As Israel continues to fight Hamas terrorists as a result of the October 7 attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead, international perceptions continue to remain polarized. Brazilian President Luiz Lula da Silva compared Israel to Nazi Germany in a recent speech, which earned condemnation from Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) on X (formerly Twitter).
Translated from Portuguese, President da Silva said, "What is happening in the Gaza Strip and with the Palestinian people does not exist at any other historical moment. In fact, it existed when Hitler decided to kill the Jews."
Rep. Moskowitz gave a swift rebuttal on X, pointing out that there are "No concentration camps, no gas chambers, no ovens, no firing squads, no box car trains, no ripping people’s teeth out, no experimentations. Nobody is Hitler and nothing is the Holocaust. You lose credibility to help the people of Gaza when you diminish Hitler."
Nope. No concentration camps, no gas chambers, no ovens, no firing squads, no box car trains, no ripping people’s teeth out, no experimentations.
Nobody is Hitler and nothing is the Holocaust. You lose credibility to help the people of Gaza when you diminish Hitler. https://t.co/cGpjdbne7P
— Jared Moskowitz 🟧 (@JaredEMoskowitz) February 18, 2024
Since the beginning of the conflict in October, Rep. Moskowitz has not been shy to call out antisemitism among critics of Israel's conduct. During a House Oversight Committee hearing later in October, the Florida Congressman said antisemitism is a bipartisan issue.
"Both parties are failing because you know what? Each of them have no problem calling out anti-Semitism when the other side does it. The Republicans will call out the ‘Squad,’ Democrats will call out Republican members when they say Jews and space lasers," said Moskowitz.
More to the point, he voted in favor of placing pro-Palestine Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) under censure in November and demanded the resignations of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, Harvard University President Claudine Gay, and MIT President Sally Kornbluth for their controversial remarks in a December hearing on antisemitism in college campuses.
But antisemitism in the wake of the October 7th attack is not limited to the United States, as President de Silva's recent statement suggests. In October, shortly after the attack, President of Colombia Gustavo Petro made a similar comparison between Israel and Nazi Germany, which earned condemnation from Representative Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL).
This did not stop Colombia, Bolivia, and Chile from withdrawing their diplomats from Israel in protest, earning further condemnation from Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL).
