Palestinian minister says Israel “shows stupidity” by declaring Lula “persona non grata”

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki criticized Israel’s decision to consider President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) as “persona non grata” for comparing the country’s reaction against Hamas attacks to the Nazi Holocaust, just over a week ago.

Maliki called the attitude “very stupid” and highlighted the lack of vision and political maturity of those responsible for the decision – Minister Israel Katz. According to him, the gesture reveals a disrespect for international law and denotes the immaturity of those involved.

“It shows stupidity, it shows a lack of vision, it shows political immaturity and a lack of wisdom. A bunch of immature individuals, who do not respect international law”, he said in an interview with UOL published this Tuesday (27).

The Palestinian foreign minister praised Lula’s courage in addressing human suffering in Palestine and stated that he himself “should consider the declaration [de persona non grata] as a compliment when it comes from the Israelis.”

Al Maliki also stated that it is necessary to act to prevent events like the Holocaust from happening again. And he also highlighted that Israel’s criticism is not limited to Brazil alone, mentioning the case of UN Secretary General, António Guterres, who was the target of similar attacks after condemning Hamas attacks against civilians, but recognizing the context in which they occurred .

The Palestinian concluded by highlighting that Israel has unlimited behavior and that Palestinians are used to dealing with similar episodes, due to the decades-long Israeli occupation.

“Ask us. We have lived under their occupation for 56 years. We know them very well. Maybe this is an episode between Brazil and Israel, but we are dealing with so many episodes every day. We are experts”, he added.

Diplomatic tensions between Brazil and Israel remain high, with exchanges of statements between authorities from both countries reflecting the complexity of the situation in the Middle East region and the political positioning of each government in the face of the conflict between Israel and Palestine.