Words matter. First up from Turkey's state-run Agency, May 15:
Spanish premier calls Israel 'genocidal state,' says Spain 'does not do business' with it
Pedro Sanchez reportedly uses genocidal state term for Israel for 1st time
GENEVA
The Spanish prime minister on Wednesday described Israel as a "genocidal state" and said Spain "does not do business with such a country," marking his strongest language yet on the issue.
During a parliamentary question-and-answer session in Madrid, Pedro Sanchez responded to criticism from Gabriel Rufian, a Catalan member of parliament, who accused the Socialist leader of maintaining trade ties with Israel despite the Gaza war.
"I want to make one thing clear here, Mr. Rufian. We do not do business with a genocidal state, we do not," Sanchez stressed.
"I believe that the other day, from this platform, I explained precisely what we were talking about when some things were mentioned that do not correspond to the truth," he added.
According to the local media report, it was the first time Sanchez publicly used the term "genocidal state" -- a phrase frequently employed by his far-left coalition partner, Sumar.
Sumar leader and Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide and has called for a freeze on trade relations between Spain and Israel.
Combined with Spain's recognition of Palestine as a state in 2024, well here's some of the commentary from around the time of that momentous declaration. From OKDiario, May 31, 2024:
Hasta 2 millones de palestinos podrán pedir asilo en España al acusar el Gobierno a Israel de «genocidio»And a machine translation:
Up to 2 million Palestinians will be able to seek asylum in Spain after the government accuses Israel of "genocide."
A 2020 Supreme Court ruling opens the door for Spain to process asylum applications from any embassy.
A mistake with incalculable consequences. This is how the diplomatic world has understood the fact that Pedro Sánchez 's government has directly pointed the finger at Israel as the perpetrator of a " genocide ." An accusation that has been voiced by both Sumar and PSOE ministers, and which this week the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares , attempted to downplay, asserting that these are " personal opinions " that are in no way official. The Foreign Office has asked the ministers, internally, to stop using the term "genocide": it opens the door for Palestinians living in Gaza—and there are around two million of them across the Strip—to present themselves at a Spanish embassy or consulate to request asylum. And a Supreme Court ruling obliges the Foreign Office, in such cases , to put the person seeking protection on a plane to Spain.
"What is happening in Gaza is a true genocide." That was what Defense Minister Margarita Robles recently stated when asked about the crisis between Spain and Israel and the recognition of Palestine. These statements provoked a new diplomatic clash with Tel Aviv and inflamed the positions of Sumar's partners, whose ministers had already expressed themselves in those—or worse —terms.
However, just two days later, the Foreign Ministry revised the official version of events in Gaza. Albares, following the Council of Ministers meeting and on the same day that Spain officially recognized Palestine , asserted that Robles's words reflected a " personal opinion " that was not necessarily shared by the government. According to OKDIARIO, this public statement had been preceded by a private warning to the ministers not to use the term "genocide" so lightly . This was not out of respect for Israel, since this is a very serious accusation, but because of the legal consequences such a designation could have for Spain.
If Spain officially considers that the systematic elimination or extermination of a human group is taking place in Gaza based on race, religion, or nationality, then, by definition, any person living in Gaza or who has managed to leave can present themselves at the Spanish embassy or consulate in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, or any other country and request asylum urgently. And they must be granted assistance.
The Supreme Court recognizes it
This situation was already recognized in the 2009 Asylum Law, but it was never applied due to the legal loopholes it presented, as diplomatic sources explained to OKDIARIO. However, everything changed with Supreme Court ruling 1327/2020 , which in 2020 recognized the right to asylum for an Iraqi family. In 2016, they had crossed the Mediterranean to Greece, and there they requested asylum at the Spanish embassy, but their application was not even processed. It was considered that they were already safe in Greece.
In its ruling, the Spanish court not only recognized the ambassador's right to respond personally to these requests for international protection, but also stipulated that if it is proven that "his physical integrity is in danger," the government is obligated to send him a plane to Spain to complete the remainder of the process there. That is, first, to secure the asylum seeker, then to assess whether there are grounds for asylum.
In this process, however, the physical risk assessment declared by the asylum seeker remains crucial. In the case of Gaza, these sources explain, "it wouldn't be difficult to prove that someone is fleeing extermination, when even the government itself considers it so." The success of the request, they say, would be assured.....
....MUCH MORE
Looks like a bit of revanchist counter-reconquista for the Iberian peninsula.
