Brazilian Governor Apologizes For Welcoming Hezbollah Official
Image by Getty Images
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — The governor of Brazil’s Sao Paulo state apologized to the Jewish community for welcoming a Muslim clergyman accused of having ties with Hezbollah.
Gov. Marcio Franca welcomed Sheikh Bilal Mohsen Wehbe as part of a group of members of the local Lebanese community during a visit to the state government headquarters on April 17. The fact was revealed by Veja magazine’s online edition on Saturday, followed by a condemnation statement released by the Sao Paulo Jewish Federation on Sunday.
“Unfortunately, Gov. Marcio Franca and his team ignored the organization’s links to smuggling and drug trafficking in the Triple Frontier region between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, as well as its radical stance calling for the destruction of the State of Israel, and gave legitimacy to a group recognized as terrorist by countless democratic countries,” the statement said.
Franca apologized to Jewish officials that he welcomed on Monday, including the president of the Brazilian Israelite Confederation, the country’s umbrella Jewish organization. During the meeting organized by Congressman Floriano Pesaro, who is Jewish, the governor declared he was not familiar with the names in the Lebanese delegation and admitted that “the check may have been flawed.”
“The shkeikh is the main name of the terrorist group Hezbollah in South America. Lebanese-born and naturalized Brazilian, Wehbe took on this role after Mohsen Rabbani was forced to flee from Argentina accused of having been the architect of the AMIA attack,” wrote Veja magazine.
The Jewish federation criticized the fact that “the highest authority of our state” welcomed the sheikh.
“As Brazilian Jews, we are obliged to alert, demand and always support the legally constituted authorities in the national territory, so that they remain truly alert in such situations and do not give shelter to those who find terror as a unique form of expression,” the federation statement said.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
