Barcelona cuts all ties with Israeli government over ‘repeated human rights violations’

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Barcelona mayor Ada Colau announced late Wednesday that her city was cutting all institutional relations with Israel over “repeated human rights violations of the Palestinian population and non-compliance with United Nations resolutions.”

In an Instagram post, the far-left mayor said she told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the city “will not maintain institutional relations with his government.”

The move to suspend relations includes ending Barcelona’s sister city agreement with Tel Aviv, which was signed in 1998.

Colau said the decision to cut ties with the Israeli government came at the request of more than 100 entities and thousands of Barcelona residents.

The Barcelona mayor added that while the Catalan capital will no longer deal with the Israeli state, it will continue collaborating with Palestinian and Israeli entities “that work for peace and against apartheid.”

The Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain (FCJE) said it “rejects and laments” Barcelona’s decision, which it said was made “without debate” and does not represent Barcelona and its citizens.

“Israel is the only Jewish country in the world. That’s why, in our understanding, this decision has nothing to do with politics, human rights or peace. It has a name, and it’s called ‘Sophisticated Antisemitism,’” said the FCJE in a statement.

In January, the group Prou Complicitat amb Israel (End Complicity with Israel) kicked off the campaign by sending an open letter to Colau, asking her to end Barcelona’s sister city agreement with Tel Aviv.

The letter called the municipal pairing “meaningless in the context of a fierce repression of the Palestinian people (231 people killed in 2022, including 61 children) and ceaseless colonization.”