Brazilian President Lula da Silva declared “persona non grata” by Israel – MonitorExpresso.com

Brazil. – The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is declared “persona non grata”, this was announced by the Foreign Minister of Israel, Israel Katz, last Monday, February 19, after da Silva described the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip as a genocide comparable to that of the Holocaust. “We will not forgive or forget: on behalf of myself and the citizens of Israel, I informed President Lula that he is a ‘persona non grata’ in Israel until he apologizes and retracts his words,” Katz said. At the African Union summit, where he was a participant, held on Sunday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Lula referred to Israel’s attacks against the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza as a “genocide.” “What is happening to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is unprecedented at any other historical moment. In fact, it existed when Hitler decided to kill the Jews,” Lula said. According to sources close to the discussions, Brazil does not intend to back down, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador, Daniel Zonshine, to a meeting in Rio de Janeiro to engage in talks and also called “for consultations” the Brazilian representative in Israel, Frederico Meyer, who will travel to the country on Tuesday. The Brazilian president’s orders are that there be no retraction and that any kind of response be given through diplomatic channels, the sources said.

Original source in Spanish