The PP proposes in Congress to punish anti-Semitic acts by law

MADRID, 19 Feb. (MADRID) -

The PP has proposed in Congress that it be established by law that all those incidents, events or manifestations of hatred, discrimination, hostility and anti-Semitic violence are acts of intolerance that must be rejected and combated, also with the corresponding legal consequences.

To do this, the 'popular' have registered a non-legal proposal, which will be debated in the Constitutional Commission, in which they echo the European recommendations in this regard and underline that the Council of the European Union (EU) has verified an alarming increase in racist and anti-Semitic incidents in EU countries, as well as an upsurge in racist and anti-Semitic hate crimes and hate speech, Holocaust denial and distortion, and conspiracy myths, both online and offline network.

These acts occur in particular in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Council of the EU warns that racism and antisemitism can lead or have led to forms of violent extremism and terrorism.

Thus, they regret that in Law 15/2022, of July 12, comprehensive for equal treatment and non-discrimination, "a clear opportunity" has been lost to collect the European recommendations, which establish the fight against racism and anti-Semitism as one of the priorities of the European Union.

In the text of the initiative, collected by Europa Press, the PP recalls that the mention of anti-Semitism and the actions against it appeared in the drafts of the bill, although it was finally removed from the proposal registered in the Lower House.

In parallel, it points out that the 2022 Regulatory Plan contemplates the Government's will to approve an Organic Law against racism, racial discrimination and related forms of intolerance, but the year ended without the Government having complied with the European recommendations in this sense.

For this reason, the PP considers it "urgent" that said law expressly include, together with racism, those aspects of the fight against anti-Semitism indicated by the European Union so that they are included in the legislation of the Member States.

Currently, Congress has within the term of amendments a law promoted by the PP in the Madrid Assembly to prevent companies and associations suspected of anti-Semitism from receiving public money, either through contracts or subsidies.

This initiative involves modifying both the general law on subsidies and public sector contracts, as well as the organic law regulating the right of association, all to combat any vestige of anti-Semitism.

The objective is that these changes to the current regulations make it impossible for those entities that carry out discriminatory practices based on birth, race, sex, religion, opinion or any other condition or personal or social circumstance to receive aid, contracts or public subsidies, making emphasis on antisemitism.