Protest against Israeli-owned wind farm over developer's 'support for genocide' in Gaza
Protest took place at huge Spanish wind farm that developer Enlight wants to turn into major hybrid power complex with addition of solar panels and battery energy storage
Groups including Friends of the Earth have staged a protest against a Spanish wind farm owned by Enlight Renewable Energy over the Israeli developer’s “complicity” in what a UN commission has determined to be genocide in Gaza.
The protest was carried out on 20 September as part of the Global Week of Peace and Climate Justice, which held its second annual week this month aiming to raise awareness of links between war and climate injustice.
The protest took place at the 331MW Gecama wind farm in Spain, which came online in 2022 and features 69 turbines supplied by German manufacturer Nordex. Enlight developed and holds a 72% stake in the project.
Earlier this year, Enlight announced it had secured financing to turn the wind farm into the largest hybrid power complex in Spain through the addition of a 250MW solar farm and 100MW battery energy storage system.
Tel Aviv-based Enlight was founded in 2008 and reports having projects in 10 countries, including Ireland, Sweden and Italy in Europe and the US.
The Spanish branch of Friends of the Earth, one of several protest groups to take part in the action, said in an announcement that Enlight has “blood on its hands” through its links to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
The banner held by the protesters at the wind farm read: “Enlight, accomplice to genocide.”
Friends of the Earth said that the groups involved in the protest, including Global Energy Embargo for Palestine, Cuenca con Palestina and others, were representing "dozens of organisations".
"While Enlight presents itself in Spain as a developer of renewables, it also participates in the illegal occupation of territories," the environmental NGO claimed.
By working with the Israel Defence Force (IDF) on the installation of solar panels on military bases, the NGO said the developer was also complicit in what it described as an Israeli "genocide against the Palestinian people".
Enlight said in its 2024 sustainability report that its Donations Forum, through which it allocates a portion of its annual philanthropic budget to organisations chosen by employees, included funds for “IDF support.”
In July, Friends of the Earth reported that more than 130 environmental and human rights organisations sent a letter to Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez, demanding that his government end business relations with Enlight.
Sánchez has been one of the most outspoken Western leaders against Israel’s assault on Gaza, directly accusing its government of genocide and calling for it to be banned from international competitions such as sports and Eurovision.
Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023 after Hamas militants broke into the country and killed around 1,200 people, with 251 others taken hostage.
Since then, Israel has killed at least 65,000 people in Gaza according to latest estimates, with many more thought to be buried under the rubble that the enclave has been reduced to.
A UN Commission, the International Association of Genocide Scholars and NGOs in Israel and internationally have determined the country is committing genocide. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has a warrant out for his arrest from the International Criminal Court in The Hague, denies this.
Enlight did not respond to a request for comment.
(Copyright)