MADRID —“We need to act more firmly on an illegal country like Israel,” said Pablo Iglesias Turrion, leader of the Spanish extreme-left wing part in an interview with country’s the public tv.
He was speaking last week after the City Council of Valencia, the third largest city in Spain, voted a motion declaring an ‘’Israeli apartheid-free zone’ and supporting the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) movement. It means that the City Council has committed to refrain from any contract or cultural event with Israeli authorities or companies.
The motion had been pushed by Podemos. Podemos Councilor Neus Fabrega Santan, who intriduced the motion, declared : “The Palestinian people have asked the European peoples for these measures. The best way to fight against apartheid and support Palestine is with the points described in this motion.’’
Now, Valencia’s city council has committed to refrain from any contract or cultural event with Israeli authorities or companies.
Podemos, wich s the third largest party in Spain, has given its support to the new Socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, who last week defeated the Conservative Mariano Rajoy in a confidence vote.
Spanish pro-Israel group ACOM , who is fighting BDS, said that Iglesias Turrion’s statement reflects anti-Semitism because Podemos does not consider any other country in the world illegal but Israel.
ACOM also said that it has initiated legal proceedings against Valencia over its vote. In recent years, ACOM actions have led to the scrapping, annulment, or suspension of 24 motions to boycott Israel by Spanish municipalities.
Tribunals in Spain, including the nation’s Supreme Court in two of its rulings, have voided a total of 16 boycott motions passed by municipalities. Another seven municipalities voluntarily scrapped their boycott motions under threat of legal action by ACOM. One municipality’s boycott motion was suspended by a court injunction.
Spanish city cancels Israeli concert in latest boycott move
The producer of a concert set to take place in Oviedo this fall received a notice from the Spanish town, saying the decision was made for political reasons not to hold Israeli activities there.
In another anti-Israel move, the city of Oviedo, the capital of Spain’s Asturias region, has purportedly canceled an upcoming concert by Israeli NK Orchestra and a ballet performance.
The producer of the concert set to take place in Oviedo this fall received a notice from the Spanish town saying the decision was made for political reasons not to hold Israeli activities there, Ynet News reported.
Oviedo, which used to have friendly relations with Israel, has been governed by a left-wing coalition that has becoming increasingly hostile towards the Jewish state.