Spanish Jews Want Tough New Anti-Semitism Laws
The president of Spain’s Jewish community called for changes to the country’s penal code to better combat online anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.
Isaac Querub, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain (FCJE), said at a seminar on anti-Semitism in Barcelona on Thursday that article 510 of the Spanish penal code, which deals with racism, needs to be amended to address hate speech on the Internet. A similar amendment needs to be made to article 607, which deals with incitement to genocide, he said.
Referring to a survey form 2011, Qerub said that 35% of Spanish students would not like a Jewish study partner. “We know that prejudices against Jews persist in Spain,” he added.
Spain’s conservative government last month unveiled proposed amendments to the country’s criminal code that would make Holocaust denial illegal should its aim be to incite violence.
In 2009, the Spanish daily El Mundo interviewed Holocaust denier David Irving, listing him as an “expert” on World War II. The paper’s editors said the interview was constitutionally protected free speech. The Anti-Defamation League called the interview “an embarrassment to Spain.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
