Spaniards protest arms trade with 'Israel', call for ceasefire

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
22 Apr 2024 08:36
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In Madrid, thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators have called on the government to halt arms sales to "Israel", urging an immediate ceasefire.

Pro-Palestinian protesters march in Madrid on Sunday, April 21, 2024. (X)

As the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinians persists, thousands of pro-Palestinians marched in Madrid on Sunday urging the Spanish government to cease its arms sales to "Israel", pressing for an immediate ceasefire and the liberation of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

Protester Carlos Calamita, as quoted by AP, said, “You can stop selling arms to Israel, [and impose] economic boycott. Peacefully you can do many things to force ... Israel to change its attitude.”

The demonstration was led by a massive Palestinian flag and a balloon shaped like a zeppelin bearing the slogan: "End the arms trade with Israel."

Community members in Vallekas in Madrid showed up yesterday to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/UbeW6OQRfy
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) April 21, 2024

“We demand that the government put an end to the arms trade with Israel. If European governments and the United States would stop selling arms to Israel in only three days, it would no longer have ammunition to kill the Palestinian civilian population,” another pro-Palestinian activist said, as quoted by AP.

Spain's lies about ending arms to 'Israel' exposed; data speak volumes

Data from the official foreign trade portal Comex, analyzed by Center Delàs researcher Alejandro Pozo and verified by elDiario.es, revealed on February 12 that Spain exported weapons to "Israel" worth 987,000 euros.

At the time, the Spanish government's transparency regarding its arms sales to the Israeli occupation had come into question, as reported by the Spanish website elDiario.es.

In further detail, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, assured in parliamentary headquarters on December 5 that Spanish weapons had not been exported to "Israel" since October 7 and reiterated his claim on January 29 in the Foreign Affairs Commission of Congress.

According to data on the official foreign trade portal Comex analyzed by Center Delàs researcher Alejandro Pozo and verified by elDiario.es, Spain exported weapons to "Israel" worth 987,000 euros.

Specifically, goods were exported corresponding to a subcategory that includes “bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles, cartridges and other ammunition and projectiles, and their parts, including slugs, shots, and wads for cartridges” to be used as “weapons of war."

The Secretary of State for Commerce has assured that these exports were for licenses issued before October 7 and that they contain "material for tests or demonstrations, in no case for final use or capable of being used in the conflict."

Spain exported a total of 1.48 million euros in war material of that category during 2023. Two-thirds of these imports were made in November after Spain had allegedly frozen shipments due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which to date has killed at least 34,097, with 76,980 injured since October 7.