The death of Brazilian-Palestinian teenager Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmed, 17, in the Israeli prison of Meggido makes it “completely untenable” to keep diplomatic ties between Brazil and Israel. This is the position of the Palestinian Arab Federation in Brazil (Fepal, in Portuguese) in a statement on the death of Ahmed, who was arrested by the Israeli army in the West Bank on September 30, 2024.
“Perhaps it’s time for [Brazilian] Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira to review the very mild statement he gave on October 23, 2024, when he said that breaking ties with the genociders of Tel Aviv ‘was not under consideration’,” says the Fepal statement.
Fepal emphasizes that the time for diplomacy has been “buried” by Israel and demands that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party) take a new stance towards the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The text also highlights that breaking diplomatic ties and cooperation agreements with Israel “is a moral and legal obligation Brazil has with humanity, with the Palestinian people facing a final solution and with the Brazilian-Palestinian community, under penalty of going down in history as an actor accused of complicity in the Palestinian Holocaust.”
The federation also points out that the Megiddo detention center is known for “employing horrifying torture methods, including electric shocks, beatings, food deprivation and even the use of dogs to torture Palestinian hostages.”
Ahmed’s death was confirmed by the Brazilian office in Ramallah, West Bank. Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “its solidarity with the family and friends of the national and its sincere condolences, while continuing to demand from the Israeli government the necessary explanations regarding the death of the minor.”
Itamaraty also stresses that “the circumstances and exact date of death have not yet been clarified” and points out that eleven Brazilians residing in the State of Palestine are still imprisoned in Israel, “most of whom have not been formally charged or tried, in clear violation of international humanitarian law.”
