Wiesenthal Center Rejects Comments Made by Presidents of Brazil Bolivia and Colombia and Presentation of Chile at the International Court of Justice

February 21, 2024

“They don't care anything at all about the Palestinian people. Just attacking Israel and getting along with Iran.”

 

Buenos Aires - After the President of Brazil, Inacio Lula Da Silva, compared the just war that Israel is waging against the Hamas terrorists in Gaza, with the action of Hitler and the Nazis in the Holocaust, Israel declared him persona non grata until he retracts or apologizes.

Far from doing so, Lula escalated the conflict by calling his ambassador in Israel to Brazil and summoning him to Brasilia. Likewise, he declared that he was referring to “the government of Israel and not the Jewish people,” confirming that a genocide was being carried out in Gaza.

Since the operation in Gaza began, exercising Israel's right to defend its territory, search for the kidnapped and dismantle the terrorist group Hamas, Presidents Gustavo Francisco Petro of Colombia and Luis Arce of Bolivia came out to support Lula in his accusation of genocide against Israel.

 

Dr. Ariel Gelblung, SWC’s Director for Latin America, said:  “It is striking that they seek a magical resolution of the conflict through Israel's cessation of action. If the intention were sincere, they should advocate with all their efforts for the surrender of Hamas, the return of the kidnapped and the stipulation of secure borders. With his statements, he shows that he does not care about the Palestinian people, but just in attacking Israel and getting along with Iran.”

In this context, in the middle of a war in Gaza, it is also noteworthy that the representative of the Chilean state, Ximena Fuentes, appeared at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of systematically violating international law, eternalizing the conflict and maintaining a constant occupation in Palestine, preventing a two-state solution.

Dr. Gelblung concluded: “If Fuentes could review the choices that Israel proposed for peace plans respecting the two-state solution and that each and every one of them was rejected by her counterpart, she would turn around and travel again to Santiago. In fact, in her presentation, there is no implicit proposal for peace, nor an indication of who would be a valid interlocutor for a dialogue with Israel. Fuentes is only interested in a conviction for her public.”

 

For further information, please contact Dr. Ariel Gelblung at +54 9 11 49695365, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).