A response to MARY DEJEVSKY, who, on Friday 17 October 2014, wrote the following (extracts):
10/17/2014
Manifest sobre el magistrat Santiago Vidal
Rebut 13/10/2014:
Benvolguts,
Us trameto el manifest que hem fet un grup d’advocats i advocades en suport de Santiago Vidal.
S’hauria de fer créixer ja que dilluns a la una es reuneix la comissió sancionadora.
Les adhesions s'han de trametre al correu manifestsvidal@gmail.com "
Benvolguts,
Us trameto el manifest que hem fet un grup d’advocats i advocades en suport de Santiago Vidal.
S’hauria de fer créixer ja que dilluns a la una es reuneix la comissió sancionadora.
Les adhesions s'han de trametre al correu manifestsvidal@gmail.com "
Per al text, clica a "Més informació" a sota!
10/15/2014
The Economist explains: Catalonia’s independence movement
The Economist explains
Catalonia’s independence movement
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/10/economist-explains-12
Catalonia’s independence movement
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/10/economist-explains-12
10/13/2014
Tertúlies amb Gràcia, al CAT
Tertúlia amb Miquel Strubell, dilluns 13 d'octubre, 19:30 h al CAT
Segona trobada del cicle "Tertúlies amb Gràcia", aquest dilluns amb Miquel Strubell, sociolingüista i llicenciat en Psicologia....
10/12/2014
Cambridge: Jocs Florals Revival, 2014
Were it not for Catalonia's will to achieve full home rule, I wouldn't be here. Before you nod sagely - the Jocs Florals Revival has been organised by the England delegation of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), the hugely successful grassroots movement whose tens of thousands of members agree that history shows (some have just reached this conclusion!) that independence is the only way for the Catalan people to have any hope at all of surviving as a people - let me put you aright. I wouldn't be here ... on this planet.
But for Catalonia's will, intolerant Spain would not have risen in arms against Catalonia's limited level of self-government recovered in the 1930s, and tens of thousands of Catalan would not have had to flee over the border when the Catalan front collapsed early in 1939. Among them, my mother and her family. But for that war, she would not have come to England, for her father, doctor Josep Trueta, had become the world's top specialist in the treatment of war wounds, including thoudands of casualties of aerial bombing of cities, was almost dragged to London to lecture on this issue. This was because there was a growing conviction that Chamberlain's "Peace in Our Time" Munich agreement with Franco's powerful ally, Adolf Hitler, was a farce and that a war in Europe was imminent. And I wouldn't be here had my father, an undergraduate at "the other place", would not have broken off his degree course to enrol on September 3rd 1939 and to serve this country for six years, in the Royal Artillery, the Colonial Service and the Royal Air Force. Thus it was that my parents met at university after the war. My brother Tony and I owe our existence, therefore, to two abominable dictators.
And of course, without Catalonia's continuing and growing will and drive to achieve our freedom, there would be no Assemblea Nacional Catalana, no Assemblea delegation in England... and no Revival event!
I started by talking about 'Catalonia's will' as if it were monolithic. But Catalonia is a multiethnic society and thus far from monolithic. The population more than doubled during the 20th century because of the arrival of over a million Spaniards, to work in Catalonia's thriving industrial economy. Their children and grandchildren are in most cases indistinguishable from 'native' Catalans in their values, knowledge of languages, habits... So the non-binding referendum planned for November 9 will allow us to measure the overall level of political integration as well. Indeed, most of the million people who moved into Catalonia since about 1995 from the third world will also be able to vote, so long as they register beforehand.
Being able to see the world from two perspectives, I was relieved to reach the conclusion that the Catalan way of life and the English one are perfectly compatible (despite what Professor Josep Maria Solé i Sabaté has just told us!). Both are nations of shopkeeepers, as Napoleon apparently said ("une nation de boutiquiers"). Both are caring societies (though the way elections sometimes go makes me wonder how true that is), that value personal initiative and effort. In feudal Cataloinia, laws allowed longstanding farming serfs to become freehold owners of the land they cultivated, and made it worthwhile for them to invest to improve their holdings as tenants. So did the fact that they had to pay fixed quantities of produce to their landlord, which meant the increase in productivity resulting from that investment was theirs to keep. (Castilian law did not envisage change in ownership, and tenants handed in a fixed proportion of their produce). Ironically, the only part of what is now Spain to have weathered well the economic crisis have been the two regions (Navarre and the Basque country) whose funding is agreed with Spain on the Catalan feudal model!
For me, personally, it is moving to have been invited here today, in this revival of the 1956 Jocs Florals, the Catalan poetry competition, held by exiles in the dark days of the Franco regime. Unbeknownst to the organisers, when they invited me, my mother, Amelia Trueta, was the Queen of the Jocs Florals, and dressed as a bride, with bridesmaids. Josepa has just reminded us! They have done a great job with the gallery of photographs of my family, and particularly of my grandfather, professor Josep Trueta. And I'm sure that this tribute is also partly due to his role in founding the organisation that made the 1956 event possible, the still-active Anglo-Catalan Society.
For me it is doubly moving to be back in Ox...bridge. It seems like yesterday (well, the day before yesterday!) that I was an undergraduate, cycling from my College to the Departament just like people around me today, eying the groups of young ladies, enjoying the still-warm autumn sun. But in fact it was a long time ago (I was only seven when I accompanied my family to the Cambridge Jocs Florals!). So please, those of you who are young, please take my word for it, and enjoy life to the full, every single day! And nan excellent to do this will be to attend all the sessions of this cultural event: poetry readings, music, round table, even (excellent!) food!
So, back to this Revival, which is not a competiton this time, but a true festival.
Thanks to the Cambridge Union for having let us use their magnificent premises.
Thanks to all the team that has organised the event, on behalf of those who, like me, have been invited here, and I'm sure, on behalf of all of you here now.
And on behalf of the organising team, a special note of thanks, in Catalan:
Volem agrair molt particularment el nostre companya -que ara s'ha convertit en amic!- la gran feinada que ha fet perquè aquests Jocs Florals fossin possibles. Sense la seva dedicació -amb tota l'energia i il·lusió-, des que el projecte ve començar a gestar fa un any, no hauríem aconseguit el cartell que tenim.
Ell és l'artífex que, en un marc on els catalans i els anglesos sempre hem tingut uns llaços molt estrets com són, en definitiva, la nostra llengua i les nostres arrels, els Jocs Florals que emulen els passats Jocs de 1956, tornin a ser una realitat. Gràcies, Marc Morera!
* Vegeu article de Matthew Tree: www.elpuntavui.cat/noticia/article/7-vista/8-articles/784329-originals.html
Selection of papers, mostly by M. Strubell, on Catalan independence process): http://cv.uoc.edu/~grc0_003638_web/150205_Selection.pdf
And of course, without Catalonia's continuing and growing will and drive to achieve our freedom, there would be no Assemblea Nacional Catalana, no Assemblea delegation in England... and no Revival event!
I started by talking about 'Catalonia's will' as if it were monolithic. But Catalonia is a multiethnic society and thus far from monolithic. The population more than doubled during the 20th century because of the arrival of over a million Spaniards, to work in Catalonia's thriving industrial economy. Their children and grandchildren are in most cases indistinguishable from 'native' Catalans in their values, knowledge of languages, habits... So the non-binding referendum planned for November 9 will allow us to measure the overall level of political integration as well. Indeed, most of the million people who moved into Catalonia since about 1995 from the third world will also be able to vote, so long as they register beforehand.
Being able to see the world from two perspectives, I was relieved to reach the conclusion that the Catalan way of life and the English one are perfectly compatible (despite what Professor Josep Maria Solé i Sabaté has just told us!). Both are nations of shopkeeepers, as Napoleon apparently said ("une nation de boutiquiers"). Both are caring societies (though the way elections sometimes go makes me wonder how true that is), that value personal initiative and effort. In feudal Cataloinia, laws allowed longstanding farming serfs to become freehold owners of the land they cultivated, and made it worthwhile for them to invest to improve their holdings as tenants. So did the fact that they had to pay fixed quantities of produce to their landlord, which meant the increase in productivity resulting from that investment was theirs to keep. (Castilian law did not envisage change in ownership, and tenants handed in a fixed proportion of their produce). Ironically, the only part of what is now Spain to have weathered well the economic crisis have been the two regions (Navarre and the Basque country) whose funding is agreed with Spain on the Catalan feudal model!
For me, personally, it is moving to have been invited here today, in this revival of the 1956 Jocs Florals, the Catalan poetry competition, held by exiles in the dark days of the Franco regime. Unbeknownst to the organisers, when they invited me, my mother, Amelia Trueta, was the Queen of the Jocs Florals, and dressed as a bride, with bridesmaids. Josepa has just reminded us! They have done a great job with the gallery of photographs of my family, and particularly of my grandfather, professor Josep Trueta. And I'm sure that this tribute is also partly due to his role in founding the organisation that made the 1956 event possible, the still-active Anglo-Catalan Society.
For me it is doubly moving to be back in Ox...bridge. It seems like yesterday (well, the day before yesterday!) that I was an undergraduate, cycling from my College to the Departament just like people around me today, eying the groups of young ladies, enjoying the still-warm autumn sun. But in fact it was a long time ago (I was only seven when I accompanied my family to the Cambridge Jocs Florals!). So please, those of you who are young, please take my word for it, and enjoy life to the full, every single day! And nan excellent to do this will be to attend all the sessions of this cultural event: poetry readings, music, round table, even (excellent!) food!
So, back to this Revival, which is not a competiton this time, but a true festival.
Thanks to the Cambridge Union for having let us use their magnificent premises.
Thanks to all the team that has organised the event, on behalf of those who, like me, have been invited here, and I'm sure, on behalf of all of you here now.
And on behalf of the organising team, a special note of thanks, in Catalan:
Volem agrair molt particularment el nostre companya -que ara s'ha convertit en amic!- la gran feinada que ha fet perquè aquests Jocs Florals fossin possibles. Sense la seva dedicació -amb tota l'energia i il·lusió-, des que el projecte ve començar a gestar fa un any, no hauríem aconseguit el cartell que tenim.
Ell és l'artífex que, en un marc on els catalans i els anglesos sempre hem tingut uns llaços molt estrets com són, en definitiva, la nostra llengua i les nostres arrels, els Jocs Florals que emulen els passats Jocs de 1956, tornin a ser una realitat. Gràcies, Marc Morera!
* Vegeu article de Matthew Tree: www.elpuntavui.cat/noticia/article/7-vista/8-articles/784329-originals.html
Selection of papers, mostly by M. Strubell, on Catalan independence process): http://cv.uoc.edu/~grc0_003638_web/150205_Selection.pdf
10/01/2014
Canvis al nou Diccionario de la Lengua Espanyola
Exemple de canvi de definició al nou Diccionario de la Lengua Espanyola, editat per la Real Academia Espanyola (font: Silvia Senz) ...
9/30/2014
Un article de 2010 de l'ABC, i una carta de 2014 a l'ABC
Carta ENVIADA a l'ABC (1 d'octubre de 2014) I ENCARA SENSE PUBLICAR
La consulta sobre el futuro político de Cataluña
Entre las muchísimas barbaridades que se han dicho sobre la Ley, ha sido muy clarificador para mi recuperar su artículo "El TC permite la celebración de consultas populares en Cataluña" (ABC, 9 de julio de 2010), el cual deja ...
9/27/2014
How to try and stop the independence process for a few months
How long does it take to read a text (the Catalan government's decree, announced on Saturday September 27, 10.30 am), call a cabinet meeting to ask the Council of State ...
9/23/2014
The Right To Decide
"Civic Engagement on the Road to Self-government"
Contribution of Miquel Strubell to Conference on "The Right to Decide in the 21st Century: Scotland, Catalonia and Beyond". 25 September 2014. Conference organised by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, the European Free Alliance and the Centre Maurits Coppieters. ...
I am most grateful for this invitation, and for the opportunity to explain to this assembly what for me is a unique, unparalleled process to the road towards national independence. I am pleased to convey to you the best wishes of the president of the grassroots organisation I am representing here today, senyora Carme Forcadell. We are really pleased to be able to speak here, not least because of the bizarre things that have been said about us and the process as a whole.
Our process is unique on a number of scores:
The Parliament of Catalonia has on several occasions voted Resolutions (such as R 98/III, on December 12 1989) stating that "Catalonia does not relinquish the right to its self-determination". Again, on October 1 1998, a similar Resolution was adopted.
"Catalunya és una nació", Article 1 of the Draft Statute of Autonomy, adopted on September 2005, reminded us. The Preamble was just as clear: "This Statute is moved by the aspiration, the project and the dream of a Catalonia without any kind of obstacle to the free and full interdependence that a nation needs today ("... mouen aquest Estatut l'aspiració, el projecte i el somni d'una Catalunya sense cap mena d'entrebancs a la lliure i plena interdependència que una nació necessita avui").
However, the Spanish Parliament chopped these texts out of the Statute that it adopted in 2006 and put to the Catalan people.
The "Right to Decide" first appeared on the scene at the end of 2005. The Plataforma pel Dret de Decidir consists of hundreds of organisations supporting the right of self-determination. Shortly after being established, it brought out into the street, beyond its wildest dreams (with hardly any support from institutions or parties), as many as a million Catalans on February 18 2006, to state clearly "We are a Nation, We Have The Right To Decide". It was a call for the September 30 2005 Draft Statute of Autonomy (which received the support of 89% of the Chamber) not to be maimed by the Spanish Parliament. Its call went unheeded, and first the Congress (in 2006) and then the Constitutional Court (in June 2010) in response to an appeal by the People's Party, severely reduced the planned increase in Catalonia's level of self-government.
On July 10 2010 a huge demonstration, which had been planned months ahead (given that news leaked from the Constitutional Court made it clear that their judgment would be a serious cutback in the text of the Statute, which had already been sanctioned by the Catalan people in a referendum) filled the centre of Barcelona. It was organised by a cultural organisation, Omnium Cultural, though with the backing of the three-party Government coalition, which headed the demonstration. Over a million people took part in this march, which simply could not move forward for several hours. It was the last "protest" demonstration, and the following three demonstrations were completely differtent: enthusiastic, looking forward with hope, and positive in outlook.
The Pacte Nacional pel Dret de Decidir, the National Pact for the Right to Decide, consists of hundreds of civil, civic, citizen, cultural, economic, trade union, business organisations; local councils; the parliamentary groups that have given support to the right to decide, and the Government. It first met on June 13 2013. Its manifesto has been signed by over 800 organisations.
The most important grassroots initiative, however, linked up with the "Popular Referenda", following the lead of Arenys de Munt, a medium-sized town about 30 km from Barcelona. These unofficial referenda were held over 500 towns across the country (between September 2009 and April 2011), and about a million people (not a few, in tears) expressed their vote for (in most cases) or against Catalonia's independence. It was during this period that the "Assemblea Nacional Catalana" was devised. When after months of gradually widening an initially very small circle of people invited to join the project, the "Assemblea" was launched on April 30 2011, at the "Conferència Nacional per l'Estat Propi", with a view to holding its first general assembly the following year, and with its sights aimed at a "binding referendum that could be held in 2014". ("amb la mirada fixada en un referèndum vinculant que podria celebrar-se el 2014").
The Assemblea, whose single aim is to achieve the independence of Catalonia, has built up a network of 600 local assemblies (largely in places that had already held popular referenda), which work closely together thanks to the social networks. It has over 70 sectoral assemblies as well, working to persuade collectives close to themn of the advantages of independence. We now have over 70,000 paid-up members and volunteers.
The huge pro-independence demonstration organised by the Assemblea on September 11 2012, just a few months after its formal establishment at the first General Assembly, had immediate political consequences.
The consequences were an early election, sprung by our First Minister, Artur Mas, who included his coalition's election manifesto a commitment to hold a referendum on independence, if at all possible with the consent of the Spanish govenrment. He was returned to power, with a smaller majority, but quickly reached an agrement with the second most voted party, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, whose party commitment is to work towards independence. Several other parliamentary parties support the vote to be held on November 9 2014, a vote announced (with the question) in December 2013, to the surprise of the Spanish government.
However, the 2012 demonstration was surpassed by the meticulously organised "Catalan Way", a 400 km-long human chain of over a million people, from one end of Catalonia to the other (with incidents at the Valencian end, because the Spanish civil guard turned a blind eye to a last-minute court ruling). It was held on September 11 2013. Most people were dressed in yellow teashirts, specially made by the Assemblea for the occasion. They signed up on an interactive map, which made sure there was not a single break in the chain, even in the relatively sparsely inhabited Ebro delta district. The chain proved possible thanks to 1500 coaches, hundreds of thousands of cars, trains and in Barcelona, on the underground... In Barcelona, as was to be expected, the chain was overwhelmed by an uncountable number of people. The coverage by the international press was excellent, and the Wall Street Journal's top photo of the year was by Raymond Roig.
On the political front, the Catalan Parliament voted a "Declaration of Sovereignty and the right to Decide of the People of Catalonia" ("Declaració de sobirania i el dret a decidir del poble de Catalunya", 23 January 2013) which was duly judged unconstitutuional (because the Spanish people and "nation" are indivisible) by the Constitutiional Court which, nevertheless, said it was perfectly legitimate for the authorities to ask the Catalan people's opinion on the issue. That is precisely what we are going to do on November 9th, though the Spanish government is adamant that even the law governing non-binding referenda ("consultes" in Catalan) is unconstitutional, in a desperate effort to block the vote.
The "V for will (voluntat), voting and victory" demonstration in Barcelona on September 11 2014, organised by the Catalan National Assembly and Òmnium Cultural. Well over a million people. We formed two Vs, totalling over 11 km in length, and with the nine stripes of the Catalan flag running down the middle of both avenues. We all wore either red or yellow teashirts. There were long queues at each organisation HQ to buy the shirts.
http://www.tv3.cat/videos/5237271/El-millor-de-la-Via-Catalana-2014" (1'56")
The activities of the Assemblea are wholly, and solely, funded by the members' fees and by merchandising (such as teashirts) and services such as the coaches to attend the demonstrations. Nevertheless, time and again most of the Madrid media accuse us of living off Catalan government grants.
We are in the eye of the hurricane. The Assemblea has come to be seen as the essential element of the process, the bottom-up initiative and pressure. As such, a nationalist organisation has called for us to be outlawed and our chair person imprisoned. Our membership lists were stolen by a hacker in April. The published minutes of our Secretariat have been scrutinised in search of statements with which to accuse of of illegal activities. And a highly sophisticated and expensive operation neutralised most of the mobile phones of the Assemblea secretariat and others such as me, from September 10th to 12th. Both cases are in the hands of the police. The Catalan police.
I will not go into a legal discussion of the right to decide, or the flimsy legal grounds that the Spanish government has to try and block our November 9th vote (as already announced, without yet having seen the text of the decree!). Catalan-readers may be interested to hear the views of professor Mercè Barceló (UAB), spokesperson of a group of legal specialists known as Col·lectiu Praga. http://www.ihmarti.cat/2014/02/conversa-amb-merce-barcelo-catedratica.html
And as to opponents of the November 9 vote, here is the shocking, very recent opinion of a Spanish political leader, Rosa Díez MP:
http://player.vimeo.com/video/106815543
Finally, here are two videos. The first is one of the many video productions the Assemblea has made in the last couple of years, aimed at inviting the Catalan people to vote on November 9th (this one is in English):
The second, "Votarem!" (We'll vote!) was made by the "Ateneu Popular La Pioixa", a small organisation run by the young people of Bordils, a village of just 1,700 inhabitants. Let's hope versions subtitled in other languages can be made!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6b7hx1i0og
In conclusion, I call on the members of this Parliament to closely monitor events in Catalonia and Spain. The situation is politically tense, and the SPanish government totally entrenched in its opposition to the Catalans' even exercising their universal right, the freedom of speech. I am sure you have many, many others issues on hand, but the Catalan issue is one of democracy, that ties into the values the defence of which you have been elected to defend and uphold.
Thank you.
Selection of papers, mostly by M. Strubell, on Catalan independence process). http://cv.uoc.edu/~grc0_003638_web/150205_Selection.pdf
Contribution of Miquel Strubell to Conference on "The Right to Decide in the 21st Century: Scotland, Catalonia and Beyond". 25 September 2014. Conference organised by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, the European Free Alliance and the Centre Maurits Coppieters. ...
I am most grateful for this invitation, and for the opportunity to explain to this assembly what for me is a unique, unparalleled process to the road towards national independence. I am pleased to convey to you the best wishes of the president of the grassroots organisation I am representing here today, senyora Carme Forcadell. We are really pleased to be able to speak here, not least because of the bizarre things that have been said about us and the process as a whole.
Our process is unique on a number of scores:
- a. It has the utter, complete and evident opposition of the central government. As we shall see, this should come as no surprise, as the general perception in wide segments of Catalan society is that the governing party is anti-Catalan (in Catalonia, it came fifth in the European elections) in both attitude and policies. I shall illustrate this later.
- b. It is the result of a vast grassroots reaction, across the country, to the feeling of powerlessness and, for many, as a fight for the survival of the Catalans as a people.
- c. The central government, indeed the power elite as a whole in Madrid, seems to have totally misjudged the whole process.
The Parliament of Catalonia has on several occasions voted Resolutions (such as R 98/III, on December 12 1989) stating that "Catalonia does not relinquish the right to its self-determination". Again, on October 1 1998, a similar Resolution was adopted.
"Catalunya és una nació", Article 1 of the Draft Statute of Autonomy, adopted on September 2005, reminded us. The Preamble was just as clear: "This Statute is moved by the aspiration, the project and the dream of a Catalonia without any kind of obstacle to the free and full interdependence that a nation needs today ("... mouen aquest Estatut l'aspiració, el projecte i el somni d'una Catalunya sense cap mena d'entrebancs a la lliure i plena interdependència que una nació necessita avui").
The "Right to Decide" first appeared on the scene at the end of 2005. The Plataforma pel Dret de Decidir consists of hundreds of organisations supporting the right of self-determination. Shortly after being established, it brought out into the street, beyond its wildest dreams (with hardly any support from institutions or parties), as many as a million Catalans on February 18 2006, to state clearly "We are a Nation, We Have The Right To Decide". It was a call for the September 30 2005 Draft Statute of Autonomy (which received the support of 89% of the Chamber) not to be maimed by the Spanish Parliament. Its call went unheeded, and first the Congress (in 2006) and then the Constitutional Court (in June 2010) in response to an appeal by the People's Party, severely reduced the planned increase in Catalonia's level of self-government.
On July 10 2010 a huge demonstration, which had been planned months ahead (given that news leaked from the Constitutional Court made it clear that their judgment would be a serious cutback in the text of the Statute, which had already been sanctioned by the Catalan people in a referendum) filled the centre of Barcelona. It was organised by a cultural organisation, Omnium Cultural, though with the backing of the three-party Government coalition, which headed the demonstration. Over a million people took part in this march, which simply could not move forward for several hours. It was the last "protest" demonstration, and the following three demonstrations were completely differtent: enthusiastic, looking forward with hope, and positive in outlook.
The Pacte Nacional pel Dret de Decidir, the National Pact for the Right to Decide, consists of hundreds of civil, civic, citizen, cultural, economic, trade union, business organisations; local councils; the parliamentary groups that have given support to the right to decide, and the Government. It first met on June 13 2013. Its manifesto has been signed by over 800 organisations.
The most important grassroots initiative, however, linked up with the "Popular Referenda", following the lead of Arenys de Munt, a medium-sized town about 30 km from Barcelona. These unofficial referenda were held over 500 towns across the country (between September 2009 and April 2011), and about a million people (not a few, in tears) expressed their vote for (in most cases) or against Catalonia's independence. It was during this period that the "Assemblea Nacional Catalana" was devised. When after months of gradually widening an initially very small circle of people invited to join the project, the "Assemblea" was launched on April 30 2011, at the "Conferència Nacional per l'Estat Propi", with a view to holding its first general assembly the following year, and with its sights aimed at a "binding referendum that could be held in 2014". ("amb la mirada fixada en un referèndum vinculant que podria celebrar-se el 2014").
The Assemblea, whose single aim is to achieve the independence of Catalonia, has built up a network of 600 local assemblies (largely in places that had already held popular referenda), which work closely together thanks to the social networks. It has over 70 sectoral assemblies as well, working to persuade collectives close to themn of the advantages of independence. We now have over 70,000 paid-up members and volunteers.
The huge pro-independence demonstration organised by the Assemblea on September 11 2012, just a few months after its formal establishment at the first General Assembly, had immediate political consequences.
The consequences were an early election, sprung by our First Minister, Artur Mas, who included his coalition's election manifesto a commitment to hold a referendum on independence, if at all possible with the consent of the Spanish govenrment. He was returned to power, with a smaller majority, but quickly reached an agrement with the second most voted party, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, whose party commitment is to work towards independence. Several other parliamentary parties support the vote to be held on November 9 2014, a vote announced (with the question) in December 2013, to the surprise of the Spanish government.
However, the 2012 demonstration was surpassed by the meticulously organised "Catalan Way", a 400 km-long human chain of over a million people, from one end of Catalonia to the other (with incidents at the Valencian end, because the Spanish civil guard turned a blind eye to a last-minute court ruling). It was held on September 11 2013. Most people were dressed in yellow teashirts, specially made by the Assemblea for the occasion. They signed up on an interactive map, which made sure there was not a single break in the chain, even in the relatively sparsely inhabited Ebro delta district. The chain proved possible thanks to 1500 coaches, hundreds of thousands of cars, trains and in Barcelona, on the underground... In Barcelona, as was to be expected, the chain was overwhelmed by an uncountable number of people. The coverage by the international press was excellent, and the Wall Street Journal's top photo of the year was by Raymond Roig.
On the political front, the Catalan Parliament voted a "Declaration of Sovereignty and the right to Decide of the People of Catalonia" ("Declaració de sobirania i el dret a decidir del poble de Catalunya", 23 January 2013) which was duly judged unconstitutuional (because the Spanish people and "nation" are indivisible) by the Constitutiional Court which, nevertheless, said it was perfectly legitimate for the authorities to ask the Catalan people's opinion on the issue. That is precisely what we are going to do on November 9th, though the Spanish government is adamant that even the law governing non-binding referenda ("consultes" in Catalan) is unconstitutional, in a desperate effort to block the vote.
The "V for will (voluntat), voting and victory" demonstration in Barcelona on September 11 2014, organised by the Catalan National Assembly and Òmnium Cultural. Well over a million people. We formed two Vs, totalling over 11 km in length, and with the nine stripes of the Catalan flag running down the middle of both avenues. We all wore either red or yellow teashirts. There were long queues at each organisation HQ to buy the shirts.
http://www.tv3.cat/videos/5237271/El-millor-de-la-Via-Catalana-2014" (1'56")
The activities of the Assemblea are wholly, and solely, funded by the members' fees and by merchandising (such as teashirts) and services such as the coaches to attend the demonstrations. Nevertheless, time and again most of the Madrid media accuse us of living off Catalan government grants.
The current efforts are concentrated "Ara És l'Hora!" (Now is the time!) campaign for the November 9th Yes vote. It is a joint venture of Omnium Cultural and the Assemblea Nacional Catalana. A hundred thousand volunteers are being sought to go door-by-door, in the lead-up to the vote, to see what the population of Catalonia wants as a future for our country, and hopefully to share their vision.
We are in the eye of the hurricane. The Assemblea has come to be seen as the essential element of the process, the bottom-up initiative and pressure. As such, a nationalist organisation has called for us to be outlawed and our chair person imprisoned. Our membership lists were stolen by a hacker in April. The published minutes of our Secretariat have been scrutinised in search of statements with which to accuse of of illegal activities. And a highly sophisticated and expensive operation neutralised most of the mobile phones of the Assemblea secretariat and others such as me, from September 10th to 12th. Both cases are in the hands of the police. The Catalan police.
I will not go into a legal discussion of the right to decide, or the flimsy legal grounds that the Spanish government has to try and block our November 9th vote (as already announced, without yet having seen the text of the decree!). Catalan-readers may be interested to hear the views of professor Mercè Barceló (UAB), spokesperson of a group of legal specialists known as Col·lectiu Praga. http://www.ihmarti.cat/2014/02/conversa-amb-merce-barcelo-catedratica.html
And as to opponents of the November 9 vote, here is the shocking, very recent opinion of a Spanish political leader, Rosa Díez MP:
http://player.vimeo.com/video/106815543
Finally, here are two videos. The first is one of the many video productions the Assemblea has made in the last couple of years, aimed at inviting the Catalan people to vote on November 9th (this one is in English):
The second, "Votarem!" (We'll vote!) was made by the "Ateneu Popular La Pioixa", a small organisation run by the young people of Bordils, a village of just 1,700 inhabitants. Let's hope versions subtitled in other languages can be made!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6b7hx1i0og
In conclusion, I call on the members of this Parliament to closely monitor events in Catalonia and Spain. The situation is politically tense, and the SPanish government totally entrenched in its opposition to the Catalans' even exercising their universal right, the freedom of speech. I am sure you have many, many others issues on hand, but the Catalan issue is one of democracy, that ties into the values the defence of which you have been elected to defend and uphold.
Thank you.
Selection of papers, mostly by M. Strubell, on Catalan independence process). http://cv.uoc.edu/~grc0_003638_web/150205_Selection.pdf
7/24/2014
mercedaris
El 9N: la campanya més forta mai feta a Catalunya.
Tots som mercedaris!!!
Tots som mercedaris!!!
"L'Orde Reial i Militar de Nostra Senyora de la Mercè de la Redempció dels Captius, més conegut com ... més
...
...
7/23/2014
"Saule Pērkons Daugava" - El sol, el tro, el riu Daugava
Aquest himne letó no és l'himne nacional. És commovedor com pocs: ho podeu comprovar aquí, o clicant a la imatge. Em fa pensar en el cant de la Senyera!
Més.....
7/07/2014
Discurs meu al Parlament Europeu, 2012
Closing Conference, EUNoM Project,
European Parliament
25 October 2012
Ladies and gentlemen,
For three years it has been my privilege to work together with a group of university lecturers, researchers and business partners in the EUNoM project.
+++
European Parliament
25 October 2012
Ladies and gentlemen,
For three years it has been my privilege to work together with a group of university lecturers, researchers and business partners in the EUNoM project.
+++
7/01/2014
Els instruments per promoure (només) Barajas
Tinguem present com l'Estat utilitza tots els instruments al seu abast per fer créixer Madrid a costa dels altres (en aquest cas, del Prat).
Estudi realitzat per Xavier Requejo i Albert Contra (de Gestió i Promoció Aeroportuària, S.A.) amb la col·laboració de la Direcció General d’Aviació Civil del ministeri de Foment, i publicat a Barcelona el gener de 2009 per la Cambra Oficial de Comerç, Indústria i Navegació de Barcelona.
Els acords bilaterals i la seva influència en la creació d’enllaços aeris més enllà de la UE. El cas de l’aeroport de Barcelona.
+++
Estudi realitzat per Xavier Requejo i Albert Contra (de Gestió i Promoció Aeroportuària, S.A.) amb la col·laboració de la Direcció General d’Aviació Civil del ministeri de Foment, i publicat a Barcelona el gener de 2009 per la Cambra Oficial de Comerç, Indústria i Navegació de Barcelona.
Els acords bilaterals i la seva influència en la creació d’enllaços aeris més enllà de la UE. El cas de l’aeroport de Barcelona.
+++
6/26/2014
Lacordaire: "Entre le fort et le faible..."
Finalment he localitzat la font d'un famós text del pare Lacordaire.
+++
6/18/2014
Conclusions finals de la Jornada “El dret d'autodeterminació: anàlisi jurídica”
1. El dret d'autodeterminació dels pobles és un dret fonamental i universal reconegut en tractats ratificats per l'Estat espanyol i que formen part, doncs, de la legalitat vigent.
2. Al llarg del segle XX, el dret a l'autodeterminació ha estat formulat en dos sentits: com a dret reconegut a pobles i països subjectes a dominació colonial i com a dret humà de caràcter col∙lectiu, atribuït a tots els pobles sense distinció.
+++
5/29/2014
Sociolingüística a l'exterior
CUSC, 7 de maig de 2014
Presento cinc dels dilemes amb què ens trobem quan expliquem a fora la realitat sociolingüística.
Dilema 1
Llengua minoritària / llengua minoritzada / llengua mitjana?
Tenim uns aliats “naturals”, gent que ens veu amb simpatia, enveja i admiració. Són els parlants de les llengües minoritzades: els gal·lesos, els frisons, els bretons, els occitans, els irlandesos. Durant molts anys la Generalitat no hi va voler tenir una relació estreta (per exemple, amb EBLUL, en què els catalans érem representats pel CIEMEN). Després es va crear una agrupació, la xarxa NPLD, que reunia i reuneix les direccions generals del català (no valencià), gallec, irlandès, gal·lès, frisó, etc. Són llengües amb estatus constitucional en els seus països, amb marcs legals concrets.
+++
Presento cinc dels dilemes amb què ens trobem quan expliquem a fora la realitat sociolingüística.
Dilema 1
Llengua minoritària / llengua minoritzada / llengua mitjana?
Tenim uns aliats “naturals”, gent que ens veu amb simpatia, enveja i admiració. Són els parlants de les llengües minoritzades: els gal·lesos, els frisons, els bretons, els occitans, els irlandesos. Durant molts anys la Generalitat no hi va voler tenir una relació estreta (per exemple, amb EBLUL, en què els catalans érem representats pel CIEMEN). Després es va crear una agrupació, la xarxa NPLD, que reunia i reuneix les direccions generals del català (no valencià), gallec, irlandès, gal·lès, frisó, etc. Són llengües amb estatus constitucional en els seus països, amb marcs legals concrets.
5/27/2014
noticies
Notícies i opinions sobre el procés sobiranista
Articles
2014 Gent de la terra
L'abdicació: notícies i opinions
- Kàtia Monés, "Antoni Rovira i Virgili: Catalunya i Espanya", http://blocs.mesvilaweb.cat/node/view/id/265365
- David Miró, "Felip. l'última esperança dels sistema", http://www.ara.cat/opinio/firmes/david_miro/Felip-darrera-esperanca-del-sistema_0_1149485164.html
- Vicent Partal, "La gran maniobra en marxa", http://www.vilaweb.cat/editorial/4195217/gran-maniobra-marxa.html
- Armand de Fluvià creu que amb l'abdicació s'evita fer "un referèndum sobre monarquia o república", http://www.ara.cat/politica/Armand-Fluvia-labdicacio-referendum-monarquia_0_1149485199.html
- Roger Mateos, "Felip de Borbó, missió: desactivar el "problema català" en l'any del Tricentenari" http://www.ara.cat/opinio/firmes/roger_mateos/felip-borbo-tricentenari-consulta_0_1149485184.html
- Què en diu la premsa internacional, http://www.elpuntavui.cat/noticia/article/3-politica/17-politica/748054-la-premsa-internacional-destaca-els-escandols-del-rei-en-la-seva-abdicacio.html
Articles
- Marques i fronteres, Salvador Cardús.
- De la llibertat de decidir a la llibertat de fer, Julià de Jòdar.
- I com serà la cultura en la Catalunya independent?, Vicent Partal.
- El risc de tenir un estat propi, Pere Cardús.
- Amenaces i oportunitats de la independència de Catalunya, una visió valenciana, Jordi Muñoz.
- Seduccions democràtiques, Quim Brugué.
- Deu experts treballen en l'esborrany d'una constitució catalana.
- El CGPJ cita a declarar Santiago Vidal per participar en un esborrany de la constitució catalana
- The Catalan project. Quin sistema electoral ens convé més?
5/22/2014
L'estelada més gran del món!
M'informa la Carmina:
El proper 31 de Maig es afarà a Londres l'Estelada humana més gran de fora de Catalunya fins ara.
Us
agrairia que en féssiu ressò a les xarxes i si podeu distribuir la nota de
premsa a tots els contactes de premsa que tenim a part dels anglesos,
seria molt important!
5/15/2014
ABC
José Antich: "Si en un momento dado Cataluña conquistara la independencia, sufriría una
crisis gravísima de consecuencias imposibles de prever. Debería someter a la acción tutelar de otra nación, Francia, por ejemplo...". ¿Le conviene a Cataluña la autonomía? ABC
(18 de novembre de 1918)
http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1918/11/18/004.html
i
http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1918/11/18/005.html
http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1918/11/18/004.html
i
http://hemeroteca.abc.es/nav/Navigate.exe/hemeroteca/madrid/abc/1918/11/18/005.html
5/09/2014
Guerra Bruta
Una selecció d'articles que revelen la guerra bruta de l'Estat espanyol contra la reivindicació democràtica de la gran majoria de catalans.
Coses que ens vam creure. Marçal Sintes. 20 de maig de 2015.
Allò que més ha alarmat Madrid i les seves institucions -i el CNI, que porta una política intel·ligent amb Catalunya de fa mesos- és el fracàs de García-Margallo en impedir que el Parlament danès es manifestés sobre el dret a decidir dels catalans...
Manuel Cuyàs: El setge. El Punt Avui, 15 d'abril de 2012.
Mercè Molist: La in-seguretat nacional
Mercè Molist: Ciberguerra: Diputats amb Windows
Mercè Molist: Com convertir els ciutadans en cibersoldats
Mercè Molist: De Kossove al Tibet: la història de la ciberguerra, cada vegada més intensa
Coses que ens vam creure. Marçal Sintes. 20 de maig de 2015.
- - "Que els poderosos, econòmicament i empresarialment parlant, tant a Espanya com a Catalunya no actuarien en l’ombra de la forma com ho estan fent"
- Que es respectarien les regles del joc. O que no s’utilitzarien els poders i els aparells de l’Estat per desestabilitzar l’adversari. Que no es polititzaria la justícia fins a la nàusea ni que el govern espanyol es mobilitzaria per impedir, per exemple, la presentació d’un llibre (‘Victus’) en una ciutat estrangera o que el futbol sala català disputés el Mundial....
- Els poders executiu, legislatiu i judicial funcionen a tota màquina per dissoldre Catalunya.... El temps s'esgota. Si no assolim la independència aviat, estem acabats.
- L’exdiputat del PSC, Toni Comín, assegura que l’Estat espanyol "busca que aparegui una víctima, que s'atribueixi al moviment independentista"
- 9N: 400.000 vots a BCN (SíSí), municipals 2011: 210.000 (CiU+ERC+CUP). “Si la bèstia es desperta, les enquestes faran el ridícul” assegura l’editor de la revista Time Out BCN...
SIC (Tribuna.cat): Les clavegueres i els seus Quatre genets de l'Apocalipsi. 20 de maig de 2015.
- Tot apunta a que l'Estat redissenyarà la seva campanya contra la independència de Catalunya de dalt a baix, una vegada estudiats els resultats del 24M...
Manuel Cuyàs: El setge. El Punt Avui, 15 d'abril de 2012.
- No et pensis que a Madrid observin amb tranquil·litat i sense preocupació les expressions independentistes de Catalunya. Se les prenen més seriosament que no creiem i et puc garantir que hi ha calaixos amb uns dossiers que comprometen el bon nom d'alguns líders catalans en camps diversos. Si els dossiers contenen informacions vertaderes, falses o intencionadament inflades no és rellevant. La qüestió és que són als calaixos esperant l'ordre o el moment de ser traslladats a la lletra impresa o electrònica amb la intenció de moure soroll, desprestigiar i fer mal...
- Espanya ha construït al llarg dels segles un sistema que els permet viure de l’esforç dels catalans. Aquest sistema es trenca si Catalunya s’independitza. L’estat espanyol no és capaç d’imaginar-se sense aquest sistema. L’absència o la pèrdua de l’aportació catalana a la seva renda els fa terror. Espanya no és viable sense Catalunya. O més ben dit, no és viable l’Espanya dels nous rics, de l’AVE per tot arreu, de les grans infraestructures buides, de l’aeroport inflat per clàusules impresentables de blocatge del Prat… Per això, el principal objectiu dels aparells de l’estat ja no és sortir de la crisi pel propi peu, sinó impedir per tots els mitjans l’estat català.
- L’estratègia dels poders espanyols és dividir els catalans, el conegut “divide et impera”. Saben que només podran aturar el procés si fracturen la societat i la classe política catalana. El propi José María Aznar ho va anunciar recentment: “Antes se romperá la unidad de Cataluña que la de España”. Aquesta estratègia de divisió té cinc flancs d’atac.
- A continuació, us proposo un cert manual per a prevenir situacions que poden complicar la pròpia vida i perjudicar el bon funcionament del camí cap a la independència... Més que no pas fer el valent, si algú té la sensació de ser víctima de la guerra bruta ha d'adreçar-se als mossos d'esquadra i exposar el cas. Aquest és el camí més segur i encertat. Els consells que vénen a continuació poden servir d'orientació per a prevenir la guerra bruta, en aquells casos, tipificats, que ja s'han detectat.
Mercè Molist: La in-seguretat nacional
Mercè Molist: Ciberguerra: Diputats amb Windows
Mercè Molist: Com convertir els ciutadans en cibersoldats
Mercè Molist: De Kossove al Tibet: la història de la ciberguerra, cada vegada més intensa
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