Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Peace negotiators must be protected
BOB NEWLAND shines a light on the case of Josu Urrutikoetxea, who helped bring about an end to Basque armed conflict but who now languishes in jail facing charges of ‘criminal conspiracy with terrorist intent’
IMPRISONED: Josu Urrutikoetxea
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
JOSU URRUTIKOETXEA was a key figure in the Basque movement Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Eta) and played a major role in ending the armed conflict in the Basque Country and Spain.
He led peace negotiations on behalf of Eta from the 1980s. In 1989 he was arrested in the middle of a truce and spent 10 years in prison.
Urrutikoetxea led further negotiations from 2005 to 2007 in Geneva and from 2011 to 2013 in Oslo.
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