In Spain, whose parliament called on the Spanish government to recognize a Palestinian state only hours after two Palestinian terrorists used meat cleavers and a gun to murder four rabbis at prayer and a policeman in 2014, and a country at the top of the list of the Anti-Defamation League’s 2015 anti-Semitism index in Western Europe, suddenly there has been a sea change regarding Israel.
Spanish courts have struck down the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement efforts to have Spanish municipalities target Israel.
According to the Lawfare Project, a court in Oviedo blocked the Castrillon’s city council boycott against Israeli products. A Barcelona court struck down the boycott of Israeli products from El Prat de Llobregrat’s city council. Last July, Spanish courts overturned motions in the city councils of Teo and Catarroja. Of roughly 50 municipalities in Spain that have passed pro-BDS resolutions, 20 have been dismissed by either courts or the municipalities repealing them themselves.
Ignacio Wenley Palacios, Spanish counsel for The Lawfare Project, has gotten 46 writs of injunctions and decisions against the BDS movement in Spain. He told The Jewish Journal, “The project to defeat boycott decisions by public bodies is coming out fine. It is part of a 3-5 year strategy that includes transferring the legal reasoning to other EU countries as the grounds are by design, based both on EU and International Law, and in core constitutional tenets.”
Brooke Goldstein, executive director of The Lawfare Project, stated, “The Lawfare Project stands on the front lines fighting against discrimination targeting Jews and Israelis. We will not rest until as long as any organization attempts to legalize anti-Semitic policies, whether it’s a local government or an international airline company. We will continue to stand up in defense of the freedoms and liberties of every individual and to advance justice for the pro-Israel community.”
One of the salient reasons for Spain’s sudden warmth for Israel may be that Spain’s economy is suffering, and 350,000 Israelis visit Spain every year.