“There is a Basque separatist movement, comprised of different groups, the most violent of which is ETA. On April 17, Basque separatists exploded a bomb in Bilbao, targeting the Spanish Socialist Party which had just won re-election in Spain. To show their ‘peaceful’ intentions, the separatists telephoned in a bomb warning so the building could be evacuated. Nevertheless, the building was damaged and seven Spanish police officers were wounded. The Basque separatists’ attack in Bilbao in April is very similar to the Tibetan separatists’ attack in Lhasa a month earlier: In both cases a unique, cultural minority has survived for centuries in remote mountains, able to achieve autonomous administration regardless of the government of the larger region. The Tibetans in the Himalayas; the Basques in the Pyrenees. … This year, merely one month apart, separatists attacked government buildings and police forces in both capital cities. The Tibetan separatists also attacked civilians, killing some, even burning them alive. The Basque separatists gave a forewarning so that civilian casualties would be avoided. Nevertheless, the world wide response to these two events has been very different.” (04/22/08)