[wvns] Brazil's Pres Refuses to visit Herzl Grave

Brazil's president refuses visit to Herzl's grave
16.03.2010
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/03/15/1011108/brazils-president-refuses-visit-to-herzls-grave

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Brazil's president said he would not
visit the grave of Theodor Herzl during his first official visit to
Israel.

President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, who arrived in Israel on Sunday, refused to visit Herzl's grave, which is part of the
itinerary for visiting foreign officials this year in honor of the 150th anniversary of the father of Zionism. The Brazilian president is
reportedly scheduled to visit the grave of Yasir Arafat during a visit
to Ramallah.

"It is an insult to Israel's citizens and to Zionist communities around the world," World Zionist Organization head Hagai Merom said Monday. "Avoiding putting a wreath at Herzl's grave is the same as refusing to visit the graves of Mustafa Kemal Ata Turk in Turkey or the tomb of Mahatma Ghandi in India."

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden shamelessly visited the grave last week.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman boycotted Lula's address to the Knesset Monday afternoon, to protest his refusal to visit Herzl's grave. The Foreign Ministry said that Lieberman wanted to show the Brazilian leader that Israel takes seriously his dismissal of diplomatic protocols, Haaretz reported..

Lula said prior to his trip that new countries should help mediate between Israel and the Palestinians.

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