"Genocide is not synonymous with Holocaust": Michel Gherman explains why he considered Lula's statement disastrous.

247 - Professor Michel Gherman, one of the leading scholars on Jewish issues in Brazil, described President Lula's statement as "disastrous," in which the Brazilian head of state... He compared the genocide perpetrated by Israel in the Gaza Strip to the Holocaust..

In an interview with the Boa Noite 247 program this Monday (19), the historian stated that both cases are genocides, but that, when analyzing each case technically, they have structural differences. "I think the word genocide is not a synonym for Holocaust. [...] I think any word that names a specific genocide is bad, because genocides are produced by their perpetrators, not by their victims. The Nazi genocide, the Rwandan genocide, the Serbian genocide... I think this is important for us to lose the notion of linking genocide to its victims [as in the case of the Holocaust]", he said.

"Gaza produces the notion of a genocide typical of post-war genocides. It's very similar to Rwanda, for example, because it has a supposed logic of 'response,' of using the idea that the victims are responsible for the attack, of ethnic cleansing... the Nazi genocide in the 30s and 40s has nothing to do with that, it's something else. I'm not saying it's better or worse, but it's different. Nazism was an ideologically constructed genocide. It began in the 30s when Hitler started killing people with disabilities, it's a different story [compared to what is currently seen in the Middle East]. The political use of the Holocaust or Hitler to talk about Gaza weakens President Lula's narrative and strengthens the far right," the professor stated.

Lula could emerge stronger. Despite disagreeing with Lula's statement, Gherman still sees possibilities for the Brazilian president to emerge stronger after the episode – which he considered a trap. "President Lula has the potential to create a category that is little recognized, but which Lula does in a sublime way, which is the category of 'peace'. Lula speaks about peace and it makes sense. So, when he condemns the Hamas terrorist attack, he does so because he doesn't want Israeli children to be killed, just as he doesn't want Palestinian children to be killed. And that's precisely why a statement like his harms not Brazil or Brazilian Jews, it's a statement that removes Lula from that position [of promoting peace], it's a statement that harms him," the historian assessed.

"But, at the same time, there's a real possibility that Lula will emerge stronger than he entered. Because he can leave one place and go to another, he can say that the comparison and the use of the word [Hitler] were a mistake and apologize. And then he can return to that place of absolute privilege in terms of the possibility of mobilizing leaders. This government [Netanyahu] is going to fall, and it will fall sooner than we imagine. And whoever takes its place will forget anything Netanyahu has produced in relation to Lula," concluded the professor. Watch the full interview in the video below: