Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians rallied on Sunday in the country’s biggest city to show support for former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who flew an Israeli flag in a rebuttal of anti-Semitic remarks made by the country’s current president, corrupt socialist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The rally comes as Brazil’s federal government investigates Bolsonaro over whether he was involved in orchestrating riots on government buildings last January, the Associated Press reported, adding that he’s also under investigation for allegedly receiving illegal gifts from Saudi Arabia during his presidency.
Bolsonaro, who is barred from running for office until 2030, wants those who have been locked up from the riot to be pardoned and released from jail.
“What I seek is pacification, it is erasing the past,” he said. “It is to seek a way for us to live in peace and stop being so jumpy. Amnesty for those poor people who are jailed in Brasilia. We ask all 513 congressmen, 81 senators for a bill of amnesty so justice can be made in Brazil.”
He also shot down allegations that there was ever a coup attempted in the country: “What is a coup? It is tanks on the streets, weapons, conspiracy. None of that happened in Brazil.”
Roughly 750,000 people attended the rally, according to estimates from the Public Security Secretariat.
WATCH:
➡ Ato bolsonarista reuniu 750 mil na Avenida Paulista, diz SSP
Estimativa da Secretaria da Segurança Pública contabiliza ruas adjacentes; reportagem observou 10 quarteirões com público na Paulista
Leia: https://t.co/pzkWKnRNrD pic.twitter.com/XOt4Uzfse5
— Metrópoles (@Metropoles) February 25, 2024
Bolsonaro also waved an Israeli flag at the rally in a clear rebuttal of Lula, who was condemned last week for engaging in anti-Semitic Holocaust denial.
Lula’s remarks come as Israel continues to conduct military operations inside Gaza to recover hostages who were kidnapped during the unprecedented October 7 terrorist attack and to eliminate Hamas terrorists and infrastructure. During the early morning surprise attack, Hamas murdered 1,200 people in Israel, injured 5,300+, and kidnapped hundreds.
🚨A DEMOCRACIA TEM LADO: Ex-presidente Bolsonaro exibe bandeira de Israel em gesto de solidariedade na Av. Paulista
Solidariedade à nação israelense. pic.twitter.com/JbrWppAntQ
— Meio Independente (@meioindep) February 25, 2024
“What’s happening in the Gaza Strip isn’t a war, it’s a genocide,” Lula told reporters at an African Union summit in Ethiopia. “It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children.”
“What’s happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people hasn’t happened at any other moment in history,” he said. “Actually, it has happened: when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Israel has taken unprecedented measures to minimize the loss of civilian life during the war, including dropping hundreds of thousands of leaflets urging Gazans to leave specific areas, calling Gazans and urging them to evacuate, opening up safe corridors so they can travel without being fired upon by Hamas, and calling off airstrikes after civilians were located near a designated target.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to Lula’s remarks with a statement posted to social media, saying that Israel would take diplomatic action over the incident.
“The words of the president of Brazil are shameful and serious. This is about trivializing the Holocaust and trying to harm the Jewish people and Israel’s right to defend itself,” Netanyahu said. “Comparing Israel to the Nazi Holocaust and Hitler is crossing a red line. Israel fights for its defense and securing its future until complete victory and it does so while upholding international law.”
“I decided with Foreign Minister Israel Katz to summon the Brazilian ambassador to Israel for a stern reprimand conversation immediately,” he added.