Gaza as a matter of "domestic politics"

MadridAlberto Núñez Feijóo and José María Aznar had to appear together at an event for the Faes Foundation, which the latter chairs, to try to unify their messages regarding the Gaza massacre and the malevolent strategy of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, to disguise his preferred discourse of solidarity as social discourse. What Pedro Sánchez would like more than to be able to eliminate the judicial investigations that plague him and their social repercussions. It's not that easy. However, the truth is that he has managed to open a front of public debate that could give it oxygen.

But not because the genocide in Gaza and its condemnation allow cases like those of the Cerdán-Ábalos-Koldo García family to be forgotten, but because they have led the opposition to navigate a sea of supposed nuances that reflect its difficulty in finding the right words regarding the invasion of Palestinian territory and the décimas (tenths of the revolution). I'm referring specifically to Feijóo and Aznar because of their relevance, the former as a candidate to govern the country, and the latter as a former president of the Spanish government. I'll leave aside the case of the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who would be a caricatured version of the former two.

Once again, this week the PP has allowed itself to be carried away by the anxiety that characterizes its political action. The events of the final stage of "La Vuelta," with the suspension of the urban route through Madrid, have unleashed a reaction from the PP that will hardly resonate with a social majority. There was enough information and clear signs of what could happen to consider the decision to maintain the final day of the race unchanged as a mistake. There had been previous incidents along the route of the race, and the length of the final stage was difficult for the police to control. It made no sense to demand that law enforcement use their full potential against protesters who tried to prevent the runners from passing.

I'm reluctant to make comparisons between very different situations, but the images of police charges and beatings of people of all ages as they tried to remove the protective barriers from the urban circuit in Madrid on the 14th reminded me of similar scenes in Barcelona and other Catalan cities on a day during Catalonia Month. Given these events and other circumstances, I wonder about the proportionality of the riot police's actions and whether maintaining the race layout justified beating those protesting against the presence of the Israeli team cyclists, seeking to provoke the suspension of the race to condemn the massacre in Gaza. I think both sides preferred to take the risk.

On the one hand, the Spanish government, with Pedro Sánchez identifying with the protests, receiving criticism from the Israeli government for "fueling violence," and accepting without great concern the possibility of incidents. On the other hand, the hierarchy of the cycling event, the organizers of "La Vuelta", the president of Madrid and the mayor of the capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, decided that nothing should be done despite the existing social climate, fueled by the continuous images of the Palestinian civilian population between life and death in the middle of mountains about to enter Gaza City.

When Aznar defended a fair peace

In that context, Feijóo's statement on the afternoon of September 14th was pitiful. He said he did not agree with "the response that the Israeli government is giving to the terrorist attacks they have suffered," but added that "the kidnapping and murder of innocent Israelis cannot be answered with more civilian losses of Palestinian origin." Civilian losses! he said. What an unfortunate search for a supposedly neat language, without connotations of reproach. As if that were not enough, Aznar visited his foundation, FAES, on Wednesday the 17th and said that "if Israel were to lose, what it is doing would be putting the Western world on the brink of total defeat." "What it is doing," he said to describe the massacre. A stark contrast to the content and general tone of his visit to Israel in June 1998. They are selling me many memories now. During the Felipe González and José María Aznar administrations, he was in charge of The Vanguard of the Spanish government's information, and now I feel disappointed by what I've heard them say these days. On June 29, 1998, Aznar held a press conference with Netanyahu in which he expressed his support "for the peace process and the search for a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace for all."

I still have the transcript of that appearance, and the Spanish president grew tired of uttering the word peace, while the Israeli prime minister stressed that what prevented an agreement with the Palestinians was their refusal to "fulfill their commitments." Three years earlier, on another visit, in June 1995, Aznar strolled with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, holding hands, gazing at the sea, where Trump now wants to build a tourist resort, and expressing fervent wishes for peace. And in August 2000, Aznar told Arafat at the Moncloa Palace that both Spain and the European Union would recognize the Palestinian state "when it is proclaimed." That same day, the Palestinian leader ordered an investigation into the death of three Israeli soldiers while trying to arrest the Hamas military leader in a West Bank village.

After Arafat's death in 2004—and, in fact, before—many things went from bad to worse. Now we hear Felipe González say that the question we should ask Hamas "if we don't want children and women to be killed, is: why not release the Israeli hostages?" The Palestinian terrorist attack of October 7, 2023, with 1,400 dead and 252 hostages, is a monstrous criminal act that should never have happened. Now, does the former Spanish president really believe that Netanyahu would back down on the release of the hostages who are still alive? And as for Aznar, he also said this week that "transforming domestic policies into foreign policies is absurd." And isn't this, also expressed in reverse, what almost always happens in Spain?