Congress will study excluding anti-Semitic groups from grants and public tenders

The Vox spokespersons in the Madrid Assembly, Rocío Monasterio, and the PP spokesperson, Alfonso Serrano, while attending the debate from the Congress tribune.A.

Pérez Meca (Europa Press)

Spreading anti-Semitic ideas can be grounds for excluding entities and individuals from receiving public subsidies or from participating in contracts with the Administration.

The proposal came from the Madrid Assembly, and Congress agreed on Tuesday to process it, despite some reluctance shown by leftist groups.

The PSOE decided not to block it, while United We Can rejected it, considering that it is only a ploy to penalize NGOs and social entities that support the Palestinian cause.

The laws in force already contemplate that groups that justify “hatred or violence against natural or legal persons” are prohibited from receiving subsidies or participating in public competitions.

The proposal promoted by the right in the Madrid Assembly proposes to expressly include anti-Semitism among these causes.

The text presents a very broad definition of antisemitism.

Not only the denial of the genocide or the promotion of hatred against that people.

Also "denying the Jews their right to self-determination" or "applying a double standard by asking Israel for behavior neither expected nor required of any other democratic country."

The initiative was defended before Congress by two Madrid deputies, Almudena Negro, from the PP, and Pablo Gutiérrez de Cabiedes, from Vox, who, in addition to recalling the persecution of Jews, dedicated themselves to accusing the left of defending anti-Semitic positions.

More nuanced was the intervention of the popular group in Congress.

His deputy Pilar Marcos addressed the PSOE to ask it to admit discussing the proposal and appealed to the initiatives that the Socialists have promoted over the years in order to recognize the Jewish community.

Marcos focused her criticism on "a certain left" that, according to her, "hides anti-Semitism under the cloak of anti-Zionism."

The only frontal opposition to the initiative came from United We Can.

"No one in their right mind can but condemn anti-Semitism," said his deputy Antón Gómez-Reino, who, however, defended that this is not the ultimate purpose of the initiative.

Gómez-Reino insinuated that the text has been inspired by the Israeli Embassy and that its real objective is "to cut off the financing of NGOs and associations that denounce the violation of human rights on Palestinian land."

The UP deputy made the right wing ugly when he raised that proposal while he maintains a street in Madrid dedicated to the Blue Division, the fighters sent by Franco in support of Nazi Germany in World War II.