Israel has made Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva persona non grata. The reason for this is the comparison Lula made between the Israeli war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Nazi genocide against the Jews in World War II.
The words came at an African Union summit attended by Lula in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. “What is happening in the Gaza Strip is not a war, it is a genocide,” said the left-wing Brazilian president.
“This is not war”
“This is not a war of soldiers against soldiers,” he said of the Israeli army’s fight against the radical Islamic terrorist organization Hamas. “This is a war between a heavily armed army and women and children.” Then Lula added: “What is happening to the Palestinian people in Gaza has never happened before in history. Yes, that already happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Since the start of the Gaza war, 78-year-old Lula has repeatedly criticized Israel, but never as violently as on Sunday in Addis Ababa. Six million Jewish people were murdered during the Holocaust during World War II in Europe.
Comparing this systematic genocide to war, Israel accuses Lula of trivializing the Holocaust and insulting the Jewish people. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has summoned Brazil’s ambassador.
Israel: Lula must retract statement
“It is a serious anti-Semitic attack. Tell President Lula on my behalf and on behalf of the citizens of Israel that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back,” Katz told the diplomat, according to his office. “We will neither forget nor forgive,” he added.
Source: Krone
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