Alexander Ayres, the Brit who justified ETA and sparked outrage
Alexander Ayres, hired by Spain's public broadcaster RTVE, called ETA a punk movement. Social media reacts with condemnation and mockery over the controversy.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Justifying ETA on RTVE: the Alexander Ayres scandal
What is a British citizen hired by RTVE doing describing ETA as a punk movement that fought against an oppressive state? The question is not idle: the answer has set public conversation alight and peine the debate over the limits of what can be said when terrorism becomes folklore.
According to the information circulating, Alexander Ayres, a resident of Spain with ties to the public broadcaster, made these remarks on the podcast «Los Invasores». The phrase attributed to him sums up the band as a «punk» movement against a state that oppressed the Basques. There is no room in it for the murders, the kidnappings or the extortion. Only the romance of rebellion remains.
Reactions: from condemnation to ridicule
The response was not long in coming. Most comments condemn the trivialisation of terrorism, made worse by the fact that the person voicing it is paid by a public broadcaster. «The government whitewashing ETA», sums up one of the prevailing views, which sees Ayres's hiring as a symptom of the official narrative under Pedro Sánchez's government.
There are also those who point to the hypocrisy of selective outrage. If someone criticises the Briton for justifying ETA members, why stay silent about other armed movements with a good international press? The satirical reference to the IRA underlines that solidarity with terrorism also has ideological borders.
And of course, the mockery: the comparison with MacGyver's playbook and kalimotxo blamed for so much nonsense. At the bar, everyone knows everything; the problem is when one of those armchair pundits is on the public payroll.
As of this discussion, Ayres has not commented. Meanwhile, the scandal is playing out on social media one meme at a time. A Briton in Spain justifying ETA: in the end, just another way of saying that history, when told by foreigners, loses the uncomfortable details.
What is a British citizen hired by RTVE doing describing ETA as a punk movement that fought against an oppressive state? The question is not idle: the answer has set public conversation alight and peine the debate over the limits of what can be said when terrorism becomes folklore.
According to the information circulating, Alexander Ayres, a resident of Spain with ties to the public broadcaster, made these remarks on the podcast «Los Invasores». The phrase attributed to him sums up the band as a «punk» movement against a state that oppressed the Basques. There is no room in it for the murders, the kidnappings or the extortion. Only the romance of rebellion remains.
Reactions: from condemnation to ridicule
The response was not long in coming. Most comments condemn the trivialisation of terrorism, made worse by the fact that the person voicing it is paid by a public broadcaster. «The government whitewashing ETA», sums up one of the prevailing views, which sees Ayres's hiring as a symptom of the official narrative under Pedro Sánchez's government.
There are also those who point to the hypocrisy of selective outrage. If someone criticises the Briton for justifying ETA members, why stay silent about other armed movements with a good international press? The satirical reference to the IRA underlines that solidarity with terrorism also has ideological borders.
And of course, the mockery: the comparison with MacGyver's playbook and kalimotxo blamed for so much nonsense. At the bar, everyone knows everything; the problem is when one of those armchair pundits is on the public payroll.
As of this discussion, Ayres has not commented. Meanwhile, the scandal is playing out on social media one meme at a time. A Briton in Spain justifying ETA: in the end, just another way of saying that history, when told by foreigners, loses the uncomfortable details.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (49 replies).
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