Post #2822062

via "We Stand with Francesca Albanese": Why did the Ertzaintza act as if they were receiving prisoners at Loiu Airport? Last Saturday, images from Bilbao Airport went around the world. Members of the Global Sumud Flotilla, who were returning after being intercepted and detained by Israel, were received with unusual harshness by the Ertzaintza. Baton blows, people being dragged, and a deployment that looked more like the reception of dangerous prisoners than that of peaceful activists returning home. This behavior does not seem coincidental. An Israeli-origin business group has a key presence in the security of Loiu Airport. The company I-SEC Aviation Security, a subsidiary of the Israeli-capital group ICTS International, is responsible for a significant part of the security services at Bilbao Airport. In turn, I-SEC has maintained relevant contracts with Basque institutions for years. These include security and surveillance at the Ertzaintza supercuartel in Oiartzun and security services at the Basque Police and Emergencies Academy in Arkaute. It also holds contracts with Metro Bilbao and the Basque Health Service. The president of ICTS, Menachem J. Atzmon, was convicted in Israel in 1996 for fraud in the financing of electoral campaigns when he was treasurer of the Likud party. Correlation, not causation. It is impossible not to notice a correlation between the treatment the activists received in Israel and the treatment they received in Euskadi. The same harshness, the same logic of strict control, the same image of “enemy” rather than citizen. The fact that an Israeli company with historical links in the world of Israeli security has sensitive contracts with the Ertzaintza and with the airport where the events occurred invites, at the very least, reflection. Does Israeli security doctrine influence the way certain conflicts are managed in the Basque Country? No one claims that a direct order exists. But when the styles are so similar, and when the business and historical connections are on the table, it is legitimate to ask to what extent a model of managing dissent is being imported. What happened in Loiu not only shames the Ertzaintza. It also forces us to take a closer look at security relations and the contracts signed in Euskadi with foreign companies, especially when it comes to a conflict as sensitive as that of Palestine. References El Salto. (2024, October 18). El Departamento de Salud ocultó al Parlamento Vasco dos contratos públicos adjudicados a la israelí I-Sec. Gobierno Vasco. (2020). Servicio de vigilancia y seguridad en la central de la Ertzaintza en Oiartzun. I-SEC. (n.d.). Aena adjudica a I-SEC los servicios de seguridad de 14 aeropuertos españoles. #freepalestine #gaza #flotilla