Three Legal Successes of ACOM in Catalonia, Spain, against BDS Anti-Semitic Boycott to Israel

Months of legal work by ACOM´s legal team in Catalonia have turned fruitful in a single day: the boycott in the city of Sant Sadurnì was declared null, whilst those in the cities of Sant Adrià and Sant Quirze have been suspended.

On May 31st, Court number 3 of Barcelona —the provincial capital for the three cities— suspended the BDS measures adopted by the city council of San Adrià, in order to protect basic constitutional rights, as ACOM demanded. This is the second time a cautionary suspension of this nature has been adopted, after Court number 4 of Oviedo took a similar decision in the legal case ACOM filed against Langreo municipality boycott. The court sentence of that case, published a few days ago, declared those BDS measures discriminatory, anti-Semitic and a breach of Spain´s constitutional liberties, International Law and Human Rights and have enjoyed significant international exposure, including The Jerusalem Post.

On the same day, Court number 4 of Barcelona took a similar preventive measure against the boycott declaration of Sant Quirze municipal council, arguing that the BDS measures constituted a threat to the normal economic, cultural and social life of the city.

Also on Tuesday 31st, the city council of Sant Sadurnì agreed to accept before a Court of Law, ACOM´s legal actions, and declared the BDS measures it had previously approved, null and void. This decision was adopted after the Secretary of the Council issued a report explaining the extensive legal implications of such boycott. The only two political groups that opposed the redress of the illegal BDS declarations were the far left ones of IU and CUP. One of CUP’s councillors interrupted the voting of the new resolution proclaiming that the council was giving in to an ‘association of fanatical Zionists’. ACOM regards as a compliment being identified as the main source of frustration to the anti-Semites that try to end our coexistence and our constitutional framework.

The three legal actions brought to Court by ACOM not only looked to protect Spain’s relationships with the State of Israel, but also our constitutional right not to be discriminated for reasons of race, religion, nationality, or political beliefs. Our initiatives are also directed to protect the economy of those cities where irresponsible representatives take boycott measures: Sant Sadurnì, for example, is a cluster for producers of the famous Catalan cava sparkling wine, and its companies exported to Israel 882.457 bottles in 2015!

The Chairman of ACOM, Angel Mas, said: “The rule of law, represented by Judges, State Attorneys and City Council Secretaries, has become a cornerstone in the fight to resist the BDS boycott that seeks to criminalize the State of Israel and to discriminate anybody associated with it. Quite the opposite to the intentions of the boycott proponents, now legal precedents are being created to associate the BDS movement to illegal anti-Semitic activities that go against International Law and Human Rights”.

«Whilst in a single day the BDS movement has suffered more legal setbacks in Spain than in the whole of Europe since 2005, we must remember that the situation is still dire: only in the North Eastern Spanish region of Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona, no less than 18 cities have adopted anti-Israel boycotts… that means that over 789.000 citizens in Catalonia live under the threat of discriminatory measures that target Israel, and anyone with the slightest affiliation or sympathy toward the Jewish State. These boycotts have a extraordinary reach and consequence. Judenfrei was preceded by boycotts. With the development of ACOM legal doctrine, and the resulting judicial precedents, we are ensuring the end of the era of impunity for these illegal boycott activities».