The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, was recorded waving an Israeli flag at crowds of supporters at a massive rally in Sao Paulo on Sunday.
The rally was attended by approximately 185,000 people, according to a research group at the University of Sao Paulo. It was held in light of investigations against Bolosonaro for allegedly plotting a coup after denying election results after the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was elected in 2022.
Bolsonaro called individuals to show up to the rally on his X account, formerly Twitter, and in Brazilian media. Participants at the rally were seen holding signs in support of Israel as well as Israeli flags.
Former Brazilian President Waves Israeli and Brazilian Flags at Rally Against President Lula pic.twitter.com/eQgCLix437
— Adam Albilya - אדם אלביליה (@AdamAlbilya) February 25, 2024
Rally-goers could be seen carrying banners in São Paulo apologizing for current President Lula’s antisemitic statements about the Holocaust a few days ago. Signs read, “Brazilians want to tell the Jewish people that we are sorry.”
Anti-Lula protesters carried banners in São Paulo today apologizing for President Lula’s antisemitic statements about the Holocaust a few days ago.“Brazilians want to tell the Jewish people that we are sorry” pic.twitter.com/x5sn7sQUj2
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) February 25, 2024
Brazilian President Lula had compared Israel's war against Hamas to the Nazis' extermination of Jews in the Holocaust and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler a week earlier. According to a CNN Brasil poll, 83% of those polled disagreed with Lula’s comparison, illustrating that Lula’s sentiments are not representative of his constituents.
“What I seek is pacification. It is erasing the past,” Bolsonaro said in a speech at the rally as he held an Israeli flag, Euronews reported. “It is to seek a way for us to live in peace and stop being so jumpy. Amnesty for those poor people who are jailed in Brasilia. We ask all 513 congressmen and 81 senators for a bill of amnesty so justice can be made in Brazil.”
Bolosonaro denies attempted coup
Bolsonaro denied that he and his supporters attempted a coup while rioters assaulted government buildings a year earlier.
“What is a coup? It is tanks on the streets, weapons, and conspiracy. None of that happened in Brazil,” Bolosonaro said.
Bolsonaro is not allowed to run for office again until 2030 due to two convictions of abuse of power, although he remains active in politics as an adversary of Lula.
Several of Bolsonaro’s allies attended the rally, including Governors Tarcisio de Freitas of Sao Paolo state and Romeu Zema of Minas Gerais state.