Representatives of Netanyahu’s government call Colau’s decision “regrettable” and “wrong” as Palestinians enthusiastically celebrate the gesture
While on this shore of the Mediterranean the mayoress of Barcelona, Ada Colauhas made many tremble with his announcement of break relations with israel, on the other shore the rupture has gone, rather, unnoticed. On the Israeli side, some members of the government have condemned Colau’s action. But above all, the Palestinians have enthusiastically embraced the gesture. The Israeli media, for their part, have paid little attention to a change to which the citizenry has paid no attention either. precisely in Tel Aviva capital no longer linked to the Catalan one, the citizens have not come out of their bubble where the accusations of apartheid launched by Colau -and many others- seem not to go with it.
To the rupture of relations with Israel, is added the suspension of twinning with the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, just as Colau did less than a year ago with St. Petersburg in protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The mayor of this other Mediterranean city, Ron Huldaionly responded that “the residents of Tel Aviv-Yafo and Barcelona they will continue to share the values of pluralism, liberalism and diversity& rdquor ;. “We will always welcome visitors from Barcelona and Spain with open arms& rdquor ;, the press office responds to the requests of this newspaper.
“Antisemitic, illogical and flagrant”
From Israel, you don’t see Catalonia as a people friendly to the Jew. In June, the Parliament of Catalonia became the first Chamber of the European Union in accusing the Hebrew State of “apartheid”. Even so, representatives of the Israeli government have not been slow to criticize Colau. “This is an unfortunate decision and fundamentally wrongpolitics and tourism must be separated”, stated the tourism minister, Haim Katz, after asking the mayoress to revoke the decision. “The internal conflict in Israel is challenging, we work to cultivate an Arab society that seeks to integrate into the country; the Army operates with morality and wisdom, maintaining a strict adherence to human rights & rdquor ;, Katz has justified himself.
In it Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israelhave denounced that the decision of Colau does not have the support of the majority of Barcelonans. “It gives a boost to extremiststhe organizations terrorists and anti-Semitism, and harms the interests of the people of Barcelona& rdquor;, they said in a statement. For his part, Dan Illouzmember of the Knesset of Likud, the party of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, has joined the criticism. “Severing ties with a partner country while continuing supporting terror in Gaza It is hypocrisy in its most alarming state & rdquor ;, Illouz has pointed out. The president of the Center for Jewish Impact, Robert Signerhas described it as an “illogical and flagrant anti-Semitic decision & rdquor ;.
“Thanks from my heart”
to the other side of the Green Linethe foreign officials of the Palestinian Authority they have welcomed the move and asked other cities to do the same. Also the mayor of the gaza citywith whom Barcelona maintains its twinning agreement, wanted to express his “heartfelt thanks”. Yahya R. Sarraj has written to her Barcelona counterpart: “Your recent decision to support the people of Gaza and Palestine has sent a powerful message of solidarity and supportand we are grateful for his leadership in raising awareness of the injustices our people face, including the ongoing apartheid system.”
From the Palestinian academy, historians such as the Palestinian-Lebanese Rashid Khalidi They have described Colau’s gesture as “brave & rdquor;. “These are the types of measures that put pressure on israel to change their policies & rdquor ;, the Columbia University professor stressed to this newspaper. “While the governments are afraid to position themselves with regard to Israel, these gestures gain relevance,” he added. But Barcelona is not the only city in Spain to position itself. In 2018, Valencia became the municipality with the largest population in the world attached to the network of Israeli Apartheid Free Spacesfollowing the campaign of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.