AN OUTBURST FROM A BRAZILIAN JEW TIRED OF WAR

1- How do I feel about the dilemma of being Jewish and/or Brazilian? I can say with conviction, after much reflection, that I am a Brazilian who follows some of the Jewish traditions and customs that were passed down to me by my beloved parents (may God embraces their souls), survivors of the Nazi Holocaust. I could define myself as a secular Jew in the sense given to it by Baruch Spinoza and later by Moses Mendelssohn's Haskalah (Enlightenment). I am fully aware of my Jewish identity, but I am equally convinced that I am Brazilian. Although I spent a year as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, I am not and do not feel Israeli.

2 - My social and political commitment is to Brazil, which gave my parents refuge in 1945 and for which I have immense love and gratitude. I therefore have no dual citizenship or dual loyalty to two countries. "I live in Patropi, I am a Flamengo fan, I had a Fuska ( WV beetle) and a guitar, and I dated a black girl named Tereza. ( Famous Brazilian song). I play the surdo ( the biggest bass drum in a Samba Parade) and pandeiro (tamborin) in carnival blocks, I dance in ciranda circles in Bohemian Lapa streets; I climb Ladeira do Pelô in Bahia to the rhythm of the Olodum drums. On the other hand, I go to synagogue on religious holidays and my wife lights the two Shabbat candles, praying in Hebrew. I see no contradiction in these two positions, as I am a Brazilian Jew. With all due respect, Mr. President Lula, (regarding your request that Brazilian Jews write to Netanyahu expressing their opposition to the war in Gaza), I believe that it is Am Israel (the People of Israel) who should speak out about the serious problems Israel is currently facing, with its messianic and supremacist far-right government, and not me or any Brazilian Jew, whether more or less religious. I vote in Brazil, not in Israel. I have Brazilian and European citizenship (for convenience), but not Israeli citizenship.

3- Unfortunately, in Brazil (and almost everywhere else), we have a binary polarization that offers us no options outside of black OR white, left OR right, progressive OR reactionary, environmentalist OR denialist, etc. There is no third way in sight, in Brazil, ( or in USA).

We will also have to choose in 2026 between a left-wing candidate with several cultural flaws OR a fascist Bolsonaro who will not hesitate to pardon all criminals who plotted coups, murders, barbaric invasions of heritage sites, and then shut down the Supreme Court. Therefore, I will stick with our leftist president, with whom, despite the discomfort that many right wings Jews feel with some of his statements, we still breathe full democracy.

4- I lived through the military dictatorship, AI5, ( an unconstitutional amendment that during militar dictatorship suppressed basic rights such as habeas corpus and imprisonment without the right to defense, torture and the closure of Congress and the Supreme Court ) and during this.period I had friends who "committed suicide," disappeared, and were exiled. I saw this film and didn't like it at all. I'd rather swallow some of the old union leader's criticism against Israel's present government than have to see the nation I love so much handed over to the Bolsonaro's family which is of the lowest moral, ethical, and political standing. Milician gangsters, coup plotters, and torturers.

5- Therefore, dear friends, I will continue to swallow the anti-Zionist toads of our current president, poorly advised by Rasputian gurus, than have to fear even the walls of my apartment next to my neighbor's, who might report me; of getting into a taxi and remaining silent, because the driver might be from the DOI-CODI ( the Brazilian Gestapo) and take me straight to the DOPS ( the political underground dungeon) to be tortured and never seen again.

I think you understand me, right?

5- The purpose of this text is to establish a clear position regarding the Jewish radical right, which has systematically criticized me as a renegade and heretical Jew, as well as the far left, which considers that Jews, in general, are not like original citizens, as they are ambiguous about their belonging to their homeland and Israel, thus being servants of two masters at the same time. This criticism has intensified after the bloody war in Gaza and the concomitant attacks Brazil has suffered from the Brown Bear with the Orange Tuft and his Bolsonaro-like henchmen.

6- Below, a photo of the massive demonstrations against Israel's supremacist government in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities. This fact still gives me some hope and restores the pride I once felt in a country built by socialist idealistic leaders on swamps, deserts, and the ashes of the Holocaust. If I were Israeli, I would be there among these people. In Brazil, I will participate in all demonstrations against the attacks on the constitutional order, as well as the attacks on our sovereignty by the aforementioned Orange Bear and his Bozo-like henchmen.

Please, if you agree, share this text with due credit. If you object, you can even curse me, but do it intelligently so I don't mind.