Debate contributions by Jaume ASENS LLODRÀ

Mr President, Vice-President Kallas, you spoke about the Russian threat, but, on the United States, you simply said that we have a disagreement and that NATO must be strengthened. That the United States threatens us with an invasion is more than a disagreement, and with respect to NATO we have been arguing for years about whether it is useful to protect us from an external threat, and now we discover that the real threat comes from within, from its main partner. What good is Article 5 of the Treaty in these circumstances, if the United States has also said that it will not defend us if Russia attacks us? We are alone, and the sooner we become aware of it, the sooner we can react. Merkel already said it in Trump's first term: The United States is not a reliable partner. It is the time of independence; Until we have strategic autonomy, until we are militarily autonomous from the United States, we will continue at the mercy of their blackmail and humiliation.

Mr President, Mrs Kallas, Greenland and Canada is not an isolated provocation, it is not an eccentricity of a madman. The world has changed for a long time and we have been telling you. We saw it with this genocide that has been in Gaza for more than two years and we read it in the security strategy of the United States. There we are no longer an ally, we are the enemy to beat. Canada has said it will defend with Greenland weapons and what do we do?: a warm statement of support for Greenland. Measures must be put on the table to be credible, such as suspending the tariff trade agreement imposed on us by Trump; For example, ask ourselves if we should stop using the dollar as a reference currency or approach China. But, for that, it takes political will, stop being subjects and identify Trump's allies in Europe. Vox in Spain has not yet said anything because he prefers to defend the reactionary international than to defend his country. But the rest of us are risking our existence, the future of Europe: Either we unite or we sink separately.

Mr President, Commissioner, the democratic shields in Spain are falling apart. This Friday, coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the death of dictator Franco, some neo-Franco judges that the Popular Party says it controls from behind have charged the attorney general of the State. Do you know why? For leaking the truth and dismantling a false news of the couple of the president of the Popular Party in Madrid, a confessed criminal. And that happens because in Spain, unlike Italy and Germany, there has not been a real democratic rupture. The dictator died in bed. And it's true: The Francoists accepted elections and formed a party, which is called the Popular Party, but in exchange for keeping intact the structures of the Francoist state and the king and leaving the crimes of the dictatorship unpunished. That's why the only one tried was Judge Garzon for trying to investigate them. And now they use these structures to persecute judges, prosecutors and legitimate governments, because they believe that power is theirs and you in Europe cannot look the other way, as you did during the Franco dictatorship. Europe has looked for many years at what was happening in Spain. They have to get their hands on what is happening in Spain, because it cannot be that the right hijacks the judicial dome.

Madam President, Madam President of the Commission, since the so-called 'truce', more than 240 people in Gaza have been killed by Israel, 600 people have been injured and illegal settlements and attacks by armed settlers are growing in the West Bank. In one month there have been more than 2,300 attacks, terrorist attacks that go unpunished. Tonight a mosque has been set on fire. And Mrs von der Leyen in her speech today has not made a single mention of that, because she wants us to forget what is happening there, she wants us to forget European complicity, she wants us to forget that we continue to fail to comply with the resolutions of the international courts of justice and that we continue to maintain a totally illegal, criminal trade agreement, and that we continue to sell them weapons, and therefore we remain responsible for the policy of apartheid, of colonial extermination and ethnic cleansing practiced by Netanyahu. But we will continue to remind you that you are responsible, not only morally, but also politically and criminally for what happens there.

Mr President, Commissioner, the indiscriminate killings in both Sudan and Palestine are challenging us and have to do not only with Israel and the United Arab Emirates, but also with us. Where do you think the gold the UAE exports to Europe comes from, if it doesn't have mines? It comes from the looting of Sudan by the militias who commit these atrocities. And who is behind those militias? Who puts them together? Israel and the United Arab Emirates. In an obscene circle, Sudan's gold serves to grease the genocide in Palestine, but also that of Sudan. And we are no strangers to that neocolonial gear, because instead of sanctioning Israel and the United Arab Emirates, we have preferential agreements of all kinds with them and sell them the weapons that then end up in the hands of the same militia. If we do not want to continue with our hands stained with blood, we must break with that circle of blood and impunity.

Mr President, any attack on press freedom must always be condemned, and it is always – our solidarity with Sigfrido Ranucci – but we must be consistent. We have been talking about this case for an hour and have not spent a single minute – now or ever – on the biggest attack on press freedom in contemporary history: that which occurs in Gaza. One hundred and fifty journalists killed. That also has to do with us, because when a journalist is murdered, citizens' right to information, Europe's right to know the truth, is being denied. And it also has to do with us because what happens in Gaza has to do with the weapons and the money we give to our ally: Israel. Therefore, our solidarity with Siegfried Ranucci, but also with all the journalists who are attacked, and even killed, many of them thanks to our support.

Mr President, today Mrs Ursula von der Leyen spoke of European independence, while turning Europe into a colony of Trump's new imperial order, subordinated to the military, technological and energy interests of the United States. And he did so by quoting Simone Veil, the symbol of anti-fascism and the Europe of "never again"; That symbol and commitment of non-repetition that is buried in the ruins of the Gaza ghetto, where we have killed between 10% and 30%. And I say "we have", because it has been with our weapons, with our money. It's okay to remember Simone Veil; But it is also good to remember another Frenchwoman, Simone Weil, who said that Europe would not be independent until its colonial gaze was removed and it did not respect the peoples. And we're not doing that. We therefore need more moral coherence.

Mr President, Commissioner, today we cannot talk about the European police model without talking about what is happening on our streets. And let me remind you of an ephemeris: On a day like today, in 1971, in Paris, hundreds of demonstrators against colonialism in Algeria were arrested, killed, tortured. And this has not been recognized by France until last year. That has to do with our vision of security, a vision marked by our colonial mentality. Now it is not so much Algeria, but it is Palestine, and we see it in Britain's Anti-Terrorism Act, which associates solidarity with Palestine with terrorism. And we see it in the Madrid of Ayuso, of the Popular Party, which pursues Palestinian symbols because it believes that it is a security problem. And we see it also in Berlin, in Budapest, when demonstrations are banned or dissolved for security reasons. And we saw it last week when a group of women were fined for carrying a Palestinian flag. Today we cannot talk about security without talking about that colonial mentality that is still present in our European police model.

Mr President, Commissioner, let us tell the truth: Trump's plan is the victory of the new imperial order built on the ashes of the Palestinian holocaust, and it will not even be fulfilled in what is positive, as we have already warned. Israel signed a ceasefire and, the next day, was bombing Gaza – and there are already 100 bombings, more than 100 dead; Israel signed on to allow humanitarian aid and, by the third day, was already preventing it; Israel signed off on withdrawing from Gaza and, on the fourth day, one of its ministers was already saying he would put illegal settlements there. Does anyone really believe that Israel is going to withdraw from Gaza? Does anyone really believe that Israel is going to stop? Will it stop with its program of ethnic cleansing, racial supremacism? To believe that is not to know the project of Zionism. Israel will not stop until the United States and Europe stop supporting it. Israel will not stop until it is defeated politically and militarily, as was the case with Hitler's Germany.

Mr President, Commissioner, the European Union – you – have just signed an agreement with Morocco that includes natural resources from Western Sahara. That is precisely what is prohibited not only by the UN, but by the Court of Justice of the European Union. How can we disobey our own courts? That Court had said that Western Sahara did not belong to Morocco, and the resolutions must be respected. The same goes for Palestine: We ignore what the courts say in the conflict and not only do we not sanction and isolate the occupying force, but we also maintain military and trade agreements. Partial suspension should be debated, and not even that. With what legitimacy are we then going to ask Trump not to invade Greenland or Putin not to invade Ukraine if we are defending the invasion of other countries? What is worth to Ukraine must be worth to the Sahara and to Palestine; The opposite is hypocrisy, hypocrisy that destroys the soul and legitimacy of Europe.

Madam President, it's been four hours. Four hours talking about how to protect the European territory, about possible threats from Russia. But not a single minute on the real attacks that are taking place on European territory, against European citizens. Just this morning, a European Freedom Flotilla ship carrying humanitarian aid was attacked. And that, in international law, is European territory. With Russia, the armored skies. With Israel, we close our eyes and keep sending weapons. Weapons they use against our citizens. This is a double standard. And here, not a word of condemnation. You can't even discuss it. If we talk about the threats that European citizens face on European territory, let us talk about all the threats. Because this threat is real. It has happened this morning, and the crew members have been kidnapped and will surely be tortured, as happened last week. Please, let's talk about that too.

Mr President, ladies and gentlemen of the People's Party, no lesson in anti-Semitism or Judeophobia, because the Palestinians are also Semites. We are the political children of those with the Jews who fight against Nazism and fascism. You are the political children of those who persecuted you and wanted you out. That is why they allied themselves with the Zionists, because they also had the same goal. And of course, they don't seem to hate Jews anymore. Orbán, for example. But the problem is not that they have stopped hating the Jews, it is that they hate the Muslims more and that is why they have allied themselves with Israel. Because as the German Chancellor said: Israel does the dirty work of the West. And you, when you confuse what Israel does with Judeophobia, are doing the Jews a disservice. Because there are many Jews who are critical of what Israel does. Primo Levi himself, Jean Améry, victims of the Holocaust, Jews who criticized Israel for what it did to Palestine. According to you, they would hate the Jews, they would hate themselves. Stop mixing the concepts, because they are promoting Judeophobia and offending the real victims of it.

Madam President, Commissioner, this is not a peace plan, this is a business plan of Trump, his son-in-law, his friends... to turn Gaza after a genocide into what appeared in your macabre video: in a theme park, in a luxury resort. Behind all extermination, there is always a business plan; Hamas is an excuse. And for this plan to be viable, cheap labour – slave labour, if possible – is needed. And hence the ultimatum to the survivors of the Gaza ghetto: Or you will obey or be wiped off the map. That's the same language of colonial empires or totalitarian regimes like Nazism. But we, ladies and gentlemen of the Socialist Party, have to defend the law, the courts of justice, the United Nations. No plan is legitimate if it arises from the impunity of occupation and extermination. No justice is legitimate without rights, justice and reparation, and that starts with executing the international arrest warrant against Netanyahu. The other thing? Go back to our neocolonial past and give us the spoils, which is what you propose. As, of course, we have laid half the bombs, we have participated in this genocide ... because now they claim their share. This is an embarrassment.

Madam President, I'm going to read you something: I asked them for my heart medication. They looked at me and answered: You're not a person, you're an animal. And animals don't need medicine. This is the testimony of one of the detainees following the Israeli boarding of the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters. Like this there are dozens and dozens of Europeans, who were on European ships, and who were kidnapped and then beaten, tortured and humiliated in Israeli prisons for doing what Europe and its governments should have done: a humanitarian corridor to save lives. And what has Ursula von der Leyen done in the face of these crimes? Protecting European citizens, the victims? No. As always, stand by the executioners, the torturers, Israel. What a shame! But know that we will not resign ourselves. That behind each flotilla comes another flotilla. Right now there's one 230 miles from Gaza. Because what we are playing there is not only the future of an entire people. It is the future of humanity.

Mr. President, Israel has released a video of its naval attacks threatening the Global Sumud Flotilla and saying it will treat its crew as terrorists. There are Europeans on those ships. It is sailed with flags of European countries. To attack them is to attack Europe and that is why the question is clear: What will this Parliament do? What about Ursula von der Leyen? Will governments protect citizens or will they continue to maintain their complicit silence? If it had been Putin, here today there would have already been a condemnation and perhaps warships to protect the citizens. But that's not going to happen. And you know why? Because this genocide is Europe's responsibility. Half of the bombs that fall in Gaza are European. And the Palestinians, because they are not white, don't give a damn. And those who help them too, because they remind them of what they should do and don't do: try to save lives and stop being accomplices. But I give you some advice: do not relax, because at any time we organize a world 15M.

Madam President, in a few years the new generations are going to ask us what we did while a live genocide was taking place in Gaza. I do know what I did. And you, Commissioner, Mrs Kallas, Mrs von der Leyen? You put yourself in the profile, next to the executioners, and the resolutions of the courts of international justice bounce you in the conscience like peas against a steel helmet, leaving no trace. It is true that the more than 60 000 killed in Gaza – and those to come – cannot be raised to point fingers at them; But I can, you and the governments that keep giving money and weapons to grease Israel's extermination machine. Today in Spain a complaint has been admitted against Netanyahu for the violent assault on the Freedom Flotilla. There are many of us – and I am proud to be a lawyer – who will not stop until those responsible have to answer to justice and to history. And you're on that list.

Madam President, it is unbearable, it is unbearable to continue to see scenes of extermination in Gaza every day and for Mrs von der Leyen to continue talking about war and side with Israel. Letting a child die of hunger, a bombardment of a cafeteria on a children's birthday or an ambulance: That's not an act of war, it's a crime of genocide. Shooting someone in a queue for some bread: that's not an accident, it's part of a protocol; This has been acknowledged by the Israeli soldiers themselves. Mrs von der Leyen does not see him because he is complicit, because he confronts him with his colonial prejudices in white, because he confronts him with his insensitivity in the face of a horror that reminds us of scenes that happened in his country during Nazi Germany. As then, there is a country that blindly follows a leader, Netanyahu, again for racial supremacy, to build an ethnically pure state. But now we can't say we didn't know: We see it live. We can't even say we don't participate, because we carry the guns and the money to make that happen, and that's why we have blood on our hands, like Netanyahu.

Mr. President, for the People's Party to come here today to talk about corruption is like, I don't know, Netanyahu talking about pacifism. You, who are those of "the Prosecutor's Office tunes you", who created the "patriotic police" to persecute adversaries, the sewers to illegally finance themselves and rigged elections, you who have been qualified by the courts and the police as a criminal organization. If they have more than three hundred accused or convicted of corruption: They could build a prison only with those of the People's Party. You have no legitimacy. We do, because we were born to fight against their corruption and that of the Socialist Party and in ten years we have not a single case of corruption. And from that legitimacy we can say that the Socialist Party is not just rotten apples or an isolated case. It is part of the same culture of power that it shares with the Popular Party: the bipartisanship of a monarchical regime of '78, of that real estate and financial block where the political elites and the builders who have lined themselves at the cost of what is everyone's. Therefore, today we need more than words and cessations. Democratic regeneration, not just cosmetic regeneration, transparency and exemplary regeneration are needed. Only in this way will we regain the trust of the citizens.

Madam President, yesterday I told Mrs Kallas that I was ashamed to be a European, and more so after listening to her. But there is a Europe of which I am proud, because there are two Europes. The Europe of her, of Mrs Kallas, of the banality of evil, which actively collaborates with arms and money in the extermination of an entire people in Gaza, which we heard today in the mouth of Mr Girauta when he said 'Heil Israel'. evoking the Nazi salute. But then there is another Europe, the one that puts the body and plays the guy in the Freedom Flotilla, in the Open Arms, the one of the ports that refuse to receive the ships of genocide, the one that is persecuted in Cairo before its deafening silence. Not a word of condemnation, Mrs Kallas, not even when we are Members of the European Parliament. That other Europe does not forget that "never again" was a commitment to the persecuted peoples. It is the one that believes that international law is not a luxury, but a plank of salvation in the face of barbarism. It is that Europe from below that does not preside over summits, like Mrs Kallas, but embodies the deepest meaning in our common memory and, in the midst of horror, resists and chooses not to be complicit. That Europe is the one that saves us, that sustains us as humanity and that one day, perhaps, will win.

Mr President, I am ashamed to be European, especially when I listen to Mrs Kallas: Can you sleep easy when European weapons and money serve to exterminate an entire people in Gaza, when we have a trade agreement with the genocide perpetrator, with the international arrest warrant? Don't you have a glimpse of humanity, of doubt, of restlessness in your conscience? Hannah Arendt said that the banality of evil is not born of monsters, it is born of ordinary people who live with horror as if it were something normal and who do not see human suffering, only numbers, business, alliances. That is what you and this Europe stand for. Why do you think South Africa ended the apartheid? Because it was isolated internationally, because there was a boycott. Israel will continue the genocide until we cease to be complicit in that genocide.

Mr. President, Orbán persecutes all those he considers enemies of the nation: LGBTI activists, feminists, migrants, NGOs, judges... And now he proposes to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. Why does he do it? Because with Netanyahu he has a common enemy: Muslims. But in reality, anti-Semitism in Hungary has not disappeared, it has moved from place: Now it's against Muslims. In fact, many of those who were formerly anti-Semitic and are now Islamophobic are still anti-Semitic. Mr Orbán encourages anti-Semitic campaigns, such as the one against George Soros, with the typical clichés and stereotypes of the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy. Therefore: There is no lesson from the far right of anti-Semitism, because anti-Semitism is in its DNA. It is only necessary to see VOX, the party of Spain that continues to claim Francoism, allied precisely with Nazism.

Mr President, today it is not enough to remember. Evil must be recognized when it is repeated with other victims and with other faces. Memory should serve to prevent evil, not as an alibi to practice it. We are reminded of this by some Jewish intellectuals in Israel, such as Idith Zertal or Meir Margalit, when they tell us that Israel uses the past as a shield not to be accountable to the present and that Europe – and especially Germany – clings to its historical guilt in order to continue to maintain its loyalty to a government that is practicing another genocide, and thus betrays precisely what it promised not to repeat: never again the extermination of a people, never again the complicity of European democracies. But now, unlike back then, we can't say we didn't know anything, because Europe keeps sending arms, keeps keeping the trade deal with Netanyahu. What is the fault of the Palestinians of what the Europeans did in the past, of what some did, who are the ideological fathers of those who are sitting here today and who justify yet another genocide? Like then, history is looking at you and is going to judge you again.

Madam President, after listening to the right, I believe that the real problem is not the blackout, it is the ideological darkness, the cavern in which you live. Get out of the cave, Mrs. Montserrat, Mr. Buxadé. The blackout was not caused by the sun or the wind, it was caused by an energy system privatised by you – which you sold to your friends, Mr Aznar’s friends, Mr Villalonga – which has no public control and which disguises itself as a free market, when it is a monopoly. And the problem is that it only seeks the economic benefits and, therefore, they have not made the necessary investments to avoid this - because this had been foreseen by the experts. The problem is that you are part of that, but in the literal sense, because you charge. The former ministers, the former presidents... they're sitting there, on the board of directors. Therefore, if you have to look for responsibilities, look among your friends. It's not that they defend the interests of corporations, it's that they defend their interests. The problem is that they believe that energy is a privilege, and it is a right.

Madam President, today Mrs von der Leyen and others spoke about principles, but there is a problem of coherence: Why isn't what's worth to Ukraine worth to Palestine? In the first case, Europe has sided with the victim and gives him weapons to defend himself against the aggressor. In the second, he has sided with the aggressor and gives him weapons to continue his genocide. In the first case, the decisions of the international courts were invoked and, in the second, they seemed to be ignored. Mr Netanyahu has an international arrest warrant. He's accused of genocide. Isn't the life of Palestinian children worth the same as that of Ukrainian children? Is it a question of skin color? Is it a question of colonialism? Historical guilt? Mrs. von der Leyen is German. But a Jewish writer, Margalit, said that the past should not be used as a shield to not be held accountable, because that is betraying that same past. And, as we mark the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism, we should remember that lesson.