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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.
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Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
The post Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
The post Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
The post Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.