Last Saturday (4) organizations from all over the world promoted a International Day of Solidarity with Palestine Massive demonstrations took place in numerous capitals around the world to condemn the massacre carried out by the State of Israel in the Gaza Strip.
In São Paulo (SP), around 12,000 people gathered for the event, condemning the protests with banners, posters and slogans About 10,000 people died in Palestine in light of Israeli attacks since the Hamas attack on October 7th. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, these already exist 4,104 children murdered.
One of the most repeated demands during the demonstration in the capital São Paulo, which was attended by leaders of political parties, social movements and Arab and Palestinian organizations, was that the Brazilian government under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel.
The argument is that a state, particularly the Brazilian one, which was fundamental to the creation of Israel in 1948, could not maintain relations with a nation that promoted what they classify as “…” ethnic cleansing against another people in this case the Palestinians and thereby violates numerous international treaties.
Protesters condemn the murder of children at the proPalestine rally in São Paulo (Photo: Ivan Longo)
The carnage wrought by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, along with human rights violations through attacks on hospitals, refugee camps, water and power outages, has stimulated the growth of a movement of countries changing the discourse and threatening to break or even break ito Breaking off relations with the Israeli state.
In Latin America this movement is evident. Bolivia, for example, announced that it would break off diplomatic relations with Israel on the first day of November, rejecting the “aggressive and disproportionate military offensive that this country is carrying out in the Gaza Strip, which threatens international peace and security.”
“Bolivia calls for an end to the attacks in the Gaza Strip, which have so far caused thousands of civilian deaths and the displacement of Palestinians; as well as the lifting of the blockade, which prevents the entry of food, water and other vital elements and constitutes a violation of international and humanitarian law in the treatment of civilians in armed conflicts,” said Bolivian Minister María Nela Prada.
Already those Chile and that Colombia decided a few days latercall their ambassadors in Tel Aviv to return to their countries with the aim of reassessing and discussing relations with Israel. The same thing was recently done by Jordan and for South Africa The gesture represents in the diplomatic world a reprimand and a possible preview of the break in relations.
There are also countries that have begun to toughen their stance against Israel. A Spanish Minister of Social Rights, Ione BelarraFor example, he sharply criticizes the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and advocates for his country to break off relations with the Israeli state.
“Why don’t some countries that fly the flag for human rights in other conflicts do the same in this case, instead of watching in horror what’s happening? We must also condemn the deaths of thousands of Palestinian children, the scenes of desperate mothers screaming with their dead children in their arms. And we must punish those who are responsible for it,” said the minister in an interview this Wednesday (8).
On October 28, Ione Belarra had already published a video on her social networks in which she used the phrase “planned genocide” to refer to Israel’s bombings in Gaza and to world leaders, including Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, appealed to break off relations with Israel.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterresin turn, this Monday (6) condemned Israel’s actions and said that the Gaza Strip was becoming a “children’s cemetery” and stressed that the Israeli state had violated international humanitarian law.
And Brazil?
Since the October 7 Hamas attack and Israel’s completely disproportionate retaliation against Palestinian civilians, which lasted more than a month, the Brazilian government, through Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and President Lula has condemned the actions of both the Gazabased Islamic armed group and the Israel Defense Forces.
During its presidency of the U.N. Security Council, Brazil introduced a resolution in October calling for a ceasefire in the conflict, which was supported by most members of the college but was rejected after a U.S. vote against it.
The Lula government has been cautious in its positions and statements as it needs to maintain dialogue with Israel in order to repatriate people Group of 34 Brazilians trapped in the Gaza StripEpicenter of Israeli bombings.
The situation has become increasingly tense and delicate as the Israeli government has repeatedly reneged on agreements and detained Brazilians in Gaza for more than 30 days, at risk of being murdered. The group has not yet been included on any list of foreigners that the Israeli government has granted permission to leave the region.
Group of Brazilians staying in Gaza (Photo: Brazilian Embassy in Palestine)
For Reginaldo NasserProfessor of International Relations at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUCSP), the fact that Israel is detaining Brazilians in Gaza is a “humiliation” for Brazil and the massacre of Palestinians is reason enough for the Lula government, to break off diplomatic relations with the Netanyahu government
Posting on social media a speech by Lula in which he said he was “saddened” by the deaths of more than 3,000 children in Gaza, he wrote:
“Very true, but why not say who is doing it? Is it possible to maintain economic and political relations with those who collectively kill children? If we do not break with Israel, we must conclude that Brazil is an accomplice to genocide.”
“Lula said: There is genocide in Gaza; that Netanyahu is crazy; that it is unimaginable that so many children died. However, she maintains diplomatic relations with those who commit genocide, with those who are crazy and kill children. For the immediate severance of relations with Israel!” the professor continued.
In an interview with ForumLawyer, director of the Humanity, Rights and Democracy Institute (IHUDD), editor of Jacobin Brasil and international analyst Hugo Albuquerque assessed as positive the movement of countries breaking or threatening to break with Israel, said that these actions contribute to isolating the Netanyahu government and suggested that if not, Brazil should at least do the samesharpen the speech especially with regard to the reluctance of Brazilians in the Gaza Strip.
“I think these countries are right (…) If the UN is the one that founded Israel, then how can Israel be basically the most lawless state, according to the entire UN agreement? “No other nation on the planet is as outside international law as Israel is in violating resolutions, violating agreements and opposing the international order established in the postwar period,” Albuquerque analyzes.
“So I think that all countries in the world should break off relations with Israel, because what establishes the legitimacy of Israel, what was a decision by the United Nations, whether good or bad, was a decision, an order that established Israel.” is denied. In fact, what these countries are doing is due to this antagonistic contradiction of Israel against Israel and the gravity of what is now happening against itself, because Israel not only does not comply with the Oslo Accords and continues to violate them, but also took an objective step toward genocide. “This is a textbook genocide, as we say in the law, a textbook case, a classic case of genocide,” the lawyer continues.
Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip (Photo: Wafa)
If Brazil follows its diplomatic tradition, it should not sever relations with Israel, but the restraint of Brazilians in Gaza may at least lead the Brazilian government to sharpen its discourse against the Israeli state. According to columnist Tales Faria from the UOL portal, Lula’s direct aides reported that the president is extremely angry to be familiar with the situation and that the president must take tougher measures if anything happens to the group of Brazilians at the epicenter of the conflict. At the end of the war, the head of the executive branch had already decided to take a loud stand against the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip in international forums.
GloboNews journalist Daniela Lima, in turn, went in the same direction, noting that the Brazilian government, along with its diplomats in Israel, have stated that something should happen to the Brazilians trapped in Gaza Relations with the Israeli state are becoming “unsustainable” citing the example of Latin American countries that recalled their ambassadors from Tel Aviv.
Lawyer Hugo Albuquerque supports this movement, stating that if Brazil had not broken with Israel in the past, it may take a tougher stance at this time given the current circumstances.
“Brazilian diplomatic tradition would suggest that there would be no rupture due to Brazil’s conciliatory stance, but I think the situation has changed. I think this raises an important question for the Brazilian diplomatic tradition and raises an important question for the way Brazilian diplomacy operates as it did during the Lula period and is now being reactivated. Celso Amorim’s socalled active and proud diplomacy [exchanceler, atual assessor especial para assuntos internacionais da presidência], that was reconciliation diplomacy, the defense of multilateralism, multipolarity, but in a scenario like 15 years ago, which was much milder. You will agree with me, despite the war in Iraq, despite the war in Afghanistan, the world was very calm,” he assesses.
“The current scenario is much more turbulent, in fact much more turbulent, also due to the crisis of American hegemony. This raises an important question for Brazil, and there are these Brazilians who are inexplicably trapped in Gaza. A few weeks ago it seemed like an exaggeration for Brazil to speak rudely. Everyone said, “No, we have to talk to Israel here so that these Brazilians don’t get punished in any way or die there, so we can achieve this.” And everyone thought that these Brazilians would be quickly rescued by Egypt and return safely to Brazil would. However, that didn’t happen. So today the normative force of facts applies, as we say in Law: the law says one thing, but the facts contradict it, they have broken that narrative in half, forcing the government to rethink its foreign policy strategy for a conflagration scenario “ adds the lawyer.
For the analyst is at this moment The Brazilian government “tends to threaten to break off relations with Israel.” with the aim of demanding the release of Brazilians in Gaza.
“The Brazilian government must take very tough measures and demand a stance from Israel. Does Israel have relations with Brazil? He has. Brazil played a fundamental role in the establishment of the State of Israel in the 1940s. If Israel thinks that Brazil is a diplomatic dwarf or something like that, it must face the consequences (…) We must be very serious and you must tell the United States that this is a breach in a large country and that this will have enormous impact. And these Brazilians trapped in Gaza are the subject of the conversation. You have to respect Brazil. And Brazil is not respected. If Brazil now adopts a submissive attitude, I think that foreign policy for the coming years will be completely jeopardized,” concludes Hugo Albuquerque.