Barcelona cut ties with Israel. The gesture was intended to be retaliation for his government’s actions, not an accusation “against a people, a community or a religion”. Mayor Ada Colau justified this in a performance that she herself described as “extraordinary”. The announcement set off chain reactions, and the PSC, the party that accompanies the Commons in city government, has initially described the mayor’s “unilateral” decision as a “very serious mistake”. The announcement aims to stage a protest against the regime of subjugation that is plaguing Palestine, and Barcelona City Council has decided to sever all ties with the Israeli state. The twinning, which has been a fraternal bond between Barcelona and the city of Tel Aviv for 25 years, is also suspended. “Let’s hope it’s only temporary,” Colau tried to clarify while sharply criticizing Benjamin Netanyahu’s government: “This apartheid situation is unbearable.”
The mayor has indicated that the decision, “complicated and difficult” as she put it, is supported by more than a hundred entities and the signature of 4,000 residents. He has reported that he has sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explaining the reasons behind the measure taken by the consistory. The wording of the letter alludes to the “violence endured against the Palestinian people” and accuses him of the harassment going on “for more than 70 years”.
Laia Bonet, deputy mayor of the PSC, has made the socialists’ dissatisfaction with the resolution visible and has sharply criticized the mayor. “What happened today is very serious,” he said, warning that it would have the undesirable effect of “weakening Barcelona’s role in the world”. The PSC urban group in Barcelona City Council will present a proposal to restore ties between the Catalan capital and Tel Aviv at the plenary session in February this year.
For his part, the Junts’ candidate for mayor, Xavier Trias, has viewed this temporary break in relations as a “grave mistake”. In a note on his Twitter account, he assured that “among many other reasons, this is one of the reasons why a change in the City Council is needed”, adding that “Barcelona must work for harmony, without sectarianism, avoid confrontational bets about dialogue and understanding”. The Catalan Association of Friends of Israel said Colau made the decision “by decree and without going through the plenary session” and described the rejection of Israel as a “xenophobic act”. Lior Haiat, spokesman for Israel’s foreign ministry, has indicated that Barcelona is making “an unfortunate decision” that is fueling anti-Semitism.
Colau, who is seeking his third term in local elections in May, has for decades blasted Israel for “systematic human rights abuses,” ignoring United Nations resolutions and opinions. The mayor has repeatedly used the term apartheid to denounce Israeli pressure on the Palestinians, citing a tradition of the city’s solidarity “with the oppressed peoples” as the reason for Barcelona’s backlash against Israel. On that note, he said he’s confident the rudeness “invites thought and action.” In the letter to Netanyahu, he expresses his willingness to lead by example: “History has taught us that cities must take sides and play an active role in building peace and defending human rights.”
Late last year, Barcelona’s ombudsman, the city’s ombudsman David Bondia, called on the city council to annul the “Friendship and Cooperation Agreement” signed in 1998 between the Catalan capital and the cities of Gaza and Tel Aviv. After examining this agreement, the union decided that the partnership had lost its strength. “It has failed to take into account the changing circumstances that have occurred since its celebration, it does not guarantee commitment to human rights, and it does not promote international relations that promote global justice,” it said.
What affects most is what happens closer. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything.
subscribe to
Barcelona has maintained a “protocol of friendship and cooperation” with the Iranian city of Isfahan since January 2000, according to the city’s website. “The aim of the twinning is to promote mutual cooperation between the two cities,” says the Barcelona City Council. In March last year, the city council announced that in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, ties with the city of Saint Petersburg had been suspended and all activities that could be carried out under the town-twinning agreement uniting the Catalans capital with the Russian city since 1985.
Follow EL PAÍS Catalunya on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter