Lula calls war in Gaza genocide and criticizes "hypocrisy"
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has once again publicly addressed Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, following the aftermath of an interview where he compared Israeli military actions in the Palestinian territory to the Holocaust against Jews in World War II. Speaking at the launch of the Petrobras Cultural program in Rio de Janeiro on Friday (Feb. 23), the president condemned the military conflict as genocide and blamed the Israeli government for the slaughter that has already killed around 30,000 civilians, predominantly Palestinian women and children.
"I want to tell you now that I will not exchange my dignity for falsehood. I want to tell you that I am in favor of the creation of a free and sovereign Palestinian state, that this Palestinian state can live in harmony with the State of Israel. And I want to say more: what the Israeli government is doing against the Palestinian people is not war, it is genocide because it is killing women and children," said the president.
"Don't try to interpret the interview I gave in Ethiopia; read the interview instead of judging me by what the Prime Minister of Israel said. Thousands of children are dead or missing, and soldiers aren't dying—women and children are dying in hospitals. If that's not genocide, I don't know what is," Lula continued, referring to the statement he made last Sunday (18) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when he compared Israel's actions in Gaza to what Adolf Hitler had promoted against the Jews in World War II.
At the time, the comment prompted the Israeli government to declare Lula persona non grata in the country. In response, the Brazilian government summoned the ambassador to Tel Aviv back to the country 'for consultations.' Additionally, Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira criticized Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz for statements made in recent days about President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Hypocrisy
The president also said that the Brazilian government is working towards a reform of the United Nations Security Council. This reform would include permanent representation from Latin American countries, Africa, India, and other nations. He also criticized the US government's vetoes of UN resolutions for a ceasefire in Gaza and, without naming individuals, called the political class 'hypocritical' for its inaction in the face of ongoing conflicts.
"Only when we have a democratic UN [Security] Council, with more political representation, and only when the political class stops being hypocritical, only when it faces the truth. It's not possible that people don't understand what's happening in Gaza. It's not possible for people not to be sensitive to the millions of children who go to bed hungry every day because they don't have a glass of milk, even though the world produces too much food," he said.
The president called for more political solutions to wars. “It's important that people know while it's still time to know. We need to be aware that what exists in the world today is a lot of hypocrisy and little politics. We can't accept war in Ukraine, just as we can't accept war in Gaza, just as we can't accept any war,” he concluded.
