Israel shakes up the debate within Junts

BarcelonaThis is not the first time that the Israeli issue has sparked disagreements within Junts. The party has agreed on a position, expressed by spokesperson Josep Rius and secretary general Jordi Turull, but the back-and-forth between the most pro-Palestinian and most pro-Israeli camps has not ceased. Spokesperson Josep Rius said on Monday: "Let the war stop, let there be a permanent ceasefire, let the killing of civilians stop, let the hostages be released, and let these peace negotiations resume so that we can move toward a two-state solution." Turull even called on Sunday "for this genocide to end," "for the parties to talk, for recognition of both states." However, this week, opposing views have also been publicly expressed between Junts MEP Toni Comín and the head of the party's international branch, Joan Maria Piqué, former chief of staff to former President Artur Mas and former collaborator of Carles Puigdemont and former minister Victoria Alsina.

Traditionally, Convergència has been sympathetic to Israel and the resurgence of the Jewish people. However, the Israeli government's current actions in Gaza have changed the landscape. In May, Junts endorsed the arms embargo on Israel "out of a commitment to peace and international law." Sources within the party report that within Junts "there are people with different opinions," but that "everyone is in favor of human rights everywhere" and that "it's a very clear position," which they explain without posturing, a concept that Rius and Jordi Turull himself have used to criticize the flotilla heading to Gaza. How does it stand? "In accordance with what the international community says," the party expresses its rejection "of a war in which civilians are killed" – even occasionally using the concept of genocide – and that it does not use the conflict "ideologically." Regarding the package of measures by Spanish President Pedro Sánchez against Israel, they assure that they will study it.

Comín told Euronews – and reproduced X – that "it is unacceptable" that Germany and Europe in general "make the Palestinian people pay for their historical sins against the Jewish people," defends the sanctions against the Hebrew state for "stopping the genocide," and suspends the agreement by which the Old Continent has been a primary trading partner. The MEP finishes by attacking the "double standard between Gaza and Ukraine" with regard to the action of the European institutions. Piqué responded publicly, out of respect, to the fact that he "deeply disagrees with some points" and responds to them one by one: he asserts that "there is no genocide in Gaza," that the comparison with Nazism is "offensive," and that the absence of sanctions "has nothing to do with the Holocaust." Neus Torbisco, number three on the Junts list in the party's European elections, had also defended pro-Palestinian positions that were strongly contested by the most pro-Israeli sector.

Shock

Comín, who this summer has often published in X against the "genocide" of Israel, explains in conversation with ARA his public interventions, questioned by Piqué: "My statement is focused on the positions of the European institutions and on criticizing their inaction, which is what corresponds to me as a MEP." In the same sense, he explains that his position "is perfectly aligned" with that of the Secretary General, Jordi Turull, that it is "coherent" and that, in fact, it develops the official opinion of Junts with a landing in the institutions of the European Union.

On the other hand, Piqué also emphasizes in a conversation with ARA that "Juntos is an amalgamation of diverse things," but that "Comín's position has not been consulted" and that it does not coincide with that of the party. He asserts that the Juntos members have "the ideal in favor of the position of both states"—that Israel recognizes Palestine and vice versa—and that "Israel has the right to exist and to defend itself from the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023." Furthermore, he sees Israel as "an ally of the independence movement, which can learn a lot from a state built from scratch" and expresses "sympathy toward Israel and Palestine so that it can build a democratic and peaceful country that can coexist with the rest of the region." Therefore, he maintains that "Juntos is one of the few centrist parties with a sufficiently balanced position" that does not take sides with either actor and knows how to distinguish "the good and the negative" of both.

Against the term "genocide," he asserts that this term "is the express intention to exterminate a people," which he says is not the case with Israel. "I have to pedal very hard to explain it internally in the face of the wave of the international context," he comments. Piqué explains that they are working toward a "very distant" scenario of mutual recognition between Palestine and Israel, although he points out that "Hamas seeks to annihilate Israel" and "a large part of the Israeli population does not support this solution, conditioned by the situation following the Hamas attack." "An entire people cannot be punished for the actions of their government," he concludes, because it is "a collective punishment that only occurs with Jews" in a global "anti-Semitic" campaign.

Piqué emphasizes that the party's international branch is working "so that Catalonia is known and recognized" to "defend the interests of Catalonia," which means "having an excellent relationship with Israel and Palestine." He also recalls the historical mirage of Catalanism with Zionism, the trips Mas and Alsina received to Israel and the "good treatment" they received, as well as the academic and research cooperation agreements.