Legal blow to the boycott of Israel in Valencia

 

The Court for Contentious Administrative Proceedings No 5 of Valencia has annulled as of 6 July 2017 the boycott of Israel approved by the City Council of Catarroja after the lawsuit presented by ACOM. The Court argues that the content of the declaration “conditions the future exercise of administrative powers, particularly in matters of contracting” and “violates Article 14 of the Spanish Constitution as it incites and produces discrimination for reasons of birth, race, sex, religion, opinion or any other condition or circumstance, personal or social, as it declares the City Council of Catarroja Space Free of Israeli Apartheid”.

On 25 March 2016 the plenary session of the City Council of Catarroja adopted an agreement by which it adhered to the campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. The motion was presented by Guanyem Catarroja, local franchise of Podemos, and was supported by Compromís and PSOE, with the votes against it of PP and Ciudadanos.

ACOM presented an administrative appeal in the Courts of Valencia against said agreements. Months later Justice gives another hard blow to those who promote anti-Semitic hatred and discrimination. The defenders of a boycott against a nation like Israel, who is a friend and a guarantor of the rule of law are more and more isolated and outside the law, and inevitably nearer terrorist organizations, exposing the totalitarian nature of said attempts of boycott.

Thanks to the legal initiative of ACOM, 13 boycott agreements have been annulled by the courts (including 2 rulings of High Courts of Justice), 6 City Councils have voluntarily revoked said agreements after our legal action, and 1 municipality has its agreements legally suspended until a final decision is made.