Mayor of Barcelona is sued over her decision to sever her city’s ties with Tel Aviv by the Lawfare Project on behalf of the local charity Barcelona Institute for Dialogue with Israel.

 

‘’Free Palestine, from the river to the sea,’’ was painted on the wall of the Great Synagogue of Barcelona in Spain.

The graffiti was found on Monday on the eve of Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The masked people who vandalized the synagogue left leaflets accusing Israel of “Palestinian genocide and apartheid.” They also claimed that “Israel is a murderous state that steals land and destroys the homes of innocent people,” and that “the murderous elites are those who support Israel.”

The Great Maimonides Synagogue of Barcelone was the first Jewish place of prayer opened in Spain after the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 when Jews were expulsed or forced to convert. ‘’Let us honor our ancestrors by not letting them stop us,’’ said  the Chief Rabbi of Barcelona.

‘’Today I want to address the community with a strong message: we are a 3,000 year old people and it is not antisemitism that will destroy us,’’ he added.

’We want to make clear that despite the difficult times we will not move from here and we will continue to pursue our ideals of justice and to radiate the light of Torah and Jewish values.’’

Last February, Barcelona’s Mayor ​​Ada Colau announced her decision to sever the city’s ties with Tel Aviv because of the “apartheid policy towards the Palestinians,” ending a 24-year formal friendship between Barcelona and Tel Aviv.

The mayor is being sued over her decision by the Lawfare Project on behalf of the local charity Barcelona Institute for Dialogue with Israel.

“It asserts that Ms. Colau acted beyond the scope of her authority by infringing on the Spanish government’s power to conduct foreign policy and violated applicable legal procedures,” the U.S.-based legal fund, that protects Jewish and Israeli civil and human rights, said in a statement.

Colau’s decision drew immediate condemnation from the Israeli government, pro-Israel groups and local Jewish organizations, with Brooke Goldstein, executive director of the Lawfare Project, saying that the suspension “represents a total misuse of the legal process to engage in a bigoted and partisan campaign, rather than a legal decision within the scope of the Mayor of Barcelona’s power.”

The day after the Barcelona mayor’s decision, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, the mayor of Madrid, offered his city as a replacement for Tel Aviv in the “twinning” agreement. The mayor of the capital called his Barcelona counterpart antisemitic and offered Tel Aviv’s Mayor Ron Huldai “Madrid’s commitment to democracy and freedom,” ABC reported.

“It would be an honor to be twinned with Tel Aviv,” the mayor said.