Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks in the Knesset in Jerusalem. Lula da Silva is in Israel on the first official visit by a Brazilian leader. March 15, 2010. Photo By Lior Mizrachi/Flash90
The Bolivian President tweeted that Lula is ‘telling the truth about the genocide that is committed against the brave Palestinian people.’
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Amid controversy over Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s comparison of Israel’s military operations in Gaza to the Nazis during the Holocaust, heads of state in Columbia and Bolivia tweeted their approval of Lula’s statements.
Colombia’s Gustavo Petro wrote on X, “In Gaza there is a genocide and thousands of children, women and elderly civilians are cowardly murdered.”
He added, “Lula has only spoken the truth and truth must be defended or barbarism will annihilate us.”
Similarly, Bolivia’s Luis Arce wrote on X that Lula was “telling the truth about the genocide that is committed against the brave Palestinian people.”
“History will not forgive those who are indifferent to this barbarity,” he declared.
The controversy began when Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told reporters at an African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, “What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide.”
Lula explained, “It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children.”
He concluded, “What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history” except one: “When Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Foreign Minister Israel Katz met with Brazilian ambassador, Frederico Meyer, at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
Katz, the son of Holocaust survivors, said, “We will not forget and we will not forgive” Lula’s statements.
He added, “Tell President Lula that he is persona non grata in Israel until he retracts his statements” which were “serious antisemitic attacks. ”
However, Lula doubled down on his original statements and Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira called Katz’s remarks “unacceptable in their nature and lying in their content.”
Vieira said Katz’s statements to Meyer were “a shameful page in the history of Israel’s diplomacy,” and said Israel was creating a smokescreen in attempt to hide its “crimes” in Gaza.
Brazil recalled Meyer from Israel and Israeli ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonshine, was reprimanded by Brazil’s Foreign Ministry.
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