Barcelona Breaks ‘Friendship Agreement’ with Tel Aviv Over Gaza War
Barcelona City Council voted Friday to sever institutional ties with the Israeli government and suspend its friendship agreement with Tel Aviv, citing violations of international law and the need to uphold the basic rights of the Palestinian people.
The motion, which includes nearly 20 provisions, was backed by the ruling Socialist party along with far-left and leftist pro-independence groups.
It calls for an end to all official relations with Israel “until respect for international law” and the “basic rights of the Palestinian people” are restored.
Barcelona will also suspend a 1998 friendship agreement with Tel Aviv-Jaffa.
“The suffering and death in Gaza over the past year and a half, and recent attacks by the Israeli government, make any relationship unviable,” Barcelona’s Mayor Jaume Collboni said during the council session, according to AFP.
Among other symbolic measures, the City Council urged the trade fair organizer Fira de Barcelona not to host Israeli government pavilions or companies involved in the arms trade or profiting from the conflict in Gaza.
