Published October 19, 2025
DAWN
In our first night in Toledo, the former capital of Spain, we went to our hotel rooftop to catch the views of this stunning city. I recognise how privileged I am to have the means to travel, and after an exhaustive application for the Schengen, I claimed this view as one of the rewards.
Within a few minutes, we heard chanting in Spanish and followed the noise to the town square below where a crowd of 40 stood around a huge Palestine flag, waving flags and calling for the liberation of Palestina, as they call it. We tried to make sense of the chants as we recorded videos, surprised by this midweek demonstration. I knew Spain’s left-leaning government’s robust support for Palestine. In 2024, it recognised the state of Palestine, it supported South Africa when it submitted a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice and it suspended arms exports to Israel. It was also the last European country to recognise Israel in 1986.
Many foreign policy analysts believe Spain could influence Europe’s policy on Israel. They said this after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez became the first European leader last month to call Israel’s actions a genocide. I read about Sánchez’s package of measures in The New Arab, which included formalising an arms embargo, bans on military transits through country ports and airspace, restrictions on imports from illegal settlements and a vow to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza by next year.
His supporters said it was an overdue moral stand, the paper reported. And, of course, it was met with Israeli hostility, calling Madrid antisemitic. This did not deter the Sánchez government which denied entry to two Israeli far-right leaders and the foreign ministry said it would enforce the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to Spain. Madrid, as The New Arab reported, was prepared to confront Israel at the ministerial level, not just in rhetoric.
All over Spain that day, they waved Palestinian flags.
Days later, the president of the European Commission said she would propose suspending payments to Israel, imposing sanctions on violent settlers and suspending trade concessions with Israel. The withdrawal of Israel’s preferential access to the EU was a major move even if many see it as too little too late.
These shifts are driven by public opinion and pressure. And the mood across the world is changing.
The demonstration in Toledo, I learned, was part of a larger nationwide protests on Wednesday organised by trade union federations and student organisations, calling for work stoppage and walkouts in schools. Tens of thousands of protesters attended in Madrid, and called for an end to relations with Israel. One socialist news website claimed that 80 per cent of students participated in walkouts from schools and universities. It said 40pc of teachers in public schools went on strike in Basque country. All over Spain that day, they waved Palestinian flags and chanted “this is not war, it’s genocide” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. These must have been the chants we heard that night in Toledo — from adults and children. It was a wonderful sight to behold.
That night, after they departed as peacefully as they had assembled, we talked about Spaniards’ affinity for Palestinians and wondered why we hadn’t seen it in our part of the world. It’s not been consistent. I think we are uncomfortable joining hands with religious parties calling for an end to the genocide because we don’t subscribe to so many of their misogynist or regressive views. I was disappointed Senator Mushtaq did not receive the praise he deserved for joining the flotilla to Gaza. Some of the memes following his release were downright vile. There’s too much discomfort around Hamas as well, which may explain a lacklustre response to the genocide beyond keyboard activism.
Arab antipathy towards Palestinians has a long, and tragic history. While there is support for Palestine in the ‘Arab streets’, a term used to describe public opinion in the Arab world, we’ve never seen it impact policy in their various governments. Following Oct 7, few countries withdrew their ambassadors from Israel. Even today as the truce begins to do whatever it is doing, theories abound about various countries being pressured to sign the Abraham Accords, including Pakistan.
We should not recognise Israel. It is a criminal state that has committed genocide and continues to do so. This truce does not signal an end to Israel’s atrocities. It must be held liable for it. Perhaps that can be our role moving forward — demanding that Israel pay for its crimes. If EU officials can push repatriation loans on Russia for its actions in Ukraine, so too must we lead a demand for Israel to pay for its destruction of Gaza. It is the least we can push for.
The writer is an instructor of journalism.
X: @LedeingLady
Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2025
In our first night in Toledo, the former capital of Spain, we went to our hotel rooftop to catch the views of this stunning city. I recognise how privileged I am to have the means to travel, and after an exhaustive application for the Schengen, I claimed this view as one of the rewards.
Within a few minutes, we heard chanting in Spanish and followed the noise to the town square below where a crowd of 40 stood around a huge Palestine flag, waving flags and calling for the liberation of Palestina, as they call it. We tried to make sense of the chants as we recorded videos, surprised by this midweek demonstration. I knew Spain’s left-leaning government’s robust support for Palestine. In 2024, it recognised the state of Palestine, it supported South Africa when it submitted a case against Israel in the International Court of Justice and it suspended arms exports to Israel. It was also the last European country to recognise Israel in 1986.
Many foreign policy analysts believe Spain could influence Europe’s policy on Israel. They said this after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez became the first European leader last month to call Israel’s actions a genocide. I read about Sánchez’s package of measures in The New Arab, which included formalising an arms embargo, bans on military transits through country ports and airspace, restrictions on imports from illegal settlements and a vow to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza by next year.
His supporters said it was an overdue moral stand, the paper reported. And, of course, it was met with Israeli hostility, calling Madrid antisemitic. This did not deter the Sánchez government which denied entry to two Israeli far-right leaders and the foreign ministry said it would enforce the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu if he came to Spain. Madrid, as The New Arab reported, was prepared to confront Israel at the ministerial level, not just in rhetoric.
All over Spain that day, they waved Palestinian flags.
Days later, the president of the European Commission said she would propose suspending payments to Israel, imposing sanctions on violent settlers and suspending trade concessions with Israel. The withdrawal of Israel’s preferential access to the EU was a major move even if many see it as too little too late.
These shifts are driven by public opinion and pressure. And the mood across the world is changing.
The demonstration in Toledo, I learned, was part of a larger nationwide protests on Wednesday organised by trade union federations and student organisations, calling for work stoppage and walkouts in schools. Tens of thousands of protesters attended in Madrid, and called for an end to relations with Israel. One socialist news website claimed that 80 per cent of students participated in walkouts from schools and universities. It said 40pc of teachers in public schools went on strike in Basque country. All over Spain that day, they waved Palestinian flags and chanted “this is not war, it’s genocide” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. These must have been the chants we heard that night in Toledo — from adults and children. It was a wonderful sight to behold.
That night, after they departed as peacefully as they had assembled, we talked about Spaniards’ affinity for Palestinians and wondered why we hadn’t seen it in our part of the world. It’s not been consistent. I think we are uncomfortable joining hands with religious parties calling for an end to the genocide because we don’t subscribe to so many of their misogynist or regressive views. I was disappointed Senator Mushtaq did not receive the praise he deserved for joining the flotilla to Gaza. Some of the memes following his release were downright vile. There’s too much discomfort around Hamas as well, which may explain a lacklustre response to the genocide beyond keyboard activism.
Arab antipathy towards Palestinians has a long, and tragic history. While there is support for Palestine in the ‘Arab streets’, a term used to describe public opinion in the Arab world, we’ve never seen it impact policy in their various governments. Following Oct 7, few countries withdrew their ambassadors from Israel. Even today as the truce begins to do whatever it is doing, theories abound about various countries being pressured to sign the Abraham Accords, including Pakistan.
We should not recognise Israel. It is a criminal state that has committed genocide and continues to do so. This truce does not signal an end to Israel’s atrocities. It must be held liable for it. Perhaps that can be our role moving forward — demanding that Israel pay for its crimes. If EU officials can push repatriation loans on Russia for its actions in Ukraine, so too must we lead a demand for Israel to pay for its destruction of Gaza. It is the least we can push for.
The writer is an instructor of journalism.
X: @LedeingLady
Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2025
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