The Israeli government announced that it has summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Spanish Embassy in Tel Aviv, Francisca Pedrós Carretero, over the burning of a 7-metre effigy of Benjamin Netanyahu.
This occurred during village fiestas on the 5th of last month in El Burgo in the province of Málaga.
“This regrettable display of antisemitic hatred is a direct consequence of the incitement by Pedro Sánchez’s government,” the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in a post on social media.
He went on to say, “Even now, the Spanish government remains silent. The Spanish chargé d’affaires has been summoned for a reprimand,” it added.
OK, this event in El Burgo is part of the ‘Burning of Judas’ tradition, in which every Easter Sunday an effigy of someone representing ‘evil’ is burnt.
Netanyahu was chosen by the Town Council and accordingly the Netanyahu figure was blown up with nearly 14 kilogrammes of gunpowder and firecrackers to the sound of applause.
The Town Council explained the decision as an expression of “No to war” or “Stop the genocide,” referring to the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Mayor Narváez said, “The controversy that has been generated is incredible,” pointing out that this decades-old tradition had gone international. She concluded, “We are more concerned about the murder of children in Gaza.”
Netanyahu joins other ‘victims’ such as ‘macho violence’ (domestic abuse), paedophilia, corruption, and terrorism,” the mayor noted.
“Here, everything bad is burned after Holy Week so that on Easter Sunday, what is good may be resurrected,” she explained, concluding, “It surprises us that they are more concerned about the burning of a effigy than the murder of civilians and children in Gaza.”
The burning of symbolic figures is a widespread tradition in Spain, most notably seen in the Fallas of Valencia, where satirical constructions representing public figures from all walks of life are burned annually. As for Britain, we still burn Guy Fawkers each 5th of November.
Editorial comment: it is completely ridiculous that the merest criticism of what Israel is doing is met with accusations of antisemitism. In fact, Israeli actions can be considered antisemitic given the damage they are doing to Israel.
(News: El Burgos, Malaga, Andalucia)
Keywords: Burning Netanyahu, Easter Tradition, Guy Fawkes, Israel, Criticism
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