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Colombia’s president compares Israeli military to Nazis as local protesters burn Israeli flag outside embassy

(JTA) — In the wake of Hamas’ attacks on Israel, Colombian President Gustavo Petro tussled with Jewish leaders on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, and pro-Palestinian protesters burned an Israeli flag outside of the Israeli embassy in Bogotá.

Since the news of the attacks spread on Saturday, Gustavo Petro — a former member of the M19 armed guerilla movement and Colombia’s first left-wing president in decades — has tweeted and retweeted a steady stream of pro-Palestinian messages on his account on X. Still pinned to the top of his profile is a collage of photos of Palestinian children who he wrote ​​were “murdered by the illegal occupation of their territory.”

“The only way for Palestinian children to sleep in peace is for Israeli children to sleep in peace,” his tweet from Saturday reads. “The only way for Israeli children to sleep in peace is for Palestinian children to sleep in peace. War will never achieve this, it can only be achieved by a peace agreement that respects international legality and the right of the two peoples to exist free.”

In another tweet, Petro responded to Israel’s ambassador to Colombia, Gali Dagan, who had told local media he hoped Petro would condemn Hamas’ attacks. “Terrorism is killing innocent children, whether in Colombia or Palestine,” Petro wrote.

Israel’s embassy in Bogotá did not respond to a request for comment. But in response to Petro’s tweets, Marcos Peckel, the director of Colombia’s Jewish communal organization — the Confederación de Comunidades Judías de Colombia — tweeted: “President @petrogustavo The innocent children who died today were Jews and Israelis massacred by Palestinian terrorists.”

Petro tweeted back: “Governments that get used to bombing children do not seem fair to me. God does not bomb children.

Petro also tweeted that Gaza is being “converted into a concentration camp.”

“Concentration camps are prohibited by international law and those who develop them become criminals against humanity,” he wrote in response to a video that shows Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant talking about the situation in Gaza.

In another response to the video of Gallant, who is shown saying that Gazans now lack electricity and a water supply, Petro tweeted: “This is what the Nazis said about the Jews. Democratic peoples cannot allow Nazism to reestablish itself in international politics… This hate speech if it continues will only bring a holocaust.”

The Confederación de Comunidades Judías de Colombia released a statement about Petro’s comments.

“As the representative organization of the Jewish community of Colombia, we reject the obstinance of President Gustavo Petro in refusing to openly and without subterfuge condemn the savage aggression of which the State of Israel, a great friend of Colombia, was subjected to yesterday by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, as have done the vast majority of democracies of the world, including those governments, including those governed by the progressive and democratic forces that the president so admires,” the group wrote. “The recurring statements of President Petro on X seemed to be justifying the actions of Hamas, its war crimes.”

Vicky Chehebar Kassin, a commissioner for gender equality at the Latin America Jewish Congress, told JTA that “Despite the overwhelming concern we feel from reading our president’s justification of Hamas’ terrorism, we are comforted by the immense number of voices in Colombia who condemn these violations of human rights and war crimes, like the use of rape as a weapon of war, commonly used by terrorist groups such as ISIS or Boko Haram.”

Meanwhile, a group of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside Israel’s embassy in Bogota on Saturday and burned an Israeli flag. Later that night, the embassy was defaced with graffiti showing a swastika, a Jewish star and the word “terror” written in Hebrew. More graffiti added “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine,” “Arafat lives” and “free Palestine.”

In response, Dagan tweeted, “Look at ‘the solidarity’ we receive below at the [Embassy] facilities.”

In contrast to Petro, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — who has been very critical of Israel — expressed solidarity with the Israeli victims on Saturday but crucially did not mention Hamas.

“I was shocked by the terrorist attacks carried out today against civilians in Israel, which caused numerous victims. In expressing my condolences to the families of the victims, I reaffirm my rejection of terrorism in any of its forms,” wrote Lula, whose previous government officially recognized a Palestinian state in 2010.

The flag of Israel was laser projected over the building of Brazil’s National Congress on Sunday in solidarity with the Israeli victims. The projection covered one of the two domes of the landmark building in Brasilia on Sunday, making the dome look somewhat like a big kippah.

“It’s a sign of solidarity and also in honor of all those killed, injured, and missing as a result of this cruel attack,” wrote Senator Davi Alcolumbre, a Jewish congressman who previously served as president of the Senate.

In Rio de Janeiro, the Municipal Chamber’s building was covered by a white and blue laser projection.

“Watching on TV the terrorist and barbaric attacks against Israel, I come to express my solidarity once again with all Israelis and the Jewish people,” Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes posted on social media with a picture of him with Shimon Peres, Israel’s late prime minister.

Marcus M. Gilban contributed reporting from Rio de Janeiro.


The post Colombia’s president compares Israeli military to Nazis as local protesters burn Israeli flag outside embassy appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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UN Security Council Meets on Iran as Russia, China Push for a Ceasefire

Members of the Security Council cast a vote during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado

The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East.

It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote. The three countries circulated the draft text, said diplomats, and asked members to share their comments by Monday evening. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass.

The US is likely to oppose the draft resolution, seen by Reuters, which also condemns attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities. The text does not name the United States or Israel.

“The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Sunday. “We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”

“We must act – immediately and decisively – to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear program,” Guterres said.

The world awaited Iran’s response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had “obliterated” Tehran’s key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.

U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that while craters were visible at Iran’s enrichment site buried into a mountain at Fordow, “no one – including the IAEA – is in a position to assess the underground damage.”

Grossi said entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit at Iran’s sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex, while the fuel enrichment plant at Natanz has been struck again.

“Iran has informed the IAEA there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels at all three sites,” said Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran requested the U.N. Security Council meeting, calling on the 15-member body “to address this blatant and unlawful act of aggression, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

Israel‘s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement on Sunday that the U.S. and Israel “do not deserve any condemnation, but rather an expression of appreciation and gratitude for making the world a safer place.”

Danon told reporters before the council meeting that it was still early when it came to assessing the impact of the U.S. strikes. When asked if Israel was pursuing regime change in Iran, Danon said: “That’s for the Iranian people to decide, not for us.”

The post UN Security Council Meets on Iran as Russia, China Push for a Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel Rejects Critical EU Report Ahead of Ministers’ Meeting

FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

Israel has rejected a European Union report saying it may be breaching human rights obligations in Gaza and the West Bank as a “moral and methodological failure,” according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.

The note, sent to EU officials ahead of a foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday, said the report by the bloc’s diplomatic service failed to consider Israel’s challenges and was based on inaccurate information.

“The Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel rejects the document … and finds it to be a complete moral and methodological failure,” the note said, adding that it should be dismissed entirely.

The post Israel Rejects Critical EU Report Ahead of Ministers’ Meeting first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’

FILE PHOTO: Pope Leo XIV holds a Jubilee audience on the occasion of the Jubilee of Sport, at St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican June 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo

Pope Leo on Sunday said the international community must strive to avoid war that risks opening an “irreparable abyss,” and that diplomacy should take the place of conflict.

US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites overnight, joining an Israeli assault in a major new escalation of conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to defend itself.

“Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” Pope Leo said during his weekly prayer with pilgrims.

“No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future. Let diplomacy silence the weapons, let nations chart their future with peace efforts, not with violence and bloody conflicts,” he added.

“In this dramatic scenario, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population, especially in Gaza and other territories, risks being forgotten, where the need for adequate humanitarian support is becoming increasingly urgent,” Pope Leo said.

The post Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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