Madrid sets the course for the Spanish Parliament in the fight against antisemitism

Today, with the definitive approval in the Madrid Assembly of this proposal to modify the Law of Grants in order to fight against antisemitism, it is the turn of all the political parties to position themselves nationally in the Spanish Parliament. If the Spanish Government follows the pioneer Government of the Autonomous Region of Madrid, Spain will consolidate a real commitment in the fight against the antisemitic discrimination that is currently attacking the European continent so strongly. In November 2021 the Madrid Assembly took a historic step against antisemitism in Spain by approving a text whose objective is to end grants and subsidies to entities that promote antisemitism. The proposal, on which ACOM has worked closely for years with its proponents, the legal services of the institution, and the groups that support it, will be debated now in the national parliament. An ambitious proposal that not only formally adopts the definition of antisemitism of the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance), but also takes a crucial step by demanding the Spanish Parliament to adapt the legislation to exclude entities that promote antisemitic hatred from any possible grant or public help. This proposal effectively excludes from any public financing in Spain any group and activity of the discriminatory campaign of boycott against Israel and any sample of “sophistication” of antisemitism in its public presentation, behaviours that are as pernicious or more than classical antisemitism (for their apparent harmlessness). The proposal was initially supported by Partido Popular (Center-Right), the Socialist Party (left-wing), and VOX (conservative), although later the Socialist Party chose to distort it with references to the Franco regime, and with Mas Madrid and Podemos (far-left) unfortunately resorted to old antisemitic stereotypes such as the denial, distortion, and trivialisation of the Holocaust. In ACOM we will continue to work in this new stage so that all the political parties of the constitutional spectrum understand the importance of this initiative and give their institutional and legislative commitment to the fight against antisemitism with this proposal that is so necessary.

This proposal to the government of the nation would effectively exclude public financing of any BDS group or activity in Spain

Years of hard work Thanks to the legal initiative of ACOM, the main denouncer of the discourse of hatred and/or the discrimination for ethnic or national reasons that this movement promotes, 85 agreements have been annulled to date; ten of them corroborated by Higher Courts of Justice throughout the whole country. All the sentences have insisted in the anti-constitutional and illegal nature of these excluding measures that violate the common framework of coexistence. But not only that: one of the primary missions of ACOM is the joint work with the political groups who clearly adhere to the country’s Constitutional order, providing them with accurate, practical, and essential information. This pioneering Parliamentary Bill in the regional Madrid Parliament, will change the domestic legislation so that entities that carry out discriminatory practices cannot receive public aid, contracts, or grants, insisting especially on antisemitism. This initiative, taken to a national level, would effectively exclude the public financing of any antisemitic or BDS-related group or activity in Spain. MORE INFO (IN SPANISH): https://a-com.es/el-gpp-de-la-asamblea-de-madrid-propone-a-las-cortes-eliminar-las-subvenciones-y-ayudas-publicas-a-entidades-que-fomentan-el-odio-antisemita/ https://a-com.es/historico-paso-contra-el-antisemitismo-en-espana/ https://a-com.es/espana-puede-marcar-el-camino-en-la-lucha-contra-el-nuevo-antisemitismo/ https://a-com.es/la-problematica-ambiguedad-con-el-antisemitismo-del-psoe-de-madrid/ https://a-com.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Copia-de-IHRA-SEPT-21.pdf https://twitter.com/ACOM_es/status/1498638078734483460