Sánchez could use a lesson on the meaning of ‘ethnic cleansing’
The irony is Spain calling out Israel after the historic expulsion (and worse) of Jews as part of the Inquisition
By Joseph Puder
JNS
Sep 21, 2025
Not long ago, European political leaders were fairly circumspect when it came to criticizing Israel. However, we are now seeing the lifting of that barrier and the allowance of hateful and irrational outbursts that smack of antisemitism. A perfect example of that occurred on Sept. 15, when Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called for Israel to be banned from sports events after pro-Palestinian rioters disrupted the final stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race in Madrid.
Speaking to members of his Socialist Party, he said: “Israel, just like Russia, should not be allowed to compete in international sports because of its military campaign in Gaza.”
This is the same Sánchez who has criticized Israel for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of “exterminating a defenseless people” by bombing hospitals and “killing innocent boys and girls with hunger.” In response to these libelous charges that are replete with falsehoods, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar reminded Sánchez that it was his Catholic nation that committed the ultimate act of “ethnic cleansing.”
Sa’ar wrote, “It’s remarkable that Spain’s current leaders ignore what they did throughout history to the Jewish people. One of the greatest acts of ethnic cleansing in history was the expulsion of all Jews from Spain, not to mention the Inquisition, not to mention the forced conversion of religion. We decided, and I announced today, that we will not allow two Spanish government members to enter Israel, and we will not conduct any contact with them, after their consistent antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric.”
The Spanish prime minister could use a lesson regarding his careless usage of the term “ethnic cleansing.”
“Ethnic cleansing” requires clear intentionality to wipe out a group, a people or a nation. In the case of Nazi Germany, Hitler and the Nazis made that intent clear. The Nazis murdered 6 million Jews and would have murdered the rest of European Jewry and Jews elsewhere if circumstances had provided them with the opportunity.
Spain, in the late 15th century, had the intention of destroying their Jewish community and used the Inquisition to forcibly convert the Jews, through torture, murder and expulsion. Israel, however, never had any intention of harming uninvolved Palestinians in Gaza. In fact, no other army in history has ever circulated flyers and made phone calls to a civilian population to warn them to evacuate a combat zone, often to the detriment of its own soldiers.
A nation (Israel) that is at war with a terrorist organization (Hamas) that gruesomely massacred 1,200 innocent civilians and kidnapped 251 others, does not need to feed and provide medical care to its enemy’s civilians. Most certainly, not if it intends to carry out “ethnic cleansing.” The Allies, during World War II, did not feed or care for German or Japanese civilians while battles were raging. Moreover, in the case of Gaza, Hamas terrorists deliberately use its civilians as human shields, while preventing many of them from getting to safe zones.
The malice and antisemitism displayed by the Spanish prime minister are clearly evident. Earlier this month, Sánchez faced significant backlash for a remark suggesting that Spain’s lack of nuclear weapons limited its ability to stop the Gaza war. The Combat Antisemitism Movement called for an investigation into the comment, saying it is “an aspiration to genocide” and a “dog whistle to extremists.”
Besides formalizing an arms embargo, which the Spanish government says has been in effect since October 2023, Spain will ban ships carrying fuel for Israel’s armed forces from passing through Spanish ports and increase its humanitarian aid toward Gaza in 2026 to reach 150 million euros ($176 million). These measures need to be approved by the country’s parliament. Much of the Spanish aid would go to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), whose organization and employees were implicated in the Oct. 7 murder and kidnapping of Israeli civilians.
Under Sánchez, Spain has been rabidly anti-Israel, even before the Gaza war that Hamas imposed on Israel. Official recognition of a Palestinian state by the Spanish government came in May 2024, but earlier calls for recognition have been part of its diplomatic landscape. The Spanish Parliament voted in favor of recognizing a Palestinian state in November 2014, and Sánchez has been a long-time vocal supporter.
It seems that Sánchez is blinded by his disdain for the Jewish state, as he compares Israel to Russia and calls for Israel to be excluded from competing in international sports. There is, however, a world of difference between Russia’s unprovoked and brutal attack on Ukraine in February 2022 and Israel’s retaliation against Hamas’s unprovoked, monstrous attack on the Jewish state on Oct. 7. Sánchez’s disdain blinds him to the fact that Israel held, and still holds, the moral and judicial right to protect its sovereignty and its people, and to retaliate against any terrorist group that has vowed to “ethnically cleanse” the Jews in Israel.
Israel regrets the loss of innocent Palestinian lives and, unfortunately, in war, the innocent suffer. But genocide, much like ethnic cleansing, needs to have an intentionality. Hamas has declared its intention to destroy Israel, while Israel is committed to ridding Gaza of Hamas by expelling its terror army, not its civilians.
1 comment:
That's because he resents the fact that Christopher Columbus was actually a Jew.
Post a Comment