Israel-Palestine War Throws Off Latin American Leftist Leaders

World Politics Review (WPR) chronicled the struggle of Latin American leftist leaders to respond to the ongoing crisis in Palestine. From Argentina to Chile, local demographics and politics intersected with a perceived need to articulate a point of view on Hamas’s attack on Israel and Israel’s disproportionate response to it.

“I was shocked by the terrorist attacks carried out… against civilians in Israel, which caused numerous victims. In expressing my condolences to the families of the victims, I reaffirm my rejection of terrorism in any of its forms,” said Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

On the other hand, WPR noted that Colombian President Gustavo Petro was more firmly in Palestine’s camp. “The only way for Palestinian children to sleep in peace is for Israeli children to sleep in peace. The only way for Israeli children to sleep in peace is for Palestinian children to sleep in peace. War will never achieve this,” he tweeted.

Several countries in Latin America have large Jewish or Palestinian diasporic communities, influencing responses. For example, Chile has 500,000 Palestinians, the largest number of any country outside the Middle East.

This article was published by the Globetrotter News Service