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Terrorism and its consequences: a tale of three cities
Terrorism and its consequences: a tale of three cities
Fred Halliday
16 - 3 - 2005
The journey from New York via Belfast to the Madrid summit on terrorism and democracy teaches Fred Halliday, in Spain's capital, a lesson about progressive politics.
To fly from Belfast to Madrid is to move between worlds. On a pale March morning, the grey roofs of Northern Irelands capital, and the wounded, still often barricaded and slogan-covered walls of its centre strike a dull note; what a contrast, half a day later, with the red tiles of Castille and the sunny expanses of the domain of Don Quixote. Few these days might note that the two locations have a special affinity: of all western European cities, in the entirety of the post-1945 era, it is Belfast and Madrid which have borne the greatest toll of terrorist attack.
As sites of violence, they are not alone. Munich had its 1972 Olympic massacre of Israeli sportsmen, London was the target of more than a few IRA explosions (some with devastating economic consequences), the Paris metro was bombed by Islamists in the 1980s, Bologna saw its railway station attacked by rightwing extremists in 1980. But the terrorist experience of Belfast and Madrid is exceptional in its durability and scale. (...)
Find this article at Open Democracy:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-6-27-2374.jsp#
Fred Halliday
16 - 3 - 2005
The journey from New York via Belfast to the Madrid summit on terrorism and democracy teaches Fred Halliday, in Spain's capital, a lesson about progressive politics.
To fly from Belfast to Madrid is to move between worlds. On a pale March morning, the grey roofs of Northern Irelands capital, and the wounded, still often barricaded and slogan-covered walls of its centre strike a dull note; what a contrast, half a day later, with the red tiles of Castille and the sunny expanses of the domain of Don Quixote. Few these days might note that the two locations have a special affinity: of all western European cities, in the entirety of the post-1945 era, it is Belfast and Madrid which have borne the greatest toll of terrorist attack.
As sites of violence, they are not alone. Munich had its 1972 Olympic massacre of Israeli sportsmen, London was the target of more than a few IRA explosions (some with devastating economic consequences), the Paris metro was bombed by Islamists in the 1980s, Bologna saw its railway station attacked by rightwing extremists in 1980. But the terrorist experience of Belfast and Madrid is exceptional in its durability and scale. (...)
Find this article at Open Democracy:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-6-27-2374.jsp#
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