Open letter to Father Lancelotti

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By JORGE SCHWARTZ*

The goal of Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Iran has nothing to do with the creation of a Palestinian state, but with the disappearance of the State of Israel

Dear Father Lancelotti, for some years now I have been your unconditional admirer for your courage in dealing personally and directly with the extremely difficult situation of homeless people. This is what led me to be a collaborator at São Miguel Arcanjo Parish for years, through monthly deposits as well as promoting its actions.

At this moment I am writing to you about your speech on November 5, 2023, at the Pro-Palestine demonstration on Avenida Paulista (cf. on Youtube Lancelotti + Palestine). I speak as a Jew and as a homosexual descendant of Hungarians who died in a concentration camp and for the mere fact of being Jews, nothing more. I recognize that you, in your vehement speech, clarify that this is not about all Jews or all Israelis.

I have always been in favor of the creation of two states and I have always disapproved of Benjamin Netanyahu's policy, trying at any cost to conquer Arab lands to create a greater Israel, an old project of the extreme right and orthodox religious radicals. A powerful minority at this time. In fact, I think that what is happening today is a direct consequence of this totally mistaken policy, which has aroused great opposition within Israel from a large part of the population.

What surprised me in his crazy speech on the street when he states in solidarity “being Palestinian”, is that he accuses and holds Israel responsible only, without a single mention of October 7th, the Hamas terrorist attack that killed more than 1200 civilian citizens of the in a more brutal way, without going into details.

Also the total silence about the 200 or more kidnapped by Hamas; It is possible that by the end of this war they will pay with their lives and that many will have already died.

What is happening today is an unequivocal response to the bombings, thousands of bombs were counted, and they continue to be launched by Hamas. Israel never failed to respond to attacks, and evidently Hamas and the world knew there would be a military response. What should Israel do in response: limit itself to crying and praying for the dead at the Western Wall and in synagogues? We have already seen the fiasco of the United Nations in trying to bring peace to this region.

The goal of Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Iran has nothing to do with the creation of a Palestinian state, but with the disappearance of the State of Israel. In fact, the desired two-state solution would leave these movements without a cause to fuel them. See that pacifists such as former Egyptian president Anwar Al Sadat and Itzhak Rabin were cowardly murdered, the latter by a young orthodox Israeli.

What leads me to write to you is that you, as an opinion leader, do not at any time condemn Hamas as the trigger for the process that led to Israel's disproportionate response. Ignoring or remaining silent about Hamas' cruel initiative means agreeing with the greater cause of the disappearance of the State of Israel. Losing the war would mean the end of a nation for Israel, a risk that no Arab nation takes.

The Palestinian Authority is the one representing the Palestinian Authority and not Hamas, which, after this unprecedented war and terrorist victory, enters the stage of the nations when it is officially received by Vladimir Putin, who has just, not by chance, withdrawn from the nuclear agreements.

It bothered me that a notorious representative of the Church made a speech in an incendiary tone, the result of hatred.

I advise you to read Leonardo Boff's text, posted on the website the earth is round, no less sensitized by the Palestinian cause, but in my opinion a fair and considered speech. I don't want to extend and take up more of your time; as an agnostic that I am, I wish God bless you,

Ps: I always wonder where God is, allowing the death of millions of Jewish children in the Holocaust, Israeli children and Palestinian children. What did these children do to deserve this fate?

* George Schwartz He is a full professor of Hispanic-American Literature at USP. Author, among other books, of fervor of the vanguards (Companhia das Letras).


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