The consul general of Israel in São Paulo, Rafael Erdreich, denied, this Wednesday (1st), that there was a genocide against the Palestinian people. For him, the criticisms made by presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, of Brazil, Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, and Gabriel Boric, of Chile, who condemned Israeli military actions that would also be affecting Palestinian civilians, show that the presidents of these countries are “misinformed” about what is actually happening in the region.
“What source do the presidents of Latin America have regarding this information? I have shown here, clearly, that whoever controls the information that leaves Gaza [é o Hamas]”, he said. “They are poorly informed about what is happening”, he added, during a press conference promoted by the Consulate General of Israel, the Israeli Federation of the State of São Paulo (Fisesp) and StandWithUs Brasil.
This week, President Lula said that the war in the Middle East is a genocide. Yesterday, the president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, wrote on his social networks that he recalled his country’s ambassador to Israel “in light of the unacceptable violations of International Humanitarian Law that Israel committed in the Gaza Strip”. The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, also announced the summons of the Colombian ambassador to Israel, Margarita Manjarrez.
São Paulo SP 01/11/2023, André Lajst – political scientist and executive president of StandWithUs Brasil, during a press conference. Photo: Paulo Pinto/Agência Brasil
At the press conference, the political scientist and executive president of StandWithUs Brasil, André Lajst, also highlighted that we cannot talk about genocide being practiced by Israel. “Genocide means death tribe or total and partial destruction for ethnic-religious reasons. Israel has two million Arabs and part of these Arabs serve in the Army. And part of them are fighting against Hamas. If there are Arabs/Muslims fighting Arabs/Muslims, it’s not genocide,” he said.
Press criticism
During the interview, the consul general also criticized the Brazilian press’ treatment of the war, highlighting that the information that reaches the press “is controlled by Hamas”.
“The information coming out of Gaza is distorted. Why are they publishing that there are 8,000 civilians killed in Gaza? I am saying with 100% certainty that Israel is attacking Hamas. Israel is calling on all civilians to leave the conflict and war zone. Israel is providing conditions for them to receive humanitarian aid. The goal [de Israel] It’s Hamas,” said the consul.
UN information
According to the United Nations, more than 8,300 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 7th. Among them would be 3,400 children. In Israel, there were 1,400 deaths. The United Nations (UN) emphasizes that these numbers are passed on by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Israeli government.
In constant contact with the news Brazil Agency, Palestinian-Brazilian Hasan Rabee, 30, has been showing his routine in the Gaza Strip, while waiting for authorization to, together with other Brazilians, leave the region and embark in Egypt towards Brazil. Earlier this week, a building next to where he was sheltering was hit by the Israeli army. About two weeks ago, his relatives were killed by another Israeli bombing.
“The news we received is that more than 60 people lived in this building. Very sad, a good, hard-working citizen has nothing to do with it”, lamented Rabee, at the time.
A Brazil Agency He contacted the federal government’s Communication Secretariat, which informed that it would not comment on the consul’s speeches.
Video with images from Hamas
Before the interview, a video lasting around 43 minutes was shown with images of the attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7th. The video presents images taken by security cameras, by the victims and by Hamas members themselves of attacks on people in cars, inside homes and also at an electronic music party.
Journalists were prevented from entering with their cell phones or cameras while the videos were being shown. The prohibition on the reproduction of these images is out of respect for the families of the victims and serves to “show that there were atrocities” that were committed by Hamas.
