“Those in many European governments who viewed Gustavo Petro as a leftist reformer with clear democratic values saw another side this week,” a diplomat in Paris told me. “His refusal to condemn Hamas’ brutal terrorism is unacceptable: it will cost him dearly,” he added.
In Washington, where Joe Biden’s government looks down on Petro, they too are shocked. The State Department supported Special Ambassador Against Antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt, who demanded that Petro “condemn Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization for its barbaric murder of men, women, and children.”
In a long series of trills on
He equated Israel with the Nazi regime that killed six million Jews and the Gaza Strip with the Auschwitz extermination camp. On Thursday, in reaction to the demolition of a hospital in Gaza, where dozens of civilians died, he said: “Israel’s barbarism against the Palestinian people far exceeds the barbarism of Hamas.”
It is not certain that the hospital was attacked by Israel, and on the contrary, video evidence and satellite images show that the rocket left Gaza: suspicions focus on the jihadist militia, a small Palestinian terrorist group.
Peter had no syndrome: he blamed Israel and also called for an investigation into the demolition of the hospital. Why investigate when someone who knows everything has already condemned Israel?
There is much to condemn about Israel, particularly its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra-Orthodox allies: Like Hamas on the Palestinian side, their actions have trashed the Oslo Accords. In addition to violating the agreements, efforts to establish settlements for Israeli settlers on Palestinian land in the West Bank also contributed to inflaming the atmosphere.
For years, missiles launched by Israel into Gaza in response to Hamas attacks have killed civilians, including many children, with the always reprehensible and painful side effects of the bombings. That humanitarian catastrophe continues now.
But none of this compares to Hamas’ behavior on Saturday, October 7, when it attacked several kibbutz and kidnapped and murdered the elderly, women, and minors in cold blood. There are grisly accounts of how attackers decapitated babies. Hamas’ barbarians also look like Nazis. The fact that Petro still did not condemn them until Friday delegitimized his harsh criticism of Israel.
It is possible to condemn Hamas without approving of Israel. The evidence was presented by Chilean President Gabriel Boric, a friend of Petro’s: “We condemn without any detail the brutal attacks, murders and kidnappings of Hamas,” he said. Nothing can justify them or relativize their most energetic denial. We also condemn the Israeli army’s indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Gaza…”
What differentiates Boric from Petro? The Chilean has never been a guerrilla, and this is no small matter. M-19, to which Petro belonged, kidnapped underage children, from whose parents they demanded ransoms of millions of dollars. Additionally, that guerrilla had connections with terrorists in the Middle East. Peter was supposed to put this behind him by laying down his weapons during the 1989-90 peace process. Did he have a nostalgia attack and that’s why he took off his mask?
* * * *
To the council. Bogotá Council candidate Nicolás de Francisco (No. 45 of Cambio Radical) saw an old man fall to the ground through a gap in the platform. He has been marking hundreds of loose signs ever since. This allegorical charge and its accurate suggestions make it worthy of next Sunday’s vote.
MAURICIO VARGAS
mvargaslina@hotmail.com
(Read all of Mauricio Vargas’ articles in EL TIEMPO here)
Source: Exame
