Brazil Always for Peace

It is necessary to act when it can make a difference.

It should have been obvious, facing the bloodbath we have witnessed in recent days in Israel and Palestine, that the international community would arrive at a consensus on the need for a cease-fire. That is not what we’re seeing.

The U.S. vetoed the U.N. Security Council resolution drafted by Brazil, which could have prevented continued bombings and brought water, food and electricity to the innocent civilian population of the Gaza Strip. Washington’s view was that the text did not sufficiently express Israel’s right to defend itself.

Curiously, Brazil is one of the few countries, perhaps the only one, with the potential to break the vicious cycle of war. We have no conflict liabilities. With an altruistic posture founded on our permanent interests, Brazil has the political conditions, materials and people to propose a peacekeeping operation under the aegis of the U.N.

A Brazilian mission would need to be made up of our troops and complemented by forces from countries which, like Brazil, have no direct geopolitical interests in the region. This contribution would not be unprecedented. In the 1950s and 1960s, Brazil played a decisive role in the U.N. peacekeeping force stationed in Gaza. The role of the peacekeeping force is so important it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.

Other nations inevitably view any great power in the northern hemisphere today with suspicion when it involves the Middle East. The current impasse in the Security Council reflects the United States’ attempt to impose hegemonic power and reflects the fear that it will erode. Even worse, the impasse evokes distrust in relation to a new configuration of power forming in Western Asia.

Situated outside this setting, Brazil can serve as an impartial mediator, sufficiently disinterested and detached from regional issues, but sufficiently capable and interested in promoting peace and elevating its international profile.

Just like between 1957 and 1967, when we played a decisive role in ensuring the Middle East would live in peace, that involvement, now renewed, is even more important. In those 10 years, the mission that comprised more than 6,000 young compatriots were responsible for bringing peace to Gaza — and were honored for this.

Brazil joined the peacekeeping force in Lebanon in 2011 contributing more than 2,000 soldiers. Between 2004 and 2017, Brazil was involved in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti in which 37,000 soldiers handled coordination jobs and the military command. The mission brought prestige and recognition to Brazil due to the excellence of our personnel’s performance and the provision of the largest contingent of troops,

Our technical and diplomatic credentials are based on the moral duty to act for peace at this moment when the world fears the worst outcome for the crisis. Unlike the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East provides reason and tradition to offer a conciliatory voice and a conciliatory attitude. President Lula da Silva, known around the world for his ability to mediate could now play a crucial role in advancing this process at the upcoming Egypt peace summit.

We cannot refrain from taking an active role when we have the potential to make a difference. Peace operations are an important pillar of Brazil’s international involvement, and now, at a time when the country is returning to democratic normality, Brazil can contribute by playing a central role in writing an urgently needed new chapter of world peace.