Pere Grau 2

(Translation of the article in German by Pere Grau, posted on his Blog on 31 August 2017.
The link to the original is: https://peregraurovira.wordpress.com/2017/08/31/nach-dem-attentat-ii/

After the attack (2)

Two weeks have passed since the tragic events in Catalonia. A short time. But it has been long enough to make public many things that were not known. It has also been enough to bring wonderful human reactions and also to pitilessly reveal the wretched, scandalous manoeuvres of some people.

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International opinion has been unanimous in praising the impeccable reaction of the Catalan government and the police. Unlike other countries also struck by attacks, in Catalonia from the very start the Muslim inhabitants joined the demonstrations of mourning. The sister of one of the perpetrators and of one of the detainees made, in Ripoll, an impressive speech taking a clear position against terrorism. And the father of a child killed in the attack and the imam of the small mosque in his town of Rubí, near Barcelona, publicly hugged each other, and the photo ("the photo of the decade", said the Catalan president) has been distributed well beyond Catalonia’s borders. There has been no call for revenge against Muslims. Instead, it has been for brotherhood, for peace and for a determined rejection of terrorism. The Catalan slogan "I'm not afraid" has spread like wildfire. At the mass demonstration against terror in Barcelona on August 26 there were many Muslims side to side with the other 500,000 participants. And the greatest applause was for those who helped at the time of need: police, health workers, doctors, taxi drivers and many others who helped from the start wherever it was needed. Catalan police vehicles were covered in flowers.

At the same event, the presence of King Philip and the Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy was greeted with shouts and whistles and with banners that scolded them for allowing the sale of weapons in large numbers to countries such as Saudi Arabia that export wahhabism / salafism and have helped those of the EI to raise their ugly head. Anyone can consider this reaction to be either good or bad. But for many Catalans, some reactions from Spanish politicians and media in the past few days, information, misrepresentations and reproaches have put them in a very bad mood.

Very early on, attempts to downgrade the role of the Catalan police began and to bestow the laurels on the Spanish interior minister and the Spanish National police. There was talk of independence as one of the reasons for terrorism, or was even equated to it. And immediately the attack was talked about as an important reason to induce the Catalans to preserve (Spanish) unity and to give up the referendum. The attempt, therefore, was to abuse the tragedy with political ends. And even in some German media it was said that it would be better for Catalans to solve their real problems rather than to worry about the desire for independence. They do not seem to understand that they are two completely different issues.

But curiously, it was the Catalan institutions that were accused of this abuse for political purposes. This was not only a lie, but also an incomparable shamelessness. It is not surprising that it was not the speeches of Rajoy but the statements by President Puigdemont that have been praised throughout the world as a model of tolerance, prudence and humanity, and have even been considered as a brilliant contrast to Donald Trump’s shameful slips.

There was a great hoo-ha on account of the fact that an agent of the Catalan police had not passed on to others a question a Belgian police acquaintance about imam Abdelbaki Es Satty. But as has now been proven, the request had nothing to do with any warning of an attack. He had just been asked whether there was anything on the imam in the Catalan police data bank. And there was nothing, because the Spanish services had not passed them any information.

More serious is that - as has been recently reported - infiltrated Americans had spoken to Younes Abouyaakoub, the author of the attack two weeks before the incident, and that he had talked about the preparations. The Americans immediately notified the Spanish services, but they did not pass the warning on to the Catalan police.

Let's keep it short: in the last few days a great deal has happened and a great deal has been learned that the Catalans have not liked at all. And this, like it or not, is the reason for the whistles and the shouts against the representatives of Spain in the rally on August 26, and for those that may be uttered in future.

Click here to read the first part.