Court orders video taken down in which Genoino suggests boycott of Jewish businesses

Judge Carlos Eduardo da Fonseca Passos, from the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro (TJ-RJ), gave Google a deadline of 48 hours to remove from YouTube an excerpt of the video in which PT member José Genoino suggests the boycott to Jewish businesses. The statement was made during an interview on an internet program in January, in which he commented on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Passos also imposed a fine of R$100,000 if the determination is not complied with. The judge’s decision was taken in response to a request from the Israeli Federation of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

Genoino stated in the video that “this idea of ​​boycotting for political reasons that harm economic interests is an interesting way. There is even this boycott in relation to certain Jewish companies.”

“There are, for example, boycotts of companies linked to the State of Israel. In fact, I think Brazil should cut off trade relations in the area of ​​security and defense with the state of Israel”, stated President’s ally Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT).

The judge considered that “maintaining the declaration on a free online video platform is likely to cause serious irreparable damage, given the free and continued access by an indeterminate number of users to offensive and discriminatory content”.

At the time of the statements, even the PT leadership reprimanded Genoino, considering it a “mistake” to have addressed such a delicate topic. In addition to the party itself, entities linked to the Jewish community in Brazil also came out in protest against the speech.

The Brazilian Israeli Confederation (Conib) classified the speech as anti-Semitic, remembering that “anti-Semitism is a crime in Brazil”. “The boycott of Jews was one of the first measures adopted by the Nazi regime against the German Jewish community, which culminated in the Holocaust,” he said.

The Israeli Federation of the State of São Paulo (Fisesp) also issued a note expressing repudiation of Genoino’s statement. “By highlighting the Jewish origin of companies and calling for their boycott, Genoíno reveals his cowardice and anti-Semitic bias,” said the entity.

The Brazil Israel Chamber of Commerce and Industry also classified the speech as anti-Semitic and said that it “must be repudiated by everyone”. “Genoíno’s speech, without knowledge of the benefits of this commercial relationship, is also contrary to the interests of Brazil and the Brazilian population. These are two democratic, independent countries, with reciprocal commercial benefits”, stated a statement released by the organization.