ACOM, a pro-Israel group working to combat the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in Spain, said it is contemplating legal action against the City Council of Barcelona over its recently announced anti-Israel resolution.
Last week, the Presidency Commission of the Barcelona City Council issued a declaration calling for an end to Israel’s “violations of international law.” While the council fell short of issuing full support of BDS and declaring itself “Free of Israel Apartheid,” its declaration did give a nod in support of the movement.
“The agreement of the Presidency Commission decides to explore ways in which to demand – from public contractors and suppliers – declarations of non-relationship with Israel, under the pretext that Israel does not respect International Law,” an ACOM statement explained.
On Tuesday, ACOM president Angel Mas told The Jerusalem Post that the declaration by the Barcelona City Council represents a new strategy by pro-BDS movements in Spain.
“We have to be very clear about what actually happened in Barcelona. Extreme Left parties have gained access to many municipalities [throughout Spain], including control of the large municipalities in Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia. Their original plan was very clear – to have very significant parts of Spain become ‘Judenfrei,’” Mas said, using the German term for “Free from Jews.”
However, according to Mas, that plan was met with severe opposition in the media, certain branches of government and the courts.
Thanks to ACOM’s numerous legal actions in collaboration with US based The Lawfare Project, against municipalities which have declared support of BDS, a number of Spanish courts have unequivocally declared BDS resolutions to be illegal.
“From a legal perspective they are suffering severe losses. The courts have taken an interest and declared that the boycott is illegal because it represents a breach of basic constitutional rights, abuse of civil liberties, and abuse of state institutions that should keep a clear neutrality in how they treat different citizens,” Mas said. “Their plan has been derailed but this has not stopped them.”
As such, the declaration in Barcelona represents a shift in the BDS movement’s strategy – making an anti-Israel declaration but stopping short of declaring the city “Free of Israeli Apartheid.”