The recent tragedy around Germanwings flight 9525 crash that killed all 150 people has elicited shocking hate speech on Twitter and other social media aimed mostly at Catalans—but Germans and French are on the receiving end as well. In the small sample of hate tweets we are posting here, written by people in Spain, the users congratulate themselves on the fact that many Catalans died in the crash, going as far as wishing them slow and painful deaths. Anti-Catalan hate speech lawyer association Drets (Rights) announced that it has already pressed charges against 38 Twitter users responsible for 55 hate tweets.
Here is a translation of a small sample of the tweets:
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| “The plane crashed because fuel is expensive, and, good catalufos (despective for Catalan) that they are, they peed in the fuel tank cause it's cheaper.” “Volareee uooo Volareee uooo, except if I'm Catalan, then I crash and crumble.” “Three hundred and twenty (sic) cheapskates less that will boo at the anthem during the final.” |
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| “About the plane crash, I think it's great if there were Catalans in it.” “Plane full of Catalans and Germans crashes in France. #winwinwin.” “@Pianelo: Let's see, let's not over-dramatize, cause the plane was transporting Catalans, not people. SPAIN” “I hope that plane ran over a few Frenchmen as well.” |
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| “I think it's great if 42 Catalans are dead.” |
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| “I hope a plane full of Catalans crashes against a rock and they all suffer a slow and painful death @apuntem CATALUFOS.” Note: @apuntem is a Twitter account that tracks anti-Catalan hate speech. |
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| “I don't know what happened with the damn plane full of Catalans, but too few died.” |
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| “I hope all those Catalans in that plane #Germanwings.” |
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| “What's 1000 Catalans dead in a plane crash? TOO FEW.” |
I am Catalan, a relative of mine was on the plane crashed.is sad, very sad, to show the world the reasons why we want independence, events like this have to happen. These xenophobic comments are only a minority. Yes, but I must say it is the tip of the iceberg. There are people in Spain who may understand the point of view of the Catalans, and are sensitive to the injustices suffered by our people. But the truth is also that these people are a minority. A vast majority have no sympathy for the Catalans evidenment this sentiment has been fueled by the national media, and politicians who have based their campaigns on promoting hatred to Catalans.
There is a saying in Spanish that says: “Quien siembra vientos recoge tempestades” Who sows winds picks storms.
history can teach us, how ended promote hatred towards minorities.
Catalan people have tried to many different ways to fit in Spain, finally we realize that this is impossible.