SÃO PAULO (Palestine Foundation Information Center)Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets of São Paulo on Sunday in a mass protest against the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, demanding their government to cut all ties with Israel.
The march began at Roosevelt Square and moved through Paulista Avenue, with demonstrators decrying Israel’s crimes and calling for severing all political, economic, and cultural relations with it.
“We need to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Being Jewish does not mean being Zionist,” said Slavia, a Jewish Brazilian protester, adding, “This genocide has gone on for more than 600 days. We must pressure our government to act.”
Political activist Samara Bisley, from the Revolutionary Workers’ Party, echoed the urgency, “More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed. It’s time President Lula ends all cooperation with Israel. We are witnessing a real Palestinian holocaust.”
The crowd chanted slogans such as “Israel is a racist state” and “Cut ties with Israel now,” while speakers condemned the international silence and Israeli attacks on civilians, hospitals, and schools.
Thuraya Musleh, coordinator of the Palestinian Front in São Paulo, said, “What’s happening in Gaza is part of a long-term strategy to erase Palestinian presence. We are here to resist, to ensure that Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.”
Activist Tiago Ávila, recently banned from entering Israel for 100 years after attempting to break the Gaza siege by sea, described the march as historic.
“The Palestinian struggle is our struggle. Like past generations defeated fascism, we must now defeat Zionism and imperialism,” he said.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva added his voice to the outcry earlier this month, saying, “What’s happening in Gaza is not war—it’s genocide. The world must not remain silent. Recognizing Palestine is a moral and political necessity.”
Since October 7, 2023, Israeli occupation forces, with full US back up, have killed or wounded over 184,000 Palestinians—most of them women and children—and displaced hundreds of thousands in Gaza.
