Why is Spain occupying Arab territory?

 

Dr. Rafael Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies.

Last week’s controversy over tens of thousands of Moroccans trying to enter Spain (amid antisemitic social media posts attempting to blame Israel) has reminded the world of an uncomfortable fact: While Spain regularly accuses Israel of “occupying Arab territory," Spain itself is occupying Arab territory.

The tens of thousands of Arabs from Morocco who crossed the border into Spanish-occupied territory did so simply by walking into the region of Ceuta, next door.

Spain has controlled Ceuta since the 17th century. The Spanish claim to the territory is that they’ve been there for a long time.

Morocco counters that Ceuta is physically part of Morocco’s northern coast, while Spain is part of a different continent, twelve miles away and across the Strait of Gibraltar. Spain’s control of Ceuta is a remnant of the era of European colonialism.

By contrast, the territory where Israel is situated has been the Jewish national homeland since biblical times. It has been the core of Judaism itself for more than 3,000 years. The very name “Judea" testifies to the area’s deep Jewish roots.

The name “Ceuta" is the Spanish corruption of the Arabic name for the area, “Sebta," a reminder that Arabs and Berbers (Morocco’s other large ethnic group) were there long before the Spanish conquistadors showed up.

Off the coast of western coast of Morocco, 800 miles to the south, is another Spanish-occupied territory-the Canary Islands. The Spanish occupiers committed mass atrocities against the Guanches and other indigenous peoples when they conquered those islands.

And let’s not forget about the various regions of mainland Spain where local residents are seeking independence, such as the 9 million Catalans in northern Spain, the 3 million Basques in northwest Spain, and the 2.7 million individuals of Celtic heritage in Spain’s Galicia region.

Perhaps the Spanish leaders who often yell about “freeing Palestine" from “Israeli occupation" should take a look in the mirror.