On May 14, 2025, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez referred to Israel as a “genocide state” during a parliamentary session. This reflects demonization discourse – led by Spanish government-funded NGOs, which began immediately after the Oct 7th attacks.

Within days of the Hamas-orchestrated atrocities, major Spanish NGO recipients of government funding joined the concerted campaign promoting the antisemitic “genocide” libel against Israel. They also lobbied the Spanish government to impose an arm embargo and participate in South Africa’s lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). This NGO-led activity is echoed and amplified in the Spanish media, academic frameworks, and, as demonstrated by the Prime Minister, by leading political figures. 

The following summary highlights the details of the Spanish NGO campaign:

  • Spain provides millions of euros to highly politicized NGOs that promote antisemitism, incitement, blood libels, lawfare, and discriminatory BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) campaigns. 
  • Spain is also a major source of funding to the network of Palestinian NGOs linked to an EU-designated terror organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation for Palestine (PFLP). This includes NGOs formally designated by Israel in October 2021 as terror organizations due to close links to the PFLP. Extensive evidence of these links is based on open sources, and readily verifiable.
  • Spanish funding to numerous NGOs is highly decentralized, taking place at several levels of governance, including the central government, autonomous communities, provincial deputations, municipalities, and bar associations. 
  • In most cases, grants to the Palestinian groups are channeled via Spanish political NGOs.

Examples of Spanish NGOs that receive Spanish government funding and that promote the “genocide” libel against Israel: 

Paz con Dignidad

In 2023, Paz con Dignidad received €4.8 million of grants from multiple Spain governmental and local bodies. 

In January 2025, Paz con Dignidad co-organized a seminar, “Who finances the Israeli genocide and apartheid in Palestine?” The NGO’s 2023 annual report declares, “since October 2023, we have intensified our solidarity actions with Palestine to denounce the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip and highlight the complicity of institutions, parties, and companies with Israeli colonization and apartheid in Palestine. We have thus … reactivated the BDS movement at the Basque Country level, having carried out various press releases, mobilizations, and actions.”

Paz con Dignidad partners with and funds several anti-Israel groups, including the PFLP-linked NGOs UHWC-AWDA and Addameer, as well as the antisemitic, pro-violence NGO known as Badil.

Mundubat

In 2023, Mundubat received approximately €7 million in grants from multiple Spanish central government and local bodies, and the EU. 

According to Mundubat’s 2023 annual report: “In this context of escalating historical violence in the territory, we have redoubled our efforts to denounce and advocate for political action: we have coordinated several spaces for collective efforts, in Spain and the Basque Country, together with multiple actors from the institutional political sphere and organized civil society, to denounce the genocide against the Palestinian population, demand their protection, a permanent ceasefire, and an end to the arms trade with Israel. In this aggravated context of occupation, apartheid, and genocide against the Palestinian people…”

On October 17, 2023, Mundubat organized an event, together with other Spanish NGOs including Alianza por la Solidaridad – ActionAid, and Asamblea de cooperación por la paz (ACPP), and launched a campaign “to demand that the Spanish government act, exercising its responsibility as President of the European Council , to end the genocide Israel is carrying out in Gaza , which has already caused more than 3,000 civilian deaths. In less than a week, more than 4,000 individuals and organizations have already signed this call to action.”

Mundubat partners with and funds several anti-Israel NGOs, including Israeli-designated PFLP-linked Addameer, Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC), and  Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P). 

NOVACT- International Institute for Nonviolent Action

In 2023, NOVACT received approximately €2.8 million in grants from multiple Spain governmental and local bodies, and the EU.

As described in NOVACT 2023 annual report: “In 2023, all our work has been marked by the genocide that Israel has been perpetuating in Palestine since October 7….We have focused our work on denouncing the genocide and pressuring the international community to break its complicity with Israel. Focusing on demanding that the Spanish government declare a formal arms embargo on Israel, in addition to implementing other urgent measures to end the genocide, such as joining South Africa’s lawsuit in the International Court of Justice and other measures.” On October 18, 2023, NOVACT launched the campaign “Stop the genocide in Gaza, stop arms trade with Israel.”

NOAVCT partners with and funds several anti-Israel NGOs, including Israeli-designated PFLP-linked Al-Haq and UPWC, PFLP-linked AICP – Alternative Information Center Palestine, Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC), and the Israeli NGO 7amleh.

In March 2024, Al-Haq published a report that was “part of the project ‘Human Rights Defenders in Action, through nonviolence, research and capacity building’, coordinated by NOVACT.” In it, Al-Haq euphemistically referred to terror attacks as “acts of struggle” in asserting that “Even if individual acts of struggle breach provisions of international humanitarian law in bello, never should the Israeli colonial power or the international community categorise the collective resistance of the Palestinian people in pursuit of their inalienable jus cogens right to self-determination as ‘terrorism’, and justify its policy of suppression accordingly” (emphases added). 

Alianza Por La Solidaridad (Actionaid)

In 2023, Alianza Por La Solidaridad received approximately €10.7 million in grants from multiple Spain governmental and local bodies, and the EU. 

In December 2024, the Spanish NGO co-authored a petition titled “Genocide or the atrocious crimes in Gaza” in which the signatories stated “we must also act for the future. The suffering of the Palestinian people cannot be ignored; the promise of “never again” demands more than words: it demands action. We call for an end to the suffering, an end to impunity, and an end to the atrocities” (emphasis in original).

On October 17, 2023, Alianza por la Solidaridad – ActionAid together with Mundubat and Asamblea de cooperación por la paz (ACPP) – launched a campaign “to demand that the Spanish government act, exercising its responsibility as President of the European Council , to end the genocide Israel is carrying out in Gaza , which has already caused more than 3,000 civilian deaths. In less than a week, more than 4,000 individuals and organizations have already signed this call to action.”

Alianza Por la Solidaridad partners with multiple highly politicized Palestinian NGOs, including Culture and Free Thought Association (CFTA), Women Affairs Technical Committees (WATC), and PFLP-linked Al Awda Health and Community Association.