Reuters reports:
Spain's foreign minister condemned as "scandalous and execrable" a video posted by his Israeli counterpart suggesting Hamas would be grateful to Spain, in a growing spat between the two countries over the Gaza war.Spain last week announced it would recognise Palestine as a state and in recent days two Spanish government ministers referred to a genocide in Gaza.A short video posted by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on the social media platform X on Sunday says "Hamas: Gracias España" ("Hamas: Thanks Spain").The video shows the Spanish flag then a couple dancing to flamenco music. Film of Hamas fighters is interspersed including people fleeing during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that triggered Israel's military campaign in Gaza."We are not going to fall into provocations. The video is scandalous and execrable," Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told a news conference in Brussels.
The video is indeed provocative. But it is far less outrageous than Spain's actual recognition of "Palestine" in the wake of October 7, as well as calling Israel's actions in Gaza a "real genocide" as Spain's defense minister said on Saturday. Spain's condemnation of Hamas in October is rendered meaningless when the only reason that it is now recognizing "Palestine" is Israel's legal actions to destroy Hamas.
But what the media fails to report is that the video's message is also accurate.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated to his Parliament that the decision was not "against Israel, against the Jews or in favor of Hamas." Yet nothing he said was against Hamas at all - he didn't stress that any government of "Palestine" must not include Hamas, he did not include any condemnations of Hamas in his statement, he did not acknowledge that Hamas is holding Gazans hostage as human shields as well as Israelis, he didn't state that Hamas must be destroyed if there is to be any chance for the peace that he claims he wants to see so desperately. If he would have said any of that, then perhaps one could believe that he is just naive in thinking that recognition would help bring peace.
But Hamas listened to what he and the other heads of state said, and didn't find anything objectionable. On the contrary, Hamas felt that this decision was entirely consistent with its own desire to ethnically cleanse Jews from the Middle East.
Hamas really did thank Spain, along with Ireland and Norway.
The Hamas "Government Media Office" wrote:
We welcome the decision of Spain, Norway and Ireland to recognize the Palestinian state, which is a step in the right direction, and we call on all countries of the world to adopt and consolidate this entitlement.We welcome the recognition of the Palestinian state by Spain, Norway, and Ireland, and we affirm that our Palestinian cause is a just cause, as Palestine has been occupied by “Israeli” occupation gangs since 1948 AD, after a terrible historical mistake committed by Britain, followed by the United States of America and other countries.... This recognition came as a result of the enormous sacrifices made by our great Palestinian people during the genocidal war and over the course of long decades of struggle and resistance to the presence of the occupation on our Palestinian land.The historic and bold decision announced today by the countries of Spain, Norway and Ireland is a decision in the right direction, and we call on all countries of the world to recognize the Palestinian state on the grounds that it is an important international entitlement that cannot be bypassed, and that there is no stability in the region except with the end of the occupation, the return of rights to their owners, and the establishment of the Palestinian state with full sovereignty, with Jerusalem as its capital.
In this message, Hamas reiterates that it considers all of Israel to be "occupied" and it threatens more terror attacks until Israel is destroyed.
If Spain had condemned this statement immediately afterwards, then perhaps - perhaps - it could credibly claim that it was not supporting Hamas terror. But its statements, along with those of the other countries, did not mention any abhorrence of Hamas' antisemitic purpose for existing and its genocidal aims.
So in the end, the video posted by Israel Katz may have been impolitic but it is entirely accurate - Hamas did thank Spain, and feels that nothing that Spain said was inconsistent with support for Hamas murder and rape. If the messages from those three countries allows Hamas to thank them, then they should apologize for not clearly condemning Hamas instead of complaining to Israel for pointing out something that is absolutely true.
