Lula’s failure to recognize Hamas as terrorists leads to a drop in popularity

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is losing popularity and support even among his allies for not taking a clear stance against the terrorist organization Hamas, which has been attacking Israel. While several countries have already made official their rejection of the group, the head of the Brazilian Executive signals neutrality, condemning the attacks, but without recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization.

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A survey by AP Exata Intelligence Digital, published by the newspaper Estado de S. Paulo, shows that a dubious position in the face of an unprecedented war, where more than 3,700 people died, including atrocities against babies and children, rapes and torture, reveals decrease in the government’s positive evaluation and increase in negative perception. Since the start of the conflict, the number of those classifying the government as good/excellent has fallen by 0.6. Those who rate it as bad/terrible grew by 0.7%.

As a result, 40.8% approve of the government, 33.9% disapprove and 25.3% see it as regular. The analysis is done using artificial intelligence, based on the average of searches and the feelings expressed by Internet users. According to the CEO of AP Exata, and Sergio Denicoli, 78 thousand tweets were consulted between October 7th and 12th.

Government position on Israel and Hamas

The line defended by Itamaraty, since the beginning of the war, is that the classification of Hamas as terrorist is up to the UN and not the country.

On Thursday, the government issued a statement: “Regarding the classification of entities as terrorists, Brazil applies the determinations made by the United Nations Security Council, the body responsible for ensuring international peace and security. Included are the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda, as well as groups less known to the general public.

Israel’s ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonshine, said in an exclusive interview with Gazeta do Povo that he finds it “strange” how the Brazilian government has dealt with anti-Semitic and pro-Hamas speeches.

“We think that killing children, babies, women, beheading, raping, in addition to attacking civilians in their homes and burning everything, is terrorism. The Brazilian government doesn’t think so. At least from the words they used,” said Zonshin.

The statement by former PT deputy José Genoino this week made the situation worse. He criticized the State of Israel for attacking Hamas and said the terrorist organization has the “right to resistance.”

“The right to resistance against tyranny cannot be conceptualized as terrorism, which is the argument for the imperialist order, NATO, together with the State of Israel: to carry out the elimination of the Palestinians,” said the former deputy.

In 2021, two of Lula’s ministers, as well as several PT members linked to the president, as well as entities allied to the party, such as the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) and the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT), openly took a stance against classifying Hamas as a terrorist group.