FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 94 - ENGLISH

41 To pass it on to those who were not there. Remembrance is not revenge. Remem- brance is a democratic responsibility. Lately, we have been concerned by something we have begun to notice. Some institutional events refer to the European Day for the Victims of Ter- rorism without mentioning 11 March. Without mentioning Madrid. With- out mentioning our dead and our in- jured. Remembering all the victims is essential. But forgetting the origins of this date is not inclusion. It is dilution. We are not a historical abstraction. We are thousands of people who are still here. People who live with visible and invisible scars. People who remember each and every one of those who died that morning. People who continue to rebuild our lives every day. We are not asking for privileges. We ask for some- thing more basic: recognition, truth and remembrance. Because when a so- ciety stops naming its victims, it slowly begins to forget what happened. And forgetting always opens the door to re- peating mistakes. We eagerly await the Memorial Centre dedicated to jihadism, which will be based in the Palacio de Medinaceli. We also look forward to the Memorial Cen- tre being promoted by the Communi- ty of Madrid. We are still waiting, too, for the new monument that the City Council announced after dismantling the glass skylight located outside Ato- cha. To date, we have no information on the status of the project. Nor has the situation regarding the monument in San Agustín de Guadalix been resolved. It is difficult to explain — and even harder to understand — that a neces- sary tribute to the Civil Guard is being paid by reusing a monument previously dedicated to 11 March. Neither side de- serves—nor do we—tributes like these. Remembrance requires consistency, respect and a visible commitment. And finally, a huge thank you to every- one who tells young people what hap- pened on 11 March. And that violence is not the answer. And that there is nothing, neither divine nor human, that justifies a death. Thank you, teachers, teachers who were victims, journalists, parents… Because, thanks to you, the memory lives on through the new generations. And thank you to those young peo- ple who did not live through that day, but who have sought to understand it, to name it and to make it their own through words and respect. Many of you send us drawings and poems that we treasure. Like these eight lines from a pupil at IES Pedro Cerrada in Zaragoza, which speak of pain and resilience: “Dreams blown away” Madrid awoke wounded that morning the train carried dreams and routines, and fear darkened streets and corners, breaking into tears the pulse of life. But from pain, hope is born: hands joined, light amidst the ashes, an entire people raising their promise never to surren- der to the wound. Today, twenty-two years on, we are still here. Not out of hatred. Not out of confrontation. But out of dignity. De- fending memory as a common good. Defending truth and peace as the foundations of coexistence. Defending a society that cares, that remembers and that learns. Because as long as there is someone willing to remember, 11 March will continue to form part of our collective consciousness. And we will continue to say the names of those who were taken from us. Thank you very much for listening to us. Thank you very much for giving us a voice. Thank you very much. ASSOCIATIONS AND FOUNDATIONS