Brazil's Lula likens Gaza genocide to Hitler's actions in Nazi Germany
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The Brazilian President says what is going on in Palestine is a genocide, not a war.
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Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during his visit to the Brazilian Navy Command, in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (AP)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused "Israel" on Sunday of committing "genocide" against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, likening its crimes to Adolf Hitler's in Nazi Germany.
During an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, the Brazilian president said, "What's happening in the Gaza Strip isn't a war, it's a genocide," detailing that Israeli troops were not fighting "soldiers against soldiers," but rather a highly prepared army against "women and children."
He expressed that what is going on in Palestine has happened in the past when Hitler "decided to kill the Jews."
Lula is not the first world leader to draw similar comparisons between "Israel" and Nazi Germany.
The Brazilian President condemned recent decisions to end aid to UNRWA during a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Saturday and vowed to boost Brazil's contribution to the agency.
"We need to stop being small when we need to be big," the Brazilian leader declared.
"Israel" recently falsely claimed with no evidence that 12 of UNRWA's members were affiliated with the October 7 operation conducted by the Palestinian Resistance. As a result, the UK, the US, and 14 other countries have opted to defund the organization, primarily led by the United States, before any investigation and without any proof provided.
He underlined his support for a two-state solution to the issue, with Palestine "definitively recognized as a full and sovereign state."
Netanyahu calls Lula's comments 'Holocaust trivialization'
Responding to Lula's comments, the prime minister of the Israeli occupation Benjamin Netanyahu referred to them as "Holocaust trivialization" that aims to strip the Jewish people of the right to "self-defense."
He stated that comparing the occupation to Nazis and Hitler was "crossing a red line."
Netanyahu also dared to claim that "Israel's" attempt to "defend itself" was being done by "upholding international law."
He stated that he decided to summon the Brazilian ambassador to "Israel" for an "immediate reproach".
Lula has been repeatedly critical of the Israeli onslaught on Palestine. At a summit at the Arab League in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday, he criticized the United Nations for its failure to address international conflicts and harshly condemned "Israel's" actions in Gaza.
"Israel's behavior has no explanation: with the pretext of fighting Hamas, it is killing women and children," he said after a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
There can be no peace without the establishment of a Palestinian State, Lula said, as he urged for an immediate and sustainable ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
In November, Lula called "Israel's attitude toward children, toward women, "equal to terrorism," stressing that "there's no other way to put it."
