On the balances of Juntos in the left's mobilization against Israel: Gaza sharpens the ideological fracture

BarcelonaAmong dozens of activists on board the Global Sumud Flotilla were former mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau, ERC councillor in Barcelona Jordi Coronas and CUP MP Pilar Castillejo, who is still detained. Three representatives of three Catalan left-wing parties, Comuns, ERC, and the CUP, who in recent days have forcefully raised their voices against the genocide in Gaza. So did the PSC, which followed in the footsteps of Spanish President Pedro Sánchez and defended measures against Israel to end the massacre. On the right, the position has been the opposite, which has highlighted and exacerbated the fracture in the left-right axis on this issue.

The clearest example was last week, when In Parliament, the chamber was split in half when it came to deciding whether to suspend the plenary session. following the arrest of the flotilla members – PSC, ERC, Comuns and the CUP were in favor, while Junts, PP, Vox and Aliança were opposed. The division was also evident a few days ago, when left-wing groups called for a consensus on a joint declaration in the Catalan parliament condemning the "genocide" in Gaza. This division includes total sympathy for Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu on the part of the far-right Vox and Aliança Catalana, as well as support from the PP with certain strides towards Palestine, while Junts has swung – since accepting the term genocide and the defense that it must be put to an end – between support for some of the chamber's proposals and abstention on others.

The position of Juntos

Specifically, the parliamentary spokesperson for the regional council members, Mònica Sales, stated this Monday that "from the very beginning" they have expressed their "solidarity with the members of the Flotilla," and they wish for their speedy return. But just as they rejected the suspension of the plenary session due to the Flotilla, she reiterated a nuance: "We would like [Pilar Castillejo] to be able to take her seat in Parliament now, and when this happens, we will continue to remember that there are two deputies who cannot perform their duties properly," she said, referring to Carles Puigdemont and. On occasion, they also criticized a certain "frivolity" in this conflict and pointed to the role of Ada Colau.

The regional council members' position is complex: they supported the arms embargo on Israel, but did not vote in favor of suspending the plenary session due to the retention of the Flotilla; They have a strong Zionist DNA, but the Israeli offensive has led them to call for an end to the "genocide," in addition to defending the two states and demanding the return of the hostages. The omission of this last issue led them to not sign a declaration in favor of Palestine, although they supported several points. Internally, too There have been clashes between the international sector and the more pro-Palestinian sector., led by MEP Toni Comín, among other things for the concept of genocideFormer President Puigdemont also expressed hope for Trump's peace plan.

The ideological axis has emerged strongly in the face of this conflict. Staunch defenders of Israel, such as Vox and Alianza, equated any initiative against "genocide" or in favor of Palestine with support for Hamas "terrorism." Placing Israel as the victim of the conflict and denying that the extermination of the Palestinian civilian population is taking place despite the tens of thousands of deaths, they have raised the tone on this issue. Vox has called the Flotilla a meeting of "rastaflautas" for "not working" – its deputy Alberto Tarradas asked that Castillejo return his last month's salary – and Alianza has even said that "Hamas is hijacking Parliament" and has displayed the Israeli flag in the chamber.

The PP has expressed itself in the same harsh tone in Catalonia: completely rejecting the term genocide, its spokesperson in the House, Juan Fernández, even said that the members of the Flotilla were going "on a cruise paid for by everyone" and that they would be "off work for a month" due to "political theater" of "radical activism." A very forceful position that not everyone shares in the partyThis is the case with the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, and the Galician president, Alfonso Rueda, who have strongly criticized the "genocide" being committed by Israel.

Has the PSC made a move?

Denouncing the genocide against the Palestinian people is one of the few causes that has united the left-wing forces in Parliament. Aligned with Pedro Sánchez, the Catalan Socialists have not hesitated to join the CUP, Comuns, and ERC in expressing their support for the members of the Flotilla. The president of the Generalitat (Catalan government), Salvador Illa, has done so on several occasions in recent days, even canceling a conference he was scheduled to give in Rome during his official trip in solidarity with the university protests over the arrest of the activists. A position that has led the regional council members to accuse the PSC of "following" the Comuns.

Two years ago, when Israel had not yet begun the siege of Gaza, the PSC took a more lukewarm stance, despite having condemned Israel's "apartheid" in Palestine in a resolution in Parliament. In fact, one of Jaume Collboni's first measures upon becoming mayor of Barcelona in 2023 was the reestablishment of the twinning relationship with Tel Aviv, which Colau had revoked – now relations are suspended again. Collboni, whom Israel would end up banning from entering the country, has also come out to defend the Flotilla activists during their kidnapping.

Colau took advantage of the PSC's about-face on this issue on Monday to ask the Catalan government to go "further" and sever all economic ties between Catalonia and Israeli companies. with whom the ERC government signed contracts last termColau said this in an interview on Catalunya Ràdio, where she was on air with the Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, who emphasized the pact between the executive and Comuns to close the Action office in Tel Aviv in protest against the Netanyahu government. "We have called what is happening in Gaza a genocide, and it challenges us from the perspective of humanity. It expresses a barbarity that, as humanity, we cannot allow," said Dalmau.

Comunes calls on the government to take action to veto Israeli companies from participating in events at the Fira de Barcelona and to speak with Catalan sports federations to exclude Israel from international competitions. ERC, despite having some leaders who historically defended Israel's position, in light of the gravity of the war, strongly condemned the genocide, and in fact, Republican councilor Jordi Coronas traveled with the Flotilla. The CUP, for its part, questioned the PSC's "symbolic" commitment to Palestine when, according to the anti-capitalist party, it sends the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police) to "repress" protests in the streets. It remains to be seen whether the same unity these four parties have displayed so far will translate into a joint resolution proposal in this week's general policy debate.