Dr. Ariel Gelblung Addresses Historic Brazilian Parliamentary Alliance

BUENOS AIRES / BRASILIA / LOS ANGELES (April 21, 2026) — Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) Director for Latin America, Dr. Ariel Gelblung, addressed the historic launch of the Brazil-Israel Parliamentary Front in Brasilia this week, marking a critical intervention in the Center's global advocacy against surging antisemitism.

The diplomatic mission, which coincided with the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, arrived on the heels of an alarming report from the Jewish Community of Brazil detailing a spike in antisemitic incidents and a dangerous normalization of hatred toward Jews.

During the launch, nearly two hundred members of parliament from both houses of Brazil’s Congress introduced a rigorous political agenda demanding the restoration of full diplomatic relations between the two nations and an end to Brazil's aggressive policies toward the Jewish state. Crucially, the coalition issued a mandate for Brazil to rejoin the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and codify its working definition of antisemitism into law.

Addressing the assembled parliamentarians, Dr. Gelblung underscored the vital importance of international alliances in the face of rising hate:

“On Yom HaShoah, we remember that six million of our brothers and sisters were murdered because we were alone. No one spoke or acted to stand with us. When antisemitism is once again on the rise in the world, we must celebrate that members of parliament in Brazil's National Congress are raising their voices and standing with us.”

This profound legislative solidarity, which was further echoed in a special Holocaust Remembrance Day session in the Chamber of Deputies featuring testimony from a Holocaust survivor, stands in stark contrast to the deeply troubling actions of the Brazilian executive branch.

A seminar hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Human Rights, entitled “Confronting Antisemitism: Reflections on the International Landscape,” proved to be a vehicle for the very hatred it claimed to address.

Dr. Dario Pendzik, Assistant Director of the SWC for Latin America, noted, “The very fact that this conference was organized demonstrates the Lula administration’s concern about the rise in antisemitism. Reality is undeniable.”

Dr. Gelblung emphasized: "Yet, the government’s response to that reality was disastrous. During the seminar, the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs falsely and brazenly blamed the rise in global antisemitism on Israel’s 'genocidal policies,' completely erasing the atrocities of October 7, 2023. Further demonstrating a catastrophic failure of leadership, the government invited an activist to the seminar who openly denied the uniqueness of the Holocaust and glorified Hamas’s actions during the October 7 massacres. She was permitted to use a government platform to justify antisemitism under the guise of geopolitical commentary."

“This confirms that one of the main problems with the growth and normalization of antisemitism in Brazil is that the government not only makes it invisible but actively contributes to generating it through this narrative,” Dr. Gelblung concluded regarding the seminar. “Inviting a Holocaust distorter and Hamas apologist to a seminar on antisemitism is not just contradictory; it is dangerous.”

As a global human rights organization, the Simon Wiesenthal Center stresses that the fight against antisemitism by any nation requires moral clarity and combative action. It cannot be used as a cover to administer further hatred. SWC will continue to work with its allies in the Brazilian Congress and international partners to ensure accountability and demand that Brazil's executive leadership reverse this dangerous course.