The government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso again criticized the protests against the massacre in Gaza on Friday. Today, by 'politicizing', by not commemorating on their banners 'the 1,400 murdered by Hamas' and ignoring what Israel has contributed 'to science and technology'.
Ayuso believes that the mobilizations respond to the interest of “the usual international movements on the left, which are now becoming strong in the university life of all cities”, and affirms that she is not in favor of the Palestinian state, but that the Spanish government supports its recognition as a 'prize' after the Hamas attacks on October 7.
The president of the Community of Madrid believes that the camps are “politicizing” university campuses and that behind them, in the opinion of the leader of Madrid, “are the same people who abuse everyone's public space to privatize it and to engage in politics'. “Is there anyone who will remember on the banners on the campuses the 1,400 people murdered by Hamas, let alone the women who were mutilated, raped and displayed as trophies for being Jewish-Israeli women? It is nonsense and adding to that takes us back to the worst episodes of the 20th century,” he said.
The president of Madrid, who visited Catalonia for the last day of the election campaign, has acknowledged that what is happening in Gaza is “great” but that it is the fault of “those who spend huge sums of money on weapons instead of caring for their population, instead of providing them with health care and using their own population as a human shield.” He has also regretted the focus on Israeli companies, likening it to “pointing with the Star of David.” “Let's move on from pointing with the Star of David [al] Jew to point out [al] Israeli business to pursue him? “I think it's pointless,” he said.
“I ask myself another question: are they going to remove Einstein from the universities? “Are they going to take away science and technology and everything that Israel contributes?” In a subsequent tweet sharing that intervention, he also stated that “the usual, with their perceived moral superiority, are politicizing the campuses and ignoring everything that Israel and the Jews have contributed to science, technology and the university.”
One advisor compares it to the lack of anti-amnesty protests
The Minister of Education, Science and Universities of the Community of Madrid, Emilio Viciana, has informed the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) that she will protect teachers, researchers and staff of Israeli academic institutions, in compliance with the agreements signed by the regional government. His words come after the Universities decided to sever relations yesterday with Israeli centers not “committed to peace” because of Israel's massacre in Gaza.
This is stated in a letter in which he believes that the CRUE “far” exceeds its powers regarding the statement in which it undertakes to “review and, where necessary, suspend cooperation agreements with Israeli universities and research centers.” “My surprise at the CRUE's selective interest: it is strange that it has not recently spoken out on issues that are much closer to it, and that could be more compromising, such as threats to the rule of law and the separation of powers here, in Spain, in accordance with the Amnesty Law, when so many institutions, professional associations and civil service organizations issued declarations committing themselves to the Constitution and the equality of Spaniards before the law.”