MBL and Ciro Nogueira criticize Genoino for boycotting Jews: “Nazism started like this”

The statement by former PT president José Genoino, this weekend, suggesting a boycott of companies run by Jews or linked to the state of Israel, did not resonate well with the opposition and may have constituted an act of discrimination against people of Jewish origin . The PT member’s speech took place on Saturday (20) during a live broadcast on a website.

The reaction was immediate and led state deputy Guto Zacarias (União-SP), from São Paulo, to report Genoíno to the state Attorney’s Office. According to the parliamentarian, the former president of the PT committed the crime of “practicing, inducing or inciting discrimination or racial prejudice”, which would violate the 1989 Anti-Racism Law.

“It seems evident that José Genoino, when saying that there should be a boycott of ‘certain Jewish companies’, committed such a crime. After all, no one would doubt that there is a crime if someone said to boycott ‘certain black-owned companies’ or ‘certain northeastern-owned companies’,” he said.

Zacarias, who is part of the Movimento Brasil Livre (MBL), also said in the crime report that the boycott defended by Genoino violates the freedom of belief provided for in the United Nations (UN) convention against all forms of discrimination, in addition to depriving someone – like Jewish businesspeople – of rights due to their religion.

“If the MPF [Ministério Público Federal] understand that there are no elements to initiate criminal action, that a police investigation must be opened”, added the deputy from São Paulo.

In addition to Guto Zacarias, the national president of the PP, senator Ciro Nogueira (PP-PI) fired at Genoino, stating that the boycott of Jewish companies led to an episode already known in world history.

“In the invasion of Russia, they blamed Ukraine, the invaded country. Now, they advocate not doing business with Jewish companies. The boycott of Jewish businesses is not new: Nazism began that way,” she said on social media.

The reference to “they blamed Ukraine” was due to the dubious statements made by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) on several occasions in 2023, in which he equated responsibility for the war in Eastern Europe with Russia and Ukraine , placing invader and invaded on the same level.

At the time, Lula’s successive speeches with this tone led to harsh criticism from the opposition and even from the Ukrainian president himself, Volodymyr Zelensky, who even demanded that Lula take a firm and direct position to condemn Russia for the invasion – which occurred without any provocation. of Ukrainians.