Local Jewish and pro-Israel groups issued statements on Wednesday asserting that Spain, Ireland, and Norway were rewarding Hamas for the October 7 massacre by announcing that they would formally recognize a Palestinian state next week.
Action and Communication on the Middle East (ACOM) said that the move to recognize “fiction” was Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s “latest ploy” to distract from corruption in his government. David Hatchwell Altaras, former president of the Jewish Community of Madrid and co-founder of ACOM and the Hispanic Jewish Foundation, concurred, telling The Jerusalem Post that Sanchez was refocusing international media attention to avoid inquiries into scandals with his party and associates.Sanchez’s decision rewards “terrorists who committed an unspeakable massacre and do not want their own state but the destruction of the only Jewish state,” said ACOM. “History must remember the context in which this barbarity has occurred, and the opposition must make it clear that as soon as it comes to power, it will reverse the decision on a false state that does not have a single elected or legitimate government, does not have recognized borders nor with any institutions of any kind that can ensure that it does not become another failed state in the hands of bloodthirsty jihadists.”
'Rewarding the October 7 attack'
Hatchwell Altaras said Sanchez “decided unilaterally to reward the October 7th genocidal attack by recognizing a state whose population does not recognize its borders and whose priority number one is to obliterate its neighbors.”
“Hamas must not rule any territory any longer and the PA that has supported the genocidal attack has no moral authority to lead a future independent Palestinian state,” said Hatchwell Altaras. “Hamas must be defeated, Gaza must be ‘denazified’ of radicalism, and the PA must show it’s bona fide by fundamentally changing its education programs and financial reward system that incite violence in Palestinian society, and accept the end of the conflict.”
ACOM warned that the announcement would damage Spain’s reputation with other Western democracies and that it was a simplistic solution to a complicated geopolitical conflict at a time when a Western ally was fighting a defensive war against terrorists and Iran.
Hatchwell Altaras asserted that Sanzhez’s coalition, not Spain, made the decision. ACOM contended that the decision went against the wishes of the Spanish parliament, given that the last consultation on the matter took place a decade ago.
AT THE inauguration of Irish Chief Rabbi Yoni Weider on Tuesday, Jewish Representative Council of Ireland Chair Maurice Cohen said that rewarding the “greatest single atrocity on Jewish people since the Shoah” was an act of “pure folly.”
“Rewarding bad behavior only reinforces it so that the perpetrator commits the deed once more, only with greater force and vigor,” said Cohen. “It undermines the principles of peace and justice and poses a significant threat to the stability and security of the region.”Ireland Israel Alliance founder and executive director Jackie Goodall said in a statement on Wednesday that a mere seven months after Hamas’s October 7 pogrom, Irish political leaders had “decided the reward for Palestinian terrorism should be a state.”The decision was part of a pattern of behavior by Irish leaders in response to October 7, according to Goodall. Government parties had said that the Israeli ambassador was not welcome to party conferences. At the same time, the Israeli embassy experienced threats and security incidents. Irish leaders were fanning the flames of “hate and violence in Irish society as synagogues had to implement increased security measures and Israelis and Jews were fearful of showing signs of their identity.“This marks a persistent pattern in the Irish political response to October 7th, from UNWRA’s links with Hamas to saying Irish-Israeli citizen Emily Hand had been ‘lost and found’, to ongoing efforts by the IDF to rescue the hostages, demonize Israel, and deny Palestinian responsibility for their own terrorism. This latest escalation is not the end, and there will undoubtedly be further provocations to come – until sense returns or the cord linking Dublin and Jerusalem is finally severed,” said Goodall. “Where is the voice of moderation in Irish politics? Who will raise the plight of the hostages? Who will challenge the rise in antisemitism? Who will refuse to support Palestinian terror?”“It is our place in Ireland to show the world how we created peace in Northern Ireland by making sure all sides sat down at the same table and worked out their own peace deal without any impositions from foreign governments,” Cohen noted.An Israel solidarity march is set to be held on Sunday in Dublin, where the new Irish chief rabbi will speak on behalf of the local Jewish community.Med Israel for Fred (MIFF) CEO Conrad Myrland, whose Scandinavian organization has over 14,000 members in Norway, said the decision was a “huge mistake.”“The government has thrown Israel under the bus after 7 October, but Israelis should know that Israel also has many friends in Norway,” said Myrland. “We will work to rebuild the relations and bring Norwegian Middle East policy back in touch with reality.”On social media, the European Jewish Congress shared novelist Salman Rushdie’s warning that if there is a Palestinian state, Hamas would make it a “Taliban-like” Iranian client state.Hatchwell Altaras said that Norway, Spain, and Ireland were “accomplices to the lack of a solution to the conflict.”