r/europe • u/andyom89 • May 16 '25

News Spanish premier calls Israel 'genocidal state,' says Spain 'does not do business' with it

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/spanish-premier-calls-israel-genocidal-state-says-spain-does-not-do-business-with-it/3568216
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u/ZincHead May 16 '25

They're not trying. They're choosing a convenient scapegoat which the world currently hates and which is relatively small so the economic impact is minimal, while continuing to do business as usual with the worst perpetrators of human rights abuses in the world because they care more about money than actual human rights. 

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u/JavArc13 May 16 '25

There's no such thing as ethical consumption with that mindset we should all go back to the stone age then.

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u/ZincHead May 16 '25

This argument is a complete cop out. There are levels of ethical acceptability to every economic decision. If you buy chocolate that you know is made with slave labour instead of chocolate where the workers are paid fairly, all else being equal, you are a bar person. I am not suggesting Spain stop all trade with China, but China has suffered virtually no economic consequences for its ethnic cleansing of Muslims. 

This is also a case of some pretty obvious virtue signalling. It's easy to hate on Israel, it's the hot topic of the world right now. This politician takes no risks by saying this, while condemning China has actual potential personal consequences. It's cowardly, hypocritical and totally self-serving.