Response to Guga Chacra's article about Jews and Israel.

Today Guga Chacra published in The Globe An article titled “Bolsonaro, Israel, and Antisemitism” makes at least misguided and irresponsible statements regarding this already complex topic. Therefore, as a Jew and a social and political activist, I feel obligated to expose and correct them, as such falsehoods only generate more misinformation. And misinformation breeds more stereotypes, prejudices, and racism.

In a brief text in which Chacra weighs Bolsonaro's actions regarding Jews and Israel, mildly accusing him of being "complicit in some unacceptable behaviors," he makes major errors when he states: "The president of Brazil has a good relationship with the Jewish community and is a genuine defender of Israel."

Double wrong. The first mistake: The president of Brazil doesn't have a good relationship with the Jewish community, but rather with a PART of the Jewish community. Approximately half of it. With the other half, which is completely opposed to his government, he has a terrible relationship, obviously. This part opposed to Bolsonaro organizes itself into various groups and collectives, such as 'Jewish Democratic Resistance', 'Jews for Democracy', 'Jewish Observatory for Human Rights in Brazil', 'Jews with Lula', among others, and fights the president of the republic daily.

The second mistake: No, he is not a genuinely pro-Israel supporter in any way. He is a supporter and – in plain English – a huge sycophant of Netanyahu's right-wing government. And that is completely different from being a "defender of Israel." Being a defender of Israel includes recognizing that the 20% of the country's Arab population should have the same rights as the Jewish majority; it includes recognizing that peace and understanding with the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza is essential for the entire Israeli population; and it includes understanding that Israel is a progressive, pluralistic, multicultural land and should remain so, and not become the unrealistic and fundamentalist scenario that neo-Pentecostal Christians idealize and demand.

In conclusion, one more piece of advice for Guga Chacra: he also states that Bolsonaro “cannot be labeled anti-Semitic” and that he “does not consider him anti-Semitic.” I suggest he leave those assessments to the Jews. After all, a person who acts as he does, who rewrites history saying that Nazism was leftist, that the Holocaust “should not be forgotten, but should be forgiven,” is, for many Jewish people – including myself – a very big anti-Semite.

I ask for more attention and care the next time you write about such an important topic as this, about which – it seems – you don't have much knowledge.