War in Israel becomes ammunition for the opposition to the Lula government – 10/15/2023 – Power

The Palácio do Planalto is preparing to face a wave of opposition actions in the National Congress, which seeks to use the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas to wear down the Lula (PT) government.

Lula’s opponents are preparing requests to summon ministers to give explanations about what they see as the government’s complacency with the terrorist group Hamas.

Planalto, in turn, articulates a strategy against this offensive. One of the objectives is to at least transform these summons requests into an invitation, a form considered less aggressive and which leaves room for greater negotiation regarding the authorities’ attendance.

Government political organizers minimize the opposition’s offensive. They say that the government has been correct in the statements it made up to the height of the conflict, in which it condemned terrorist attacks, the deaths of civilians and defended a ceasefire in the region.

The attack by the terrorist group Hamas on Israel last weekend took place by land, air and sea. Actions against Israel caused the deaths of 1,300 people. On the other side, by the end of this Saturday afternoon (14), 2,215 Palestinians had died in Israeli retaliation

In the Brazilian Congress, summons requests were prepared for ministers Mauro Vieira (Foreign Affairs) and the special advisor to the Presidency for international affairs, Celso Amorim.

The justification for the request to summon Amorim to the Chamber is to ask him to explain what he said in an interview with the Panel, from Sheet, in which he claims that the Hamas attack had its origins in “years of discriminatory treatment” by Israel against Palestinians. Three PL deputies also requested approval of a motion to repudiate Amorim for the statement.

One author of part of the summons requests is federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP), son of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Eduardo signs two requests to summon Chancellor Mauro Vieira. One of them aims to explain “what measures are being adopted after the terrorist attack by the Hamas group and what is Brazil’s official position in relation to the terrorist group and the violations that are being committed against the Israeli people.”

In addition to the requests relating to authorities, the parliamentarian is also co-author of a draft legislative decree that aims to terminate a cooperation agreement between Brazil and the Palestine Liberation Organization, on behalf of the Palestinian National Authority.

Recently, fake news began circulating again on social media seeking to associate the agreements, and even donations made by Brazil to the Palestine Liberation Organization, with false transfers to Hamas

Deputies and senators have explored, in particular, the ideological proximity of some PT parliamentarians to the Palestinian cause. Some of Lula’s allies even defended Hamas in the past, which increases the potential for wear and tear on the government.

They also seek to explore what they consider to be the current government’s complacency in not considering Hamas a terrorist group. Brazil adopts the historic position of following the classification dictated by the UN, which did not include Hamas in this category.

PT parliamentarians, including current ministers Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) and Paulo Pimenta (Secretariat of Social Communication), signed a note in 2021 in support of Hamas, when the United Kingdom decided to classify the group as a terrorist organization.

Padilha was also recently criticized for having received, before the outbreak of the conflict, a parliamentary advisor who, on the day of the attacks, mocked one of the Hamas victims on social media. The advisor, Sayid Tenório, ended up being dismissed from the position he held in the office of deputy Márcio Jerry (PC do B-MA).

The Minister of Institutional Relations announced on Tuesday (10) that he will meet in November with the president of the Israeli Confederation of Brazil, Claudio Lottenberg. The announcement came after a meeting, before the attacks, with members of the Brazil Palestine Institute, including Sayid Tenório, and with the head of Brazil’s representation in the West Bank.

Lula, in his first statement about the war, said he was “shocked by the terrorist attacks”, but did not mention Hamas directly. The speech, followed by the president’s tweet on Wednesday (11), was considered correct by allies, who saw balance in the position.

Last Wednesday, Pimenta stated that Brazil follows the UN classification and therefore would not, for now, change its position on Hamas.

“Brazil has a historical position, there is a delegation, a competence to inform this concept of a terrorist organization to the entire world, there is a convention on the part of all countries that the UN Security Council is responsible for defining all of this”, said the minister, in an interview with GloboNews.

“Brazil has always respected and followed the UN decisions on this. Today, the Islamic State and Al Qaeda are terrorist organizations. We are not going to change this position, depending on a specific situation. [É] a historical position that makes Brazil known as a leading country in the possibility of building international agreements”, he added.

Pimenta also said that the episode of the note in support of Hamas has “been used in an absolutely wrong way, by people who try to turn anything into a political dispute.”