Brazilian radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned Israel on Thursday, accusing the country of killing “women and children” in its self-defense operations against the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas.
The Brazilian president, during an official visit to Egypt, issued his accusations against Israel as part of a speech given during a session of the League of Arab States, in which Lula also made demands for the United Nations to recognize “Palestine” as a state with Jerusalem as its capital. Lula then repeated its accusations against Israel in a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Lula also condemned the United Nations Security Council and urged the institution to reform its rules — a longtime demand the socialist president has made and amplified since Hamas’s brutal October 7 terrorist attack on Israel. Lula has aggressively condemned Israel for its self-defense operations after October 7 but had little to say to condemn Hamas.
“Brazil’s position is clear. There will be no peace until there is a Palestinian state within mutually agreed upon and internationally recognized borders, which include the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and East Jerusalem as capital,” Lula told the Arab League.
Lula claimed Israel’s response to October 7 was “disproportional and indiscriminate.”
“Under the pretext of defeating Hamas, they are killing women and children, something never seen in any war that I know of,” Lula said at a press conference following his meeting with the Egyptian president.
“The killing must be stopped,” he said at a later point in the press conference. Lula has previously accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza for defending itself against the terrorist organization.
“It is urgent to establish a definitive ceasefire that allows for the provision of sustainable and unimpeded humanitarian aid and the immediate and unconditional release of hostages,” Lula continued. “Brazil is totally opposed to attempts to forcibly displace the Palestinian people. There will be no peace without a Palestinian state, living side by side with Israel, within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders.”
Lula also defended the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the Palestinian relief organization, after multiple countries stopped funding it in response to evidence that its employees not only supported the October 7 slaughter, but participated in it.
“At a time when the Palestinian people need support the most, wealthy countries decide to cut humanitarian aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA),” Lula said. “Recent allegations against agency officials need proper investigation but should not paralyze it. Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon will also be left without support.”
Lula committed an unspecified “new financial contribution to UNRWA” in defiance of the organization’s longstanding links to territory activity.
The Brazilian president also once again made calls to reform the United Nations Security Council, a demand he issued in September as part of his U.N. General Assembly speech.
“It’s unfortunate that the multilateral institutions that were created to help solve these problems don’t work,” he said after his meeting with Sisi. “That’s why Brazil is committed, and we hope we can count on Egypt’s support, so that we can make the necessary changes to the global governance bodies.”
“There needs to be a new geopolitics at the U.N. It is necessary to end countries’ right to veto. And Security Council members need to be pacifist actors, not war-mongering actors,” he continued.
Shortly after Hamas’ unprecedented October 7 jihadist attack, in which an estimated 1,200 people were killed, the Security Council – at a time when Brazil held the monthly rotating presidency of the group – twice failed to produce a statement that condemned Hamas for its atrocious actions and invasion of Israel.
Lula did not publicly condemn Hamas at the time, claiming that it is part of his government’s policy to “avoid giving publicity” to terrorist organizations. Despite that, sources from the Brazilian Foreign Ministry claimed to CNN Brasil at the time that sectors of the Brazilian government are sympathetic to Hamas and consider the terrorist group “important” for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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