July 28, 2014 — New York, New York
AJC is appalled by the antisemitic, threatening op-ed that renowned Spanish writer Antonio Gala wrote in El Mundo.
“Shame on Antonio Gala and shame on El Mundo for publishing his antisemitic screed,” said Dina Siegal Vann, Director of AJC’s Latino and Latin American Institute.
In his op-ed, Gala cites the current war in between Israel and Hamas in Gaza as justification for the expulsion of Jews from Spain in the 15th and 16th centuries.
“The Jewish People could have done much good for mankind” but “it is a thought they were not made to coexist,” writes Gala.
“It’s not strange that they have been so frequently expelled,” Gala continues. "What is surprising is that they persist….Now you have to suffer their abuses in Gaza.”
The Jewish community of Madrid, which is a member of Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain (FICE), has vowed to file a complaint against Gala for violating a Spanish law prohibiting antisemitic hate speech. FICE is an international partner of AJC.
“AJC wholeheartedly supports the Spanish Jewish community as they are forced to confront this muck,” said Siegel Vann. “In the current environment across Europe, Gala’s scurrilous invectives are not only hurtful, but are downright dangerous.”
