The Jewish community of Brazil has lodged a formal protest against a motion adopted by the Municipal Council of Sao Paulo which condemns “massacres and genocide” perpetrated by “Zionists in the Middle East,” the World Jewish Congress reported today.
According to the Confederacao Israelita do Brasil, the central representative body of Brazilian Jewry and the WJC affiliate here, the anti-Israel resolution coincided with the Third Congress of the Arab-Palestinian-Brazilian Federation, earlier last month.
The resolution condemned the “aggressions and the genocide perpetrated by the Zionists in the Middle East with support of the bellicose forces of the North American government of Ronald Reagan.”
ANTI-ISRAEL DIATRIBE
The resolution also praised the anti-Zionist periodical, “Jerusalem,” for its efforts in informing Brazilian public opinion about the “massacres practiced by the Zionist government of Begin which exceeded those committed against the Jews during the second World War.”
Protesting the “arbitrary confiscation” by Brazilian authorities of one of the issues of “Jerusalem,” the Municipal Council requested that the resolution be conveyed to the editors of the journal, to the Arab-Palestinian-Brazilian Federation and to Farid Sawan, the PLO representative in Brazil.
The Confederacao protested directly to the president of the Municipal Chamber and in a written appeal to the Brazilian Minister of Justice, Dr. Ibrahim Abi Ackel, pointed out that the city of Sao Paulo is the world’s largest “melting pot” and its Municipal Council should therefore avoid any kind of racial discrimination.
The letter stressed that the Journal “Jerusalem” had been confiscated because it had published articles which smacked of prejudice and thus violated the Brazilian Constitution and laws prohibiting racial incitement.
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