Khalid Bhatti
Brazil’s socialist President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in his speech at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa has compared Israel’s actions in Gaza to the Holocaust. Lula accused Israel of committing “genocide” against Palestinians. Lula also emphasised the stark asymmetry between a well-equipped military force and vulnerable civilians in Gaza.
“It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children. What’s happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history. Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
He had previously labeled the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7 as a “terrorist” act. The recent controversy surrounding his remarks adds layer of tension to the intricate dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, drawing attention to the sensitive nature of Holocaust comparisons in international discourse. Israel has reacted strongly against Lula’s statement and declared him persona non granta
The leftwing Brazilian president Lula earlier criticised Western countries’ recent decisions to halt aid to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, after Israel accused some of its employees of involvement in the Hamas-led attack.
Lula, who met with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh Saturday on the sidelines of the summit, has said Brazil will increase its own contribution to the agency and urged other countries to do the same. “When I see the rich world announce that it’s halting its contributions to humanitarian aid for the Palestinians, I just imagine how big these people’s political awareness is and how big the spirit of solidarity in their hearts is,” Lula said. “We need to stop being small when we need to be big.” He reiterated his call for a two-state solution to the conflict, with Palestine “definitively recognised as a full and sovereign state”.
