The Contentious Administrative Court number 10 of Barcelona has annulled the institutional declaration that the Municipal Plenary approved a year ago by which relations between the Barcelona council and the state of Israel were suspended until there was a definitive ceasefire in Gaza.
The decision was challenged by Action and Communication on the Middle East, an organization that considered that said resolution violated “ideological freedom.” The court has upheld this entity’s appeal and annuls the resolution, which was approved with the votes of the PSC, Comuns and ERC. The City Council has already assured that it will appeal the court’s decision.
The ruling, to which elDiario.es has had access, considers that there are various statements in the municipal resolution that are “contrary to law.” He also assures that the City Council’s agreements “are not a mere innocuous or symbolic decision” and maintains that the council affirms “without any motivation” that Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian territories.
That, for the Court, sends a “clearly negative message, of alienation and hostility against Israel and its citizens, who seem to be considered the guilty party.” Likewise, it considers that the council does not have the powers to adopt agreements on international policy or to modify the legal regime of public procurement.
This last statement refers to a commitment that appeared in the resolution, by which the City Council undertook to draft a clause that would prohibit hiring any company that collaborated with the genocide in Gaza.
This resolution, which the Plenary voted on November 23, 2023, was promoted by the Comuns, and was the latest episode of a controversy that began a few months before. In February 2023, the then mayor Ada Colau already decided to suspend relations with Israel, as well as the twinning with Tel-Aviv. But he did it unilaterally.
Not having the necessary votes to do so, Colau opted for the mayoral decree. This gesture, which, although approved by various civil society entities, aroused rejection among various municipal groups.
In fact, one of the first things Collboni did as mayor was reestablish relations and twinning with Israel. He did it on September 1, but a month later the events of October 7 would take place, which began the war in Gaza. That made the council change its mind, which decided to suspend relations again on November 23. Unlike the first time, on this occasion the decision was put to a vote.
Action and Communication on the Middle East is not the first association that decides to challenge the council’s resolution to cancel ties. The Barcelona Institute Association for Dialogue with Israel already tried it when the initiative came from Colau. But in that case, the court dismissed the appeal.
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