The ‘Gaza Law’, a warning to Netanyahu from the Spanish Congress | Spain
In the United States, the laws are named after the congressman who proposes it, as the Helms-Burton law, which hardened the embargo on Cuba. The reform of the Law on Foreign Trade Control of Defense Material and Double Use of 2007, that the congress voted on Tuesday, it could be called Gaza’s law, not for its proponent but for its recipient. It is a custom -made law for the population of the Gaza Strip, which is being methodically decimated by the Israeli army. Its approval has more political relevance than legal. In the first place, because the admission to process does not assume that the norm will end in the BOE, since there are numerous backgrounds otherwise; And also because, if so, the current text can end up being substantially amended.
Its main novelty is the consecration by law of the automatic embargo on the sale of weapons to countries prosecuted for crimes against humanity in international courts with jurisdiction in Spain, as is the case of the State of Israel before the International Court of Justice of The Hague, Thus ending with the margin of discretion and interpretation of the government now. It is about plugging the cracks for which doubts have been cast about the effective suspension of exports and imports of military material since the current climbing began, committed by the Executive. To clear those doubts between its partners and its own electorate, the PSOE has accessed to support it, despite the unfavorable report of the Ministry of Economy.
Although with the forced foot, the government has only deepened the path that began when, a year ago, it recognized the Palestinian State and became an advance between the large EU countries, serving as a bridge with the call South global, increasingly divorced from the West. Last September, the UN General Assembly approved by overwhelming majority (124 in favor, 14 against and 43 abstentions) a resolution that, among other points, requested the cessation of the transfer to Israel of “weapons, ammunition or related equipment when there are reasonable motives to suspect that they can be used in the occupied territories”. The EU was divided: Spain voted in favor, such as Ireland or France; Hungary and Czech Republic against; and the majority (Germany, Italy, the Netherlands or Poland) abstained.
The General Assembly has no power to impose embargoes, a competence reserved for the Security Council. Therefore, the following month, the representative of Turkey sent a letter to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, signed by 52 states, who requested the adoption of “immediate measures” to cut the shipment of weapons to Israel. Among the signatories there was only one European country, Norway, who recognized the Palestinian State the same day as Ireland and Spain. There were also Latin American countries such as Bolivia and Colombia, which have broken diplomatic relations with the Hebrew State, or Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. But the bulk of the signatories were Arab and Islamic countries, individually or through the Arab League and the Islamic Cooperation Organization, which also subscribed the call.
Precisely, Sanchez attended last weekend as a guest at the Summit of the Arab League in Baghdad (Iraq), Where he met with the president of Palestine, Mahmud Abbas, with whom he will present a proposal for resolution before the General Assembly to demand the end of the blockade to Gaza, which has added to the killings caused by the indiscriminate bombings the silent death caused by a famine used as a gun in the 21st century.
The unbearable horror of the destruction of the strip has led to the fact that The United Kingdom, France and Canada will threaten Benjamín Netanyahu on Monday with « concrete measures » If he did not stop the butcher shop since the head of the Foreign Office, David Lammy, then announced the suspension of the negotiations for a commercial agreement with Israel. EU Foreign Ministers, gathered in Brussels, agreed on Tuesday Check the association agreement with Tel Aviv, such as Spain and Ireland requested a year ago. « The time of the words is over, the time has come for the actions, » said the head of Spanish diplomacy, José Manuel Albares.
One of the actions that EU could adopt is to decree an embargo on weapons to Israel as the Spanish Congress has supported. According to the International Institute for Peace Research in Stockholm (SIPRI), 69% of the weapons sent to Israel in the 2019-23 period provided it with the US; But the second exporter was Germany, with 30%; and the third, Italy, although only with 1%. Romania and the Czech Republic also sell military material, while the Netherlands or the United Kingdom facilitate components of the US F-35 hunting. Spain or Norway deny that they do it, despite the complaints. « All countries that continue to sell weapons to Israel must know that they run the risk of becoming complicit in genocide, » said Amnesty International.
Europe seems to stretch its long nap before an ethnic cleaning that runs in broad daylight in its immediate neighborhood. The British government announced last September the suspension of 30 armament licenses which could be used in the bombings of Gaza and the Spanish Congress now asks for all exports by law. The measures may seem late, shy and even hypocrites, but the message to Israel is increasingly clear: who practices barbarism cannot belong to the Civilized Nations Club.
