War in Israel challenges the left and strengthens arguments from the right

The unexpected and brutal attack carried out by Hamas last Saturday (7) – the most serious on Israeli soil in the last five decades – accentuated the internal political polarization of several countries, including Brazil. Conservatives in Congress reacted immediately, demanding that the left-leaning government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) adopt a different stance, with a clear and energetic condemnation of the armed extremist group. The main demand of these deputies and senators from different parties has been the officialization in all Brazilian diplomatic channels of the term “terrorist” to characterize Hamas.

In parallel to this coordinated action, right-wing representatives in the Brazilian Parliament, the majority of whom are center-right, saw some of their arguments reinforced to combat the temporizing views guided by the United Nations (UN) due to the shocking images of the recent events in the Middle East. For analysts, the explicit alignment of parliamentarians with Israel, whether for religious reasons or affinity with that country’s democracy in the context of its region, facilitated and strengthened the reaction against Hamas.

Professor Sergio Denicoli, from AP Exata, stated on the 6th, in his blog on Estadão, that while the left dominates important sectors, such as universities and entertainment, the right has found space in social networks and other community environments to defend its vision. “The right has invested not only in the political war, but also in the cultural war, creating [uma] infinity of proprietary information dissemination channels. This has helped to consolidate the conservative movement as something of identity”, he highlighted. One of its most significant flags at the moment refers to the physical and social protection of children.

Hamas gives the right in Congress another front for mobilization

Under the leadership of the PL, the congressional right has mobilized the evangelical, agricultural and security benches to confront the PT government on different issues, especially customs. This movement gained momentum in recent weeks with the Legislative’s reaction against the activism of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), associated with the agenda of progressive sectors and the Planalto. To top it off, the conflict in Israel gave yet another important incentive and focus to the actions of conservatives.

Not only were several legislative initiatives presented to force the government to change the tone of its speech, including the summoning of ministers in the area, with emphasis on Chancellor Mauro Vieira, but also motions in support of Israel and warnings of the need for sanction on international Hamas supporters. For International Relations professor Natália Fingermann, from Ibmec-DF, this reaction has a more political tone than a practical one, as Brazilian legislation already typifies terrorism actions committed on national soil and diplomatic action by Congress is merely complementary to that reserved by the Constitution to the federal government.

The Minister of Human Rights, Silvio Almeida, who has disputes with conservatives on issues such as abortion and other customs issues, was also one of the main targets of charges. Right-wing parliamentarians demanded public condemnation of Hamas terrorism, which killed hundreds of innocent civilians of different nationalities, including Brazilians.

Another target was Lula’s special advisor for international affairs, Celso Amorim, who praised Hamas’ role in rescuing the rights of the Palestinian people in the presentation he wrote for “Engaging the world: the construction of Hamas’s foreign policy“, book by British author Daud Abdullah.

From the country’s foreign policy, the war between Israel and Hamas highlighted issues that definitively entered the Brazilian political agenda, such as the orchestration of international blocs of autocratic countries, associated or not with criminal and terrorist groups. The assertiveness of the right on this issue, against the better-known inclination of the left, has the potential not only to embarrass the PT government, but also to motivate splits within Lula’s own support camp. The statements made by PT leaders in recent days show this.

PT members and allies modulate the discourse to contain wear and tear

Simultaneously with the right-wing engagement, pressure also grew on the Executive and on the leaders of the PT and its left-wing allied parties, such as the PSol, to repair their speech and actions of historic support for the Palestinian cause and even the group itself. terrorist. This adjustment began to be made pragmatically, but it also encouraged internal conflicts.

Shortly after the Hamas offensive, Lula published a note in which, without mentioning the name of the group, he used the expression “terrorist attacks” to characterize what had happened. In the same text he defended the peaceful coexistence of Israel and an independent Palestinian state, in accordance with the traditional position of Brazilian diplomacy. The use of the adjective “terrorist”, however, produced a disguised reprimand from José Dirceu, former minister and influential leader of the PT, who saw this as a mistake and a contradiction on the part of Lula.

Analysts believe that the president’s dubious stance may have been a way of not further affronting evangelicals, a public that, on a global level, is increasingly involved with Jewish Zionism for biblical and historical justifications, in addition to having electoral and political weight. votes in Congress. Just listen to the statements in plenary to understand the growing level of tension.

On Monday (9), deputies Lindbergh Farias (PT-RJ) and Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) clashed, taking one side of Palestine and the other of Israel. On Tuesday (10), deputy Guilherme Boulos (PSol), pre-candidate for mayor of São Paulo, spoke in favor of the Palestinian terrorist group, but condemned the death of civilians. He feared electoral repercussions after seeing a wave of criticism against him and PSol, a party that has held public pro-Hamas demonstrations, condemning Israel.

Influential PT members have been criticized by both sides of the polarization. In 2021, leading party figures signed a letter against the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization and, as a result, they have been the target of criticism on social media. Among them are ministers Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) and Paulo Pimenta (Social Communication). Both tried to minimize their positioning so as not to increase wear and tear.

On the other hand, deputy Maria do Rosário (PT-RS) showed solidarity with the “victims of the terrorist attack in Israel” and was the target of condemnation on the networks. Senator Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), who is Jewish and leader of the government in the Senate, was criticized within his party and on social media after condemning the deaths of civilians in Israel. In 2009, he supported, together with Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance), a letter signed against an official note from the PT itself that had called Israeli attacks in Gaza “state terrorism”, similar to “Nazi practices”.

Gleisi condemns Hamas attack and rules out links to the group

Even in the face of growing pressure, the national president of the PT, deputy Gleisi Hoffmann (PR), condemned on Tuesday (10) the “brutality” of the Israeli government to the terrorist attacks in the Gaza Strip in “genocide dimensions”, defending a solution based on the “de-occupation of Palestinian territories”.

She ended up having to take a stand against accusations from the right that pointed out her party’s ties to Hamas. “I have been president of the PT for seven years and have never met any member of Hamas,” she highlighted. The deputy even called the Hamas attack on the Israelis a “terrorist act”, but feared “even greater violence from Israel in response”.

The self-restraint of the left must continue. Chamber servant Sayid Tenório, who worked with deputy Márcio Jerry (PCdoB-MA), was fired after the repercussions of his mockery of a victim kidnapped by Hamas. He was also parliamentary secretary on the Chamber’s Committee for the Defense of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a post from which he was dismissed.