Jewish organizations condemn Gustavo Petro’s anti-Semitic statements

Several Jewish organizations condemned the recent anti-Semitic expressions posted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro on X.

In a post in which he blamed Israel for the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who severed diplomatic ties with Israel in 2024, invoked an old anti-Semitic trope about Jewish control over global finance.

In a confusing post filled with dubious historical claims, Petro said, among other things, that "today the incapable action of Zionism, strongly backed by the international financial capital they partially control, prevents peace and unleashes horror on Palestine, leading its most radical factions into the trap set by terrorism."

"His anti-Israel obsession and constant misrepresentation of history fuel hatred and perpetuate dangerous myths"

In response to hate speech by the Colombian president, whose son acknowledged in 2023 that his father's campaign was financed by drug traffickers, Marina Rosenberg, senior vice president of International Affairs at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and former ambassador of Israel to Chile, said on the social network X that "it is unacceptable that @petrogustavo resorts to anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish control of financial capital. His anti-Israel obsession and constant misrepresentation of history fuel hatred and perpetuate dangerous myths."

Marcos Peckel, director of the Jewish Community of Colombia, also criticized the Colombian leader's remarks on X.

"Mr. President @petrogustavo, I will not refer to the multiple historical inaccuracies in your trill. Just a reflection regarding what you mention about peace. As you well know and have experienced, peace is negotiated between enemies so it is necessary to maintain channels of dialogue," said Peckel.

The community leader added: "By breaking diplomatic relations with Israel, beyond many other damages, Colombia was left without interlocution with one of the parties to the conflict. This prevents us as a country and you as president from participating in efforts to achieve peace and reconciliation, and at the same time it constitutes an obstacle to any humanitarian efforts.”

"With much respect, President, there is time to make amends," he concluded.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center Latin America denied on X the historical mentions made by Petro, who in his hateful post argued that the Palestinians welcomed the Jews in 1948, fleeing the Nazis with the intention of coexisting, supposedly as they had done with the Jews already living in the Levant. However, according to the Colombian leader, "the nationalist influx forged a political current under the newly created state of Israel that led to the violent expulsion of Palestinians from their own homes and villages."

"There was never justice for the Palestinian people, they were segregated in their own homeland and factions of their midst had to resort to armed national liberation struggle," Petro added in an attempt to justify Palestinian terrorism.

However, the Simon Wiesenthal Center Latin America pointed out that Petro "tells a story of good Palestinians and bad Jews. It is worth remembering that since the creation of the State of Israel, Palestinian leaders have not accepted any proposal for peaceful coexistence and even less have they proposed it.”