Open Letter to the President of Colombia Gustavo Petro

October 16, 2023

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Mr. President,

I have had the enormous pleasure of visiting your wonderful country on several occasions and interacting with its people.

A land where you can breathe freedom and coexistence. Respect for the neighbor's life project is a common value.

I have worked with its people in community, academic, legislative and judicial environments.

I have taught and learned from its modern anti-discrimination legislation and protection of human rights.

The Colombian People love the People of Israel and it would be very counterproductive for both to harm that relationship of affection.

On October 7, the world witnessed the terrorist attacks committed by members of Hamas against the civilian population of Israel, which included crimes against humanity not seen the Nazi Holocaust. Murders, beheadings, rapes, kidnappings, torture, including the murder mutilation of 40 Israeli infants in one community alone.
The global revulsion was almost unanimous, and unfortunately, we have not witnessed a forceful response from your side.

However, given the imminence of the expected response that will come from the State of Israel, we begin to be surprised by your statements.

The so-called Palestinian cause is no excuse. We all want peace and the right of the Palestinian people to live in peace is undoubted. But Hamas is not Palestine. It is a terrorist group that dominates its people, preventing them from developing and keeping them within the Gaza Strip in inhumane conditions.

They are the ones who prevent them from going out and living with dignity, not their neighbor Israel.
And they have now matched in cruelty and barbarity crimes that echo the Nazi genocide.

Since its Founding Charter and at every opportunity that arises, its leaders have sworn to extinguish us not only from the soil of the Middle East but in any place where we Jews are, including in your Blessed Land.

We recognize that you are a well prepared man and it is not desirable that any ideological position blind your common sense.

It is unacceptable that you compare the only Jewish nation, democratic and with freedom of religion, with the Nazi regime that systematically tried to erase us from the face of the earth.

It is unacceptable to affirm that Mossad created Hamas to divide the Palestinian People.

And finally, it is unacceptable that you use this conflict as an excuse to cut diplomatic relations between two nations that have historically loved each other and will continue to do so regardless of what their politicians maintain.

During the electoral campaign that led you to the highest mandate with which you have been dignified, you told the Jewish Community of Colombia that they should fear nothing. The latest escalation of statements, however, are beginning to generate danger of hostilities towards her that it is your responsibility to avoid.

Expelling the Israeli Ambassador who defends his country's right to exist is not the solution.

With all respect, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which I represent asks that you coherently with your political platform defend democracy, life, dialogue, freedom of belief and sexual choice, full rights of women and in this conflict, who identifies with those values reflected by the State of Israel—not terrorist Hamas.

At this critical time in history, punishing Israel for defending its people and dignity while giving Hamas terrorists a moral free pass would be an epic mistake that will reverberate against the best interests of the people of Colombia and the Jewish people.

Understanding this difference, and making it public in the way expected of a respected statesman, will contribute to the path of peace, so necessary in these circumstances.

Sincerely,
 
Dr Ariel Gelblung
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Director For Latin America

For further information, please contact Dr. Ariel Gelblung at +54 9 11 49695365, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.