Spain’s fight to eradicate antisemitism notched two significant legal victories.
The Supreme Court of Spain ruled that the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel is discriminatory, upholding a lower court decision from a case the Action and Communication on the Middle East (ACOM) brought to nullify “Apartheid Free Zones” established in 2016 by the City Council of Reinosa in Cantabria when it endorsed BDS.
At the same time, the Congress of Deputies, Spain’s parliament lower house of parliament, advanced legislation that would ban organizations engaging in antisemitic activities as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism from receiving public grants and government contracts and subsidies.
The IHRA definition includes instances of anti-Zionism among its examples.
If passed by the Senate, the bill, first proposed by the Assembly of Madrid, will effectively prevent pro-BDS groups from receiving state support.
