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The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) has slammed Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s comments at an African Union summit today in which he accused Israel of perpetrating a “genocide” against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, likening the Jewish state’s war against Hamas to the Nazi Holocaust.
“The Brazilian president’s outrageous blood libel is morally repugnant, and we call for an immediately apology and retraction,” said CAM Sacha Roytman. “These comments are merely meant to offend the Jewish people on the one hand while trying to demonstrate his socialist credentials for purely domestic purposes on the other. President Lula should stop using Jewish tragedies to score political points.”
“The Jewish state’s right to self-defense against a genocidal fascist terrorist organization is incomparable to the extermination of six million Jews in the Holocaust,” he added. “Even the smallest child in Brazil knows this, so the only conclusion we can take from this is it is grounded in a combination of hatred and political self-interest.”
As a member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), Brazil knows that comparing Israel to the Nazis is considered antisemitic according to the widely-accepted IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism. Forty-five countries, including the U.S. and most Western democracies, have adopted the IHRA working definition as of the end of 2023.
Last November, Rio de Janeiro became the first city in Brazil to recognize the definition. CAM has led the way around the world pushing for adoptions of the definition.
“Despite the welcome adoption of IHRA in Rio a few months ago, it is clear that there is much work to be done in Brazil to ensure antisemitism is taken seriously,” Roytman noted. “President Lula’s outrageous comments demonstrate the need, now more than ever, when antisemitism is skyrocketing, to ensure Jews are protected and hate and racist speech is considered out of bounds.”
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) is a global coalition engaging more than 830 partner organizations and four million people from a diverse array of religious, political, and cultural backgrounds in the common mission of fighting the world’s oldest hatred. CAM acts collaboratively to build a better future, free of bigotry, for Jews and all humanity.
