Spanish actor Javier Bardem has been strongly criticised, including by the US ambassador to Israel, for claiming that Israel “benefits” from his country’s migrant crisis.
An estimated 60,000 people entered the north African Spanish territory of Ceuta, which borders Morocco, last week.
An emergency meeting of the European Union is scheduled for Tuesday amid calls by some European leaders for tougher action to protect the EU’s external borders.
However, pro-Palestine actor Bardem, who is known for films including Eat, Pray, Love and No Country for Old Men, shared a post on social media implying that Israel would benefit from the destabilisation of Spain as a result of the crisis.
“Ceuta is in Africa, not Europe. This isn't an ‘invasion’ of the West - if anything it's the reverse, given Morocco functions increasingly as a Western-aligned client state.
“Spain has been Europe's loudest voice against Israeli and US war crimes in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran”, the post he shared said.
In 2020, Morocco normalised relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords, brokered in US President Donald Trump’s first term.
“We don’t know who engineered this crisis, but we know who benefits from a weakened, destabilised Spain: Israel, and the Western far right eager to turn migration into a weapon against Muslims,” the post Bardem shared added.
It went on: “this has nothing to do with Islam ‘invading’ Europe, and everything to do with punishing the loudest European government still willing to call a genocide a genocide”.
The post also appeared to cite a 2019 social media post by Yair Netanyahu, son of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, despite multiple controversial social media posts, has never held elected office.
Dear Arabs and Muslims. Want to free occupied Arab Islamic lands? Here’s a good start! pic.twitter.com/Ci5R0dOXN7
— Yair Netanyahu🇮🇱 (@YairNetanyahu) May 25, 2019
The younger Netanyahu shared an image of a map of the Spanish north African territories of Ceuta and Melilla, along with the caption “Dear Arabs and Muslims. Want to free occupied Arab Islamic lands? Here’s a good start!”.
He later claimed to be making a point about European nations lecturing Israel about the occupation in the West Bank, adding: “Dear Spanish people. I see you all got upset. Ceuta and Melilla are tiny territories you own across the sea on another continent. Now imagine how we feel when your government calls for Israel to give away Judea & Samaria (West Bank), which is the Jewish heartland”.
He also added: “Let’s make a deal, we won’t fund NGOs in your country calling you to give away Ceuta and Melilla, and you will *stop* funding NGOs in our country that calls us to give away Judea and Samaria”.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a staunch critic of Israel, said at a press conference that his government was working with Morocco to “continue fighting against the mafias that traffic in human beings”, adding that the Spanish government was increasing security in the north African territory and was removing those who had illegally entered.
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