VIDEO: Brazil’s Lula Evasive on Weapons Embargo to Israel

At a press conference at the United Nations last month, Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s, who has been saying all year that the Israelis are committing genocide, was asked in part:

“Do you think maybe it’s time to ask for a global weapons embargo to Israel?”

In response, he gave a relatively long answer talking about strengthening the UN, the October 7 death toll, how Hamas should “free the hostages,” and even “greenhouse gas emissions.”

Nowhere to be found: a direct answer to the actual question about a weapons embargo.

This was on September 25, 2024:

Transcript of this English translation, which was provided in real time during the live UN stream:

REPORTER: Thank you for this opportunity, Mr. President. I’d like to ask you about the situation in Lebanon… over 500 people were killed, and now the Israeli military personnel announced that they are preparing for a land attack in Lebanon. How do you, sir, assess this, and do you think maybe it’s time to ask for a global weapons embargo to Israel?”

LULA: I think it’s important for us to remember that in Lebanon, the total of death toll is 625. It’s the largest death toll since the civil war that lasted from 1987 and 1990.

It’s important also to remember that 93 weapon have passed away, 50 children, 258 people were injured, and actually 10,000 people were forced to retreat, and were displaced from their homes.

And then also, in the West Bank, we’ve seen the death of a lot of people. We have 5,700 people injured in the occupied West Bank. 160 children, and so on. And we received that 770 people died, according to the health ministry from Palestine. And besides what I call the “genocide.”

It’s important to remember that Prime Minister Netanyahu was put on trial by the ICC, the International Criminal Court, and he was convicted, as Putin was condemned.

And it’s important that many discussions were made in the UN Security Council, and many attempts of peace and ceasefire were passed, and he does not abide to these resolutions.

And so that’s why we are in this fight to strengthen the UN as a tool that has the strength to make the decisions and make things happen.

But also, certainly I believe that the countries that sustain the speeches of Prime Minister Netanyahu, I think that these countries that support him should make more of an endeavor so that this genocide should stop.

Because we are now in a situation on one side taking care of the planet, to see [that] we have a better quality of life for the planet, and we can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, and to diminish the fires, and conserve the forest and the water.

And on the other side, human beings killing themselves. There’s no explanation for that.

And so, I condemn, in a very strong way, this kind of behavior from the Israeli government, that I’m sure – absolutely sure – that the majority of people in Israel [do] not agree with this genocide. I’m sure of that.

It’s also important to remember that, when everything started, Israel said that it had 1,400 people dead, according to the Israeli government. That is to say, the number has fallen down to 149 [?] people that were murdered.

And so we’re fighting to free the hostages from Hamas. It is meaningless to keep people hostage – innocent people. And so it’s important that Hamas gives its share of the contribution so that we can have much more [emphasis] and demand on the Israeli government to free/release the hostages, so that things can go back to normality.

So that’s it. I think humanity cannot live with and accept and consider normal what’s going in Israel, and what’s going on in the Gaza Strip, and what’s going on in Sudan, Yemen, and West Bank that is occupied.