Andrés Arizkorreta García, president of CAF, will receive the Gipuzkoa Gold Medal this Wednesday, as reported by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa. With this recognition, the Member wishes to praise Arizkorreta for his "personal contribution to economic, technological and social development", for the "internationalisation of our industry" and for the promotion of "welfare and social cohesion".

As it has been known since 2019, CAF is building in the occupied Palestinian territories a railway network linking the colonies with Jerusalem, a project known as the Jerusalem light train. Thanks to the occupation, CAF is making significant profits: more than half of the 155 million sales made to Israel by all Basque companies until July. The Jerusalem project has reached a value of EUR 1.8 billion. Amnesty International has also asked CAF to abandon the project.

Through CAF’s large businesses in Israel, as well as legitimising its racist system, the light train from Jerusalem in its hand further reinforces illegal occupation, providing services to the settlers and further marginalising the Palestinians. And so, precisely with the support of 130 international organizations, the BDS movement calls for the boycott of that company based in Beasain, at the same level as multinationals like Siemens, Google, Disney or Burger King.

Once the genocide against the Palestinians began, the only concern of Arizkorreta's company was, and has said so publicly, that its "businesses" in Israel have not been harmed, and in case it asked all the workers, more than a hundred workers, to do "telework". In addition to Jerusalem, CAF has another major project on land stolen from the Palestinians, along with Israeli builder Saphir: Construction of Tel Aviv light train.

In 2019, the whole workers’ committee asked CAF to withdraw from the Jerusalem light rail contract. The company did not listen to them, nor, as is clear, to the Council of Gipuzkoa.

The Deputy General of Gipuzkoa, Eider Mendoza, stressed with the prize that "with the daily work Gipuzkoa seeks a competitive territory, generating wealth, cohesiveness and well-being for all people, who are not always recognized the essential contribution". This right to the well-being of all people seems to be only one of the Gipuzkoans, as the Council of Gipuzkoa has ignored the fact that one of the largest businesses in the company presiding over Arizkorreta is based on racial discrimination.

Corporate lobby

Andrés Arizkorreta, in addition to the president of CAF, has participated in the main business associations: Adegi and Confesbask. Since September Basque Entrepreneurs Circle has led the Basque business lobby. This group annually distributes the Prize of the Kingdom of Spain in collaboration with the Spanish monarchy. The leader of the arms company Sener has been awarded for his business career and, among others, the leader of the company Freixenet who left Catalonia to fight the independence referendum.