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After the City Council of Langreo, a town in northern Spain, passed a resolution to boycott Israel as well as any person or company supporting the Jewish state in an effort to make the city “free of Israeli apartheid,” the High Court of the Spanish region of Asturias ruled that a boycott of Israel is illegal.
The High Court of the Spanish region of Asturias last Thursday rejected the appeal of the Langreo Municipality to overturn the decision of a lower court and upheld its original ruling declaring a resolution by the Langreo City Council to boycott Israel illegal.
The High Court ruled that the city’s council lacked legal abilities to declare an international boycott and to alter the European Directive and the country’s law on public procurement.
In addition, the High Court expanded in its ruling on the blatant unconstitutional discrimination and lack of neutrality that such a boycott would represent.
In January, the City Council of Langreo—a town in northern Spain dominated by communist and far-left political parties—passed a resolution to boycott Israel as well as any person or company supporting the Jewish state in an effort to make the city “free of Israeli apartheid.”
ACOM, a pro-Israel organization that combats anti-Israel boycotts in Spain and which sued the Langreo City Council over the declaration, expressed satisfaction over the victory.
“This is the first time a high court has issued a judgement relating to BDS (the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement) in Spain after a number of lower courts have ruled it unlawful throughout the country at the initiative of ACOM, putting an end to the impunity of its activities,” ACOM stated.
In its ruling, the High Court gave validity to ACOM’s anti-boycott legal initiatives, expanding an existing constitutional doctrine on the matter that allows any Jewish individual to sue for defamation against any Jew or Jewish community, and allowing this pro-Israel group to take legal action based on discrimination or slander against Israelis.
Another 35 other cases on boycotts against Israel have been presented so far, and ACOM has won five or six.
“We think that the tide is changing, but it doesn’t prevent this group from presenting more of these declarations,” Angel Mas, chairman of ACOM, said after a lower court ruling in June.
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel
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