The government closes its office in Israel due to the situation in Gaza.
The measure, agreed by the Commons with the executive, was a demand of the pro-Palestinian entities in Catalonia
BarcelonaThe government will close Acción's commercial office in Tel Aviv, Israel. According to the announcement The morning of Catalunya Ràdio And the ARA has been able to confirm that this is what Comuns has agreed with the executive in light of the situation in Gaza, where the blockade of any type of humanitarian aid by Israel has added to the months of indiscriminate killings against the Palestinian civilian population, with nearly 54,000 deaths counted so far. Early this Wednesday morning, the Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, and the leader of Comunes in the Parliament, Jéssica Albiach, met in the Parliament to formalize the agreement.
"The question was why hadn't it been done before? What else was going to happen? If not now, when?" Albiach asked in a press conference after the meeting. The Comuns leader explained that the closure of this office will be "immediate" and will be extended as long as the "massacre" in the Gaza Strip lasts. "This massacre needs answers, and Catalonia cannot remain impassive," said Albiach, who called for a "collective response" to "Israeli genocide."
CUP MP Laia Estrada, for her part, accused the government of being late. "We welcome the decision to close this office; it was essential. But they're late," Estrada reproached. "Genocide means breaking off political and commercial relations with the genocidal state." "No one can have any doubts about the Catalan government's attitude toward what is happening in Gaza, not even you," retorted President Salvador Illa during the control session in the Parliament. "The images reaching us are surprising, and the government made the decision when it should have," she added.
In fact, the Government's move comes just the day after the PSOE opened up to processing a Sumar initiative in the Congress of Deputies in favor of an arms embargo on IsraelPressure on Israel also came this Tuesday from the European Union, which announced that would review the association agreement with that state if Benjamin Netanyahu's government does not comply with its human rights obligations in Gaza.
On the other hand, Junts has criticized the government's decision, and former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has described it as a "serious mistake." "Further proof that the PSC is only interested in holding power, at any price," he wrote in a tweet to X. For his part, the leader of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, has also not applauded the decision because he sees an "excessive aestheticism," he stated in an interview on Catalunya Ràdio. In this sense, he defended measures in the military and armament fields as "much more effective."
Sámper's statements
The closure of the Acció office, which supports Catalan companies operating with Israel, was a demand from pro-Palestinian organizations in Catalonia and was also one of Albiach's campaign promises. The Catalan government had maintained the office in Tel Aviv for ten years, linked to the Department of Business. In fact, on April 9, the Minister of Business, Miquel Sàmper, himself defended maintaining this Acció office in Israel: "Closing it does not fit what we need." Sàmper said this in a control session in Parliament after a question from Commons MP Andrés García Berrio. "Acción in Tel Aviv is a minimal office, a technical office without political or institutional representation," Sàmper said. The government, on the other hand, has so far ruled out opening a branch in Israel. Juntos had attempted to do so when Victoria Alsina led the Foreign Ministry, but ERC, which headed the government with President Pere Aragonès, blocked it. The PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), with the outbreak of the war, has not recovered its idea either.
The Novact Institute for Nonviolence and the Coalition for Enough Complicity with Israel filed a formal complaint a few days ago with the Ombudsman against the Generalitat (Catalan Ombudsman) regarding the Action Office: "Promoting business collaboration between Catalonia and Israel finances the maintenance of illegal employment and normalizes the apparent situation." This Wednesday, the entity also commented on the government's move. "We welcome the announcement, but it comes 10 years late. It should never have opened," said Alis Samson, a member of this entity. In statements outside the Palace of the Generalitat, Samson said that the groups will be "vigilant" to ensure this closure is carried out and called for an end to "all types of relations" with Israel, reports Victor Sanz.
