Court suspends anti-Israel boycott in northern Spanish city - again

Castrillón adopted ‘free spaces from Israel apartheid’ designation.

By TAMARA ZIEVE
Updated: JANUARY 8, 2018 01:54
Playa de Salinas, Castrillón, Spain (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Playa de Salinas, Castrillón, Spain
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
A Spanish district court in Oviedo, Spain, has suspended a city council’s anti-Israel boycott, according to a statement from the nonprofit Lawfare Project organization.
The court issued a writ of interim injunction against the city council of Castrillón for its discriminatory boycott of Israeli products about a half-year after it issued a similar one against the same local government.
The council had adopted a “free spaces from Israel apartheid” designation and ordered the restriction of public procurement and municipal relations with Israeli institutions, companies, organizations or entities that might benefit from such trade.
A public law court suspended the boycott in June 2017, but according to the Lawfare Project, the city council “decided to revoke its own boycott and write a new piece of boycott legislation that would theoretically be impervious to legal challenges.”
The decision came shortly after another court in Barcelona struck down a boycott provision passed by the city council of El Prat de Llobregat, stating the boycott was in breach of free speech and the academic freedom of individuals targeted by the campaign.
The Lawfare Project’s Spanish counsel, Ignacio Wenley Palacios, has secured a total of 46 writs of injunction and decisions against the boycott campaign across Spain.
The Lawfare Project is a US-based think tank and litigation fund that strives to protect the civil and human rights of pro-Israel and Jewish communities around the world.
The organization has established a court doctrine in Spain, based on compliance with human rights and international law, against boycotts by transnational corporations.
“The Spanish courts have supported our legal reasoning that boycotts of Israel infringe on human rights, violate free speech and are tantamount to discrimination on account of national origin and personal opinions,” said Wenley Palacios. “The city council of Castrillón passed this boycott with the notion that it would be impervious to legal challenges. We have proven them wrong.”
“The Lawfare Project stands on the front lines fighting against discrimination targeting Jews and Israelis. We will not rest as long as any organization attempts to legalize antisemitic policies, whether it’s a local government or an international airline company,” said Brooke Goldstein, executive director of the Lawfare Project. “We will continue to stand up in defense of the freedoms and liberties of every individual and to advance justice for the pro-Israel community.”
A week ago, a court in Gran Canaria also issued a decision declaring a boycott against Israel passed by the city council there illegal. That followed legal proceedings filed by ACOM, a pro-Israel organization that combats the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in Spain.