argia.eus
INPRIMATU
Celebrations and joy of the other
Julen Apella 2022ko abenduaren 14a

Mistrust toward the joy of the other is not something of today; more or less we have all felt the feeling that sometimes the joy that is not of oneself has somehow emphasized self-pain. So far not quite bad, because everyone lives their contradictions. However, the problem begins when we have an unbearable need to publicly express these impulses, above the throat, until our politically indirect opinions (sic) release the autumn leaves. Yes: "I am not racist, but that these Moroccans celebrate their victories in their homes, that they do not fulfill our harsh streets with their strange customs." Let's start.

For those who have not learned: The Moroccan Football Team has been ranked for the semi-finals of the World Cup of Qatar, after dominating countries like Portugal or Spain (nobody told me how difficult it is to be a citizen of the Iberian peninsula). And this, to the surprise of some ruthlessness, has also been noticed these days in our streets and neighborhoods, as has been shown by the most massive or less popular celebrations depending on the place.

I will not be the one who celebrates the victories of the Moroccan team with a loud voice, because, as many have told me before, little could claim, for example, their victory with a group that celebrates songs against the Saharawi community. However, this does not detract from what the Moroccan neighbours living in our surroundings have suffered these days: those who have social networks are well aware of how these days, at best, they have become a rattle of racist memes; and at worst, a nationalist epic (the Spanish nationalist, in this case) of a cultural concern. In view of this, it cannot be denied that the ear of the Moors was a small satisfaction, and the subsequent celestial silence on social networks.

If, for some, the Moroccan celebrations express something, it is precisely the lack of the will to integrate the Moroccans: they feel Moroccan, Basque or Spanish. And we must ask everyone who wants to live these lands, apparently, a cult faithful to a new homeland.

The question does not end here: the Moors have not only won, but have recognized themselves the whim and indifference to celebrate it, provided that, outside their people, they mock a people that has held open arms. And the keyword of this story appears in the sequence: integration. If, for some, the Moroccan celebrations express something, it is precisely the lack of willingness to integrate into them: they feel Moroccan, Basque or Spanish. And anyone who wants to live these lands must be asked, apparently, to worship a new country, embracing its flags, symbols and celebrations, although then, paradoxically, some never accept a foreigner a new national identity with label (they will never come from here). I suspect that those who defend it do not have precisely a folkloric, interested and retrograde concept of culture.

On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that the celebrations related to sport (often football) and, by extension, the possible incidents that may arise from these celebrations are the most European (less than a year has passed through the riots that Israeli amateurs created in Bilbao the Vieja, or since a friendly Basque fan pulled out of a street to give just two examples). These are, of course, attitudes that need to be pointed out, and we even need to think critically about them, but to do so, perhaps more than just talk about one origin or another, we should talk about gender codes and, more specifically, about models of masculinity, for example, a more uncomfortable issue for anyone who always sees the monster out of his navel.

Therefore, here I believe that the question is not to criticise certain attitudes (possible violent), but to develop that criticism from a minimum of sincerity: out of prejudices and flags not so much racist as many. One of the best teachers I've ever had said, with a point of provocation, that he was against multiculturalism to then determine that the multi-suffix suffixes would require a sum of different cultures, but not necessarily a balanced coexistence between them. On the contrary, the concept he proposed was interculturality because the suffix of interaction refers to interaction, exchange between different cultures and a positive diet among them. I believe that one step towards this can be to please our Moroccan neighbours these days. Accept the joy of the other so that little by little is not the other.