We Support BDS Unless It Affects Us In Any Way

By Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Kingdom of Spain

Madrid, January 7 – In September, my government passed – and the parliament ratified – a new law that bars Spanish firms from supporting the genocidal apartheid regime in Israel, mandating a boycott of any products from that country, because we take a firm stand for human rights, unless those human rights aren’t quite as important as jobs in Spain, which is why we included in the new law a protocol for dispensations to circumvent it, lest it materially affect the economy and go beyond performative moralism.

Thus, last week, Airbus Industries received approval to continue importing parts from Israel, because Airbus accounts for sixty percent of Spain’s aerospace exports and employs 14,000 people, whose employment is clearly of greater value than those of Palestinians, who, as you might recall, according to our own pronouncements are the victims of an ongoing genocide that must be stopped by whatever legal means necessary, such as this boycott. Unless we lose jobs because of it.

Palestinian lives matter. Our screens and newspapers have been full of images of suffering Palestinians for the last two years. No feeling, ethical human can ignore them. The marches, the resolutions, the rallies – the world demanded that governments take action, and that is precisely what my government did. Except insofar as putting anything of actual value on the line to demonstrate our genuine commitment to helping the victims of Zionist genocide.

There are moral realities and there are political realities. Sometimes they align; the people demanded action, and we took action. The people also demand jobs. Do Palestinians vote in Spain’s elections? No, and therefore we give greater weight to our people’s economic well-being than any Palestinian’s actual being. Or being for very long.

Virtue signaling is free (for now, but keep an eye on Brussels), but actual sacrifice is expensive. The Spanish people march in the hundreds of thousands for Palestine, and we applaud them from the balconies of Moncloa. But those same people expect steady jobs, affordable flights, and a growing economy. They do not want to pay higher taxes to subsidize the replacement of Israeli tech, nor do they wish to see factories close in Andalusia or Catalonia.

This is progressive governance in the 21st century: we stand resolutely for justice abroad, provided it does not inconvenience us at home. We condemn genocide with passion, but not at the cost of a single constituency’s votes.

Because we take a stand for morality.

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