Teresa Ribera and the European normalization of Hamas propaganda

Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice President of the European Commission and a senior member of Spain's Socialist Party (PSOE), drew sharp attention for her remarks on the war in Gaza, telling Politico that the displacement and killing there “looks very much like genocide.” Her comments mark a significant departure from the European Commission’s official stance — and underscore a deeper ideological bias that has long characterized the Spanish left’s position on Israel.

Ribera’s comments are not surprising to those familiar with the PSOE’s historical posture. Long before the atrocities of October 7, Spanish socialists have harbored a deep suspicion — if not outright hostility — toward the State of Israel. 

This position is rooted in decades of ideological alignment with anti-imperialist movements and solidarity with causes framed as “anti-colonial,” often without a nuanced understanding of the complexities on the ground.

The accusation of genocide — a term with specific legal and moral weight — echoes language promoted by Hamas and other terrorist groups, which have mastered the art of narrative warfare.

Israel has repeatedly and firmly rejected such claims, insisting that its military operations target Hamas militants embedded within civilian infrastructure — a tactic deliberately employed by Hamas to provoke exactly the kind of international backlash Ribera’s comments represent.

What we are witnessing is not just a misreading of a conflict, but the success of a deliberate communications strategy.

Hamas’s battlefield is not just in Gaza; it is in Western public opinion. The organization has invested heavily in image, emotion, and spectacle — understanding that victory is not defined by territorial gain, but by influence over the minds of European voters, policymakers, and media.

Spanish socialists, like many on the European left, have become especially vulnerable to this emotional framing. The narrative is seductive: a seemingly powerless population versus a technologically advanced military; occupied versus occupier; oppressed versus oppressor. 

In this binary, Israel is cast as the villain — regardless of the realities of terrorism, theocratic extremism, or the explicit calls for genocide in Hamas’s founding charter.

But facts matter. There is no ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza. No plan to erase the Palestinian people. 

What exists is a brutal war launched by a genocidal terror group on October 7 — a massacre that included rape, mutilation, and the burning alive of children. And yet, far too many European voices — including senior officials like Ribera — have chosen to ignore this context, instead elevating Hamas’s propaganda to the level of international accusation.

It is not Israel's military strength that should worry us — it is the West’s moral confusion. By failing to distinguish between defense and aggression, between terrorists and victims, policymakers like Teresa Ribera blur the line between justice and ideology. That failure not only endangers Israel — it weakens the credibility of Europe’s voice on human rights and peace.

For Hamas, this is success. Their true victory is not in defeating the IDF, but in winning over minds in Madrid, Paris, Brussels, and beyond.