“We are here to demand change from Europe and Spain, from words to actions. “Humanity is in danger every day in Palestine. » With these words, the former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, warned of the unbearable situation of the Palestinian population, which she experienced first-hand as a member of an international delegation, including MEP Jaume Asens is also a member of the Commons, and who was attacked with tear gas by Israeli soldiers. “The situation is much worse than we imagined,” Colau admitted during an appearance at Ramallah town hall, in which he recalled that Barcelona broke off relations with Tel Aviv two years ago due to “ apartheid, illegal occupation and violation of human rights. .” And he asked the EU and Spain to do the same. “It could be done with Russia, but it can’t be done with Israel? » he asked.
“We need fundamental facts such as a total arms embargo, economic sanctions against Israel and the suspension of relations with a state that violates international legality and human rights,” said Colau, who admitted feeling “shame” as a European citizen. “The word is impunity,” he said about the reaction of the EU and the international community towards Tel Aviv, before recalling that just yesterday, Israel decided to ban the action of the UN agency UNRWA on the Palestinian territory, killing dozens of people in Gaza. and the continuation of “indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population in Lebanon”. “This continues to violate international legality and human rights,” he reiterated.
Asens also denounced the “double standards” and “hypocrisy” of the EU and the United States. “We have come to do what Western governments do not do. The genocide suffered by Gaza and the systematic violations of law in the West Bank are the responsibility of Israel: “What is valid for Russia should be valid for Israel, what is valid for the Ukrainian population should be valid for the population Palestinian. »
Although he acknowledged that the Spanish government has done “a lot” in the conflict, he warned that “it is not enough.” “We want Spain to be the spearhead, the vanguard of the defense of rights in Europe. » Among the demands addressed to the coalition, Asens included a reform of the law on the arms trade, although he admitted that the right – in reference to the PP, Vox and Junts – would not support it because it “supports genocide”: “It’s hard to “This law is coming out, but we have to try.”
Colau and Asens’ comments came after they were subjected to a tear gas attack by Israeli soldiers while accompanying “peaceful and unarmed farmers” to pick olives in Qusra. “We were able to see for ourselves what the Palestinian people suffer every day, they even attacked us. The soldiers did not speak to anyone, they directly attacked with tear gas and stun grenades, they endangered the lives of the people who were present there,” said Colau, who assured that a similar situation would have been a “scandal” in international diplomacy. “For me, this is the least important, because this is what the Palestinian people suffer every day: human rights violations with complete impunity.” he declared.
Colau explained that after the attack, the consul in Jerusalem and the secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted them to “worry” about their health: “I replied that luckily we were in good health, but that we could have been seriously injured by the Israelis. army and by the presence of armed settlers.
“The Spanish government, which wants to be a democratic government committed to human rights and international legality, must be concerned about the systematic violation of human rights by Israel against the Palestinian people,” said the former Mayor: “Much more can be done.”
