(JTA) — Spain paid a West Bank university $107,000 in compensation for damages caused by its exclusion from a scientific competition for political reasons.
The central government transferred the money earlier this month as per a recent decision by the Spanish Council of State, according to a statement published Wednesday by ACOM, a pro-Israel organization based in Madrid. ACOM called the decision a “legal victory against BDS,” in reference to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.
The council, Spain’s highest consulting body, said Spain violated an article in the European nation’s constitution that forbids forms of discrimination based on nationality of place of origin.
It ruled following complaints of discrimination in the 2009 exclusion of Ariel University from an international competition among solar-energy innovators.
In its decision to exclude the university from participating in the Solar Decathlon Europe competition, the Spanish government had cited the fact that Ariel is located in a West Bank settlement.
