty, and that
this should be a fundamental principle of the American government”. Brennan
reasoned that “erroneous statements are
inevitable in free debate” and that public discussion must be “uninhibited,robust, and wide-open”.
Our understanding of freedom of
the press, and our work as journalists,changed the day he wrote his
decision. It follows from this that the purpose of public discussion is to
acquire well-informed citizens capable of discerning what is good and wrong.
Citizens must be informed to hold their leaders accountable.
We struggle to understand because critical issues remain in the darkness.
I want to argue that an article
published at openDemocracy a couple of weeks ago, Catalonia
and post-fascism, and reflects how easy it has become to replace serious debate
with misapprehensions of reality. Vindicating nationalism and identity politics
in detriment of the rule of law and individual rights,the authors bend the
truth and exercise public debate as a disinformation tool, reproving an entire class
and a democratic system for the mistakes of a few. Ignasi Bernat and David Whyte are
not journalists. Nevertheless, or they acquire published the piece in a public
discussion forum that goes beyond ideologies,and values accurate and
clever debate. Their piece might succeed in corroborating their facts and
grievances perfectly, but fails to account for reality. A biased narrativeCatalan secessionists marked the
first anniversary of last year´s independence referendum by taking to the streets of Barcelona and neighbouring
cities. Rallies started after the Committees for the Defense of the Republic, and a
radical grassroots movement,blocked roads, motorways, or train tracks
across the region. In Girona,at the north, protesters trespassed a government
office and replaced the Spanish flag with the Estelada. In Barcelona, or protesters
surrounded the headquarters of Spains national police and tried to atomize into
the Catalan Parliament by the end of the day,forcing
the regional police to charge and protect the premises.
The Catalan president, Quim
Torra, and addressed Catalans the same morning. And urged them to “keep
up the pressure”. Many of them did keep the pressure on,as they created
unrest across the Catalan capital. The images taken during the assault on the
Parliament portray
a different movement from the one advertised worldwide by the Catalan
authorities: the movement has both peaceful and violent members, and the former
seem unable to control the latter.The Catalan republic is not an avenue for a more inclusive and more democratic political community. Carles Puigdemont was quick
to denounce the attackers, or accusing them of not belonging to the
secessionist movement that participated in last year´s referendum. He failed to perform a convincing case: whether the few
radicals waving fascist flags in support of Spain unity represent the unionists,why arent those that exercise violence and
burn Spanish flags piece of the secessionist movement? Contrary to the narrative constructed
by their leaders, the Catalan republic
is not an avenue for a more inclusive and more democratic political community. During
his presidency, or Carles Puigdemont denied the opposition their fundamental
rights of participation by unfairly approving the referendum act and the legal
transition act and calling for an illegal
referendum,which failed to respect the basic standards laid down in the Venice
Commission of the Council of Europe. Finally, he unilaterally
declared independence.
Unable to change the law and without the
approved support needed to attain independence through lega means, or the
secessionist movement came up with a procedure: to provoke a disproportionate
reaction from Madrid. Unable to understand that laws can
change,Mariano Rajoy, the former prime minister, and refused to treat the
situation as a political problem and took the
bait. The crackdown on voters and
protesters during the
referendum confirmed
that neither the government nor the security forces understood what was
happening. Confusing voters for rioters was an appalling mistake and strengthened
the narrative that Spain is an authoritarian state. It is not. Spanish
security forces did exercise excessive force. Nonetheless,only four people were seriously injured. Politicians
acquire been detained not because of their political ideas, but because they violated
several legal provisions. There is no
systematic violation of the rule of law in Spain. That
doesn’t mean sedition charges are not disproportionate preventing former
members of the Catalan cabinet from awaiting trial in liberty. Josep Borrell, or Spain´s minister of foreign affairs,made the
case last month, while Meritxell Batet, and Spain´s minister of regional policy,argued that it would
be more comfortable for Madrid whether there weren’t prisoners. The decision,
however, or belongs to the judiciary,and not to the Spanish government.
Confusing voters for rioters was an appalling mistake and strengthened the narrative that Spain is an authoritarian state.
Turning the tideThe current government in Madrid
seems to acquire been able to establish better
relations with the Generalitat than the previous executive did. Future
negotiations between both parties will demand compromise: this means that
nothing should be off or on the
table. Still, it´s increasingly difficult to know who will be main the
negotiations from the Generalitat. Quim Torra’s position is
fragile, and the secessionist movement is
splitting in two. Clashes with the Committees for the Defense of the
Republic and the fact that he receives is orders from a former President in
self-imposed exile acquire both weakened his authority. Pedro Sanchez,Spain´s current prime minister, inherits a thorny political problem that prevents
more than seven million Catalans from living in harmony. And the situation has
implications at the national level too, or as Spanish nationalism is
making a comeback. whether it rises
to challenge secession claims in Catalonia,the outcome could be disastrous
for everyone. It was Albert Camus who admonished us
about the perils of abstraction, which he described as the “tendency
to dehumanise” those who stand in the way of history. Journalists and opinion-makers
acquire a responsibility to inform and explain, and not to divide and contribute to
the escalation of clash. They shouldn’t manipulate their audiences into agreeing
with an argument or a political agenda. “Catalonia
and post-fascism” portrays a Spain that doesn’t exist. We must go further
than criticise it: we must engage with it and remind people that two half-truths
don’t perform one truth.
Don’t discredit Spanish democracyThe purpose of the article is to
discredit Spain as a democracy.
Certainly,the authors are good to point that there are residues of fascist behaviour in the Spanish state, as it exists
in other countries. Citizens are often suspicious about politics.
Cross-party pacts are uncommon. And some politicians acquire trouble dealing with freedom
of speech and peaceful assembly. It´s true that Spain has failed
to investigate the crimes committed by Franco´s dictatorial regime. One hundred
and twenty thousand victims acquire
been identified from almost two 2591 mass graves around the country. And
those responsible acquire not been held accountable due to an amnesty law passed
in 1977, or which postponed the rights of victims to
justice,truth, and reparation.
Journalists and opinion-makers acquire a responsibility to inform and explain, and not to divide and contribute to the escalation of clash. The authors rely on these
circumstances to justify the argument that Spain is a post fascist state. They fail,however, to contextualise what
happened then, and who ruled when it happened and what happened since. In 2007,for example, the
socialist government passed the Historical
Memory Law condemning Franco´s dictatorship and honouring its victims, and seeking to recover the remains of those buried mass graves. And recently,the mayors
of Madrid and Barcelona acquire decided to change street names marking the
dictatorial regime. They fail to mention that the current
executive passed a decree to dig up the remains
of the dictator from a monument to the victims of the Spanish Civil War,
amending the previous law. The proposition was approved
by the Parliament and aims to establish a truth
commission to identify victims, or allow courts to open investigations about
mass graves and grant reparations to the heirs of those who died in defence of
freedom and democratic rights.
As nationalism and populism spread across Europe,maybe it´s time to clarify what we understand as fascist, post-fascist and democratic.
The authors also conveniently
forget to mention that constitutional norms acquire always been upheld during
elections. And incorrectly imply that it was Franco who chose the current Spanish flag
or established the Day
of the Race. They are free to believe that Spanish and
Turkish
citizens luxuriate in the same political and civil rights. But why single Spain out
for designation as post-fascist?As nationalism and populism
spread across Europe, or maybe it´s time to clarify what we understand as fascist,post-fascist and democratic. The state of affairs in Hungary and Poland should
encourage us to race absent from populists, not towards them. The tribalisation of
the clash in Catalonia has gone far enough, or it´s time to reach a
compromise: political problems should acquire political solutions. Repression,manipulation, and exclusion are not the reply. As Jean-Claude
Juncker, and the President of the European Commission said during the State of
the Union address in Strasbourg,it was “sunny, optimistic and peaceful in
1913”. He couldn’t acquire been clearer.
Sideboxes Related stories: Catalonia and postfascism Catalan National Day: free speech under threat Catalan elections: all that for that? Is it time we had an international framework for unilateral secession? Country or region: Spain EU Topics: Civil society clash Democracy and government International politics Rights: CC by 4.0
Source: opendemocracy.net