One of the country's most well-known military personnel called Jews Bulldogs - and caused a stir • An official committee will discuss the issue • Member of Parliament for "Israel Today": "We will not allow hate speech"
Swastikas spray-painted on a Jewish cemetery in Strasbourg, France, in 2018
Photo:
AP
The Portuguese Constitution Committee will discuss today (Wednesday) the adoption of the definition of anti-Semitism by the International Task Force on the Commemoration of the Holocaust (IHRA).
The debate will take place after Rodrigo Sousa Castro, one of the country's most famous military men and one of the leaders of the "nail revolution" in 1974 who put an end to decades of dictatorship coming to Portugal, tweeted an antisemitic tweet last month on his Twitter account.
Castro tweeted that Jews have their own access to corona vaccines: "The Jews who control global finances buy and hold vaccines as historical revenge and I say no more, before the Zionist Bulldogs jump on me."
The former Revolutionary Council spokesman's tweet was deleted, not before provoking many waves - including by the Jewish communities of Lisbon and Porto and international Jewish organizations.
It was Telmo Correa, the head of the Conservative CDS party's faction in parliament, who came out against Castro's remarks, who even demanded from the Portuguese parliament "his concern about the rise of the anti-Semitism phenomenon".
He said on social media that they "reproduce stereotypes of hatred and that seek to incite against the Jewish people, 'especially' when they come from public figures who, according to their past (referring to Castro, etc.), would consider themselves unsuspecting in their reference to democratic values."
Katrina Pereira, a Member of Parliament for the Social Democratic Party PSD (considered the center-right in the country), also protested against the government - calling on it to adopt the IHRA's anti-Semitic definitions.
In a conversation that Pereira had with Israel Today, she said: "The current definition in the country regarding anti-Semitism is very broad, and we are interested in targeting it. Once we were exposed to Castro's words and their wide reactions on social media, we realized that action should be taken." "A unique history and we must make sure that nothing happens to them, we will certainly not allow a hate speech in any way and in any way."
At the same time, the Socialists issued a position paper to Parliament condemning Castro's remarks - a left-wing man himself - but did not call for active-real action on the matter.
