Hatred and discrimination in Spanish University
The University of Santiago de Compostela promotes discrimination and antisemitism
From 6 to 8 September the University of Santiago de Compostela will give a course of political propaganda (1) masked as another alternative in the cycle of summer courses of the university. The act is cofinanced by the Araguaney-Puente de Culturas Foundation and the City Council of Santiago.
The title of the course, “Dialogue with the Arab world: human rights”, cynically intends to avoid its biased character and its evident propagandistic nature. The programme is just a part of an intense campaign that, following the narrative of each and every one of the speakers, intends to falsify facts, hide data, and justify the terrorist and antisemitic violence that the legitimate state of Israel has had to face since the moment it began to exist. Needless to say, that however much you try to present a political campaign as an academic and intellectual act, that does not make it an academic or learning activity.
In ACOM we clearly denounce that the Spanish public institutions, in this case the fourth largest public administration of Galicia, finance and host antisemitic conferences and try to disguise antisemitic ideas behind the narrative of human rights.
It is unacceptable that a public university hosts conferences that promote hatred and discrimination, giving voice to ideas classified as antisemitic by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. A definition of antisemitism (2), by the way, accepted by the main Western countries, among them by the Government of Spain.
It is bad enough that the course is sponsored by the City Hall of Santiago de Compostela, which was condemned (3) by the courts of justice for approving anticonstitutional and discriminatory regulations against the Jews, but it is especially shameful that its Mayor, attending the inauguration of the course, supports violent discourses that delegitimise the Jewish national home; discourses of hatred hidden behind a supposed defence of human rights.
From ACOM we urge the University of Santiago de Compostela to cancel the course and to take preventive measures in order to not make similar mistakes again. This same academic institution received last year the reprobation (4) of multiple Jewish communities from around the world for the grotesque trivialisation of the Holocaust in one of its courses.
An academic institution cannot promote more hatred, glorify violence even more, and demonise the Jewish people and their national home, thus continuing the incitement to the most rancid antisemitism.
Additional information:
Extended profile of the speakers (IN SPANISH)
(2) Definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
(3) A court of justice annuls the agreement of the city of Santiago de Compostela to boycott Israel.
(4) Spanish University cancels course comparing Gaza to Auschwitz.
