MST leader praises Lula and defends withdrawal of ambassador in Tel Aviv

The national leader of the Landless Workers Movement (MST), João Pedro Stédile, praised President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (PT) speech this weekend against Israel and defended that the Brazilian ambassador in Tel Aviv, Frederico Meyer, be removed from the post.

Lula stated during a press conference held in Ethiopia that “what is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people has not existed at any other historical moment. In fact, it existed. When Hitler decided to kill the Jews”, comparing the current conflict with the Holocaust.

“I salute the courage of our president Lula who compared what the Zionists are doing now in Gaza with Nazism. An unjustifiable genocide by this right-wing Israeli government that shames the Jewish people around the world,” said Stédile on social media.

The speech took place before Meyer was summoned by the Israeli government to hear a reprimand against Lula, who was declared “persona non grata” in Israel. Stédile, however, stated that the ambassador should be removed from Tel Aviv just as “they removed the ambassador from Israel”.

In addition to Stédile, a historic supporter of Lula, the PT and Palácio do Planalto came out in defense of the president for his speech, which has been heavily criticized by the opposition, Jewish community entities and the Israeli government.

The national president of the PT, Gleisi Hoffmann, tried to justify it by stating that Lula’s words were not directed at the Israeli people, but at the “extreme right-wing government of Israel”. Paulo Pimenta, chief minister of the Communication Secretariat, stated that Brazil “condemned the terrorist attacks by Hams” and that “President Lula’s words were always for peace and to strengthen the feeling of solidarity between people”.

The opposition to Lula did not forgive and filed a request for impeachment that already has more than 40 signatures. Senator Carlos Viana (Podemos-MG), who chairs the Brazil-Israel Parliamentary Group in the Senate, condemned and considered Lula’s speeches as “biased and dishonest”, and that he “dwarfs Brazil in the world of diplomacy”.

“Inconsequential statements like this, and others in recent days, show the historical lack of knowledge and lack of balance when presiding over our country, historically recognized as a nation that negotiates peace”, he stressed.