The verbal violence of the PP
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez sees how Europe is gradually following his lead in denouncing and confronting Israel over the genocide its army is perpetrating in Gaza. At the same time, always adept at sensing the public's pulse, Sánchez is increasingly embracing the popular sentiment of solidarity with the Palestinians. In contrast, the right-wing PP, following Vox's lead, has entered a drift that places it among the hardest-line of its European counterparts and distances it from a minimum sense of humanitarian common sense.
The attitude of the PP leaders, both Feijóo and Ayuso, increasingly resembles that of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who has made a notable shift from her initial open support for Netanyahu to the current proposal for sanctions against Israel, also approved by the EU. All this, of course, while hunger and the ravages of military attacks continue to sow death and despair in Gaza.
The popular boycott of the Israeli team participating in the Vuelta a España, which on Sunday ended with the suspension of the final stage of the race in Madrid amid clashes between protesters and police, has raised the tone of the clash between the Spanish government and the opposition. Feijóo, using unacceptable verbal violence, has accused Sánchez of inciting "political violence," while the Socialist, far from backing down, has doubled down on his pro-Palestinian stance by calling for a boycott of Israel in all international sporting competitions. Furthermore, the president of RTVE has proposed withdrawing Spain from Eurovision if Israel participates in the popular song festival.
The Spanish government, therefore, is giving the Jewish state no respite. If Sánchez initially risked standing out in the EU in defense of Palestine, with the winds somewhat more at his back, he has decided to accelerate. Not in vain, he knows that public opinion in the state is clearly leaning toward solidarity with the Gazans. Today, she's playing a trump card. And it leaves the PP exposed and even more extreme. The attacks on Sánchez from Israeli government ministers only reinforce this when they call him "anti-Semitic and a liar," as Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has done. And the PP leaders have not been short. According to Ayuso, pay attention! Madrid has recently given the image of a "Sarajevo at war" and a place where "Jews are persecuted." No, not at all. Neither in Madrid nor in Barcelona nor anywhere on the Iberian Peninsula is there anything resembling a war, nor are Jews persecuted. It is the Jews of Israel who are harassing and emaciating the Palestinian population of Gaza while the Zionist expansion in the West Bank continues.
Quite simply, Feijóo and company have clumsily decided to use the pro-Gaza protests as yet another weapon against Sánchez. Anything goes with the goal of bringing down the Spanish government. For the PP, the problem isn't even Hamas, and certainly not Netanyahu. And even less so the deaths in Gaza. It's the protesters in Madrid. The instrumental use of the conflict is gruesome. Shamelessly, the impunity for distorting and manipulating reality seems unstoppable. Feijóo continues to advance down the extremist slope.