COMMENTARY Gustavo Petro's disgraceful support of Hamas and Ron DeSantis' disgraceful demonization of Palestinians only threaten to stoke anti-Semitic and Islamophobic violence in this hemisphere.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, please meet Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Yes, you鈥檙e a left-winger, Mr. Petro, and you鈥檙e a right-winger, Mr. DeSantis.
But you two have a lot in common at this moment 鈥� namely, your asinine and irresponsible remarks about the deadly tragedy unfolding in Israel this month, the kind of words that can help make spin-off violence here in this hemisphere more likely.
I addressed President Petro鈥檚 witless take in this space last week. The terrorist group Hamas had just murdered hundreds of Israeli civilians 鈥� and yet Petro called Israel鈥檚 justifiable military response to that heinous slaughter 鈥淣azism.鈥�
READ MORE: By failing the statesman test on Hamas, Petro fails it in Colombia, too
I pointed out that Petro and his leftist ilk certainly have reason, as does anyone, to criticize Israel鈥檚 often segregationist policies toward the Palestinians, which Hamas delusionally claims to be avenging.
But Petro鈥檚 absurd attempt to obscure Hamas鈥� raw massacre of Jewish innocents by branding the Israeli government 鈥淣azis鈥� confirmed that he鈥檚 anything but a statesman.
He is, rather, the same sort of juvenile ideologue we see apologizing for Hamas鈥� horror on so many U.S. college campuses right now.
What鈥檚 more, Petro, as a head of state, is signaling to the vast legions of other juvenile ideologues out there that it鈥檚 OK to stay silent about the Hamas homicide, if not excuse or even encourage it.
We watched Hamas fans in Colombia paint swastikas on the Israeli embassy in Bogot谩 last week. God knows what other worse anti-Semitic brutishness Petro鈥檚 rhetoric might stoke, especially as he doubles down on his recklessness by threatening to sever ties with Israel because the Israeli ambassador to Colombia had the effrontery to publicly criticize his effrontery.
But, as if to make sure the right wing in the Americas isn鈥檛 outdone, Republican Governor DeSantis over the weekend answered Petro鈥檚 rants by saying: hold my Islamophobic Kool-Aid.
What other hate crimes might be in the offing on this side of the Atlantic if political opportunists like Petro and DeSantis keep pounding the bellows?
DeSantis, whose presidential primary campaign is sputtering, went Full Anti-Muslim Monty in yet another desperate bid to poach voters from former President Donald Trump鈥檚 MAGA base.
He screamed that the U.S. should not take in any of the Palestinians, who are mostly Muslim, who鈥檝e been made refugees by this new, brutal war in Gaza. The reason, he ludicrously declared: they鈥檙e 鈥渁ll anti-Semitic.鈥�
It was an astonishing echo of DeSantis鈥� loutish pronouncement during a gubernatorial visit to Israel in 2019, when he said all Palestinians 鈥渢each their kids in school to hate Jews, to hate Israel.鈥�
It鈥檚 bad enough to demonize all Palestinians wholesale as anti-Semites 鈥� and, in turn, cheerleaders of Hamas鈥� terror. That's as baldly false and bigoted as labeling every Israeli a 鈥淣azi鈥� who hates Muslims and Palestinians.
Unprepared for statesmanship
But what made DeSantis鈥� bombast doubly disturbing is that he disgorged it on the same weekend a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy was viciously stabbed to death outside Chicago, allegedly by his family鈥檚 landlord 鈥� whose Islamophobia, police say, had grown deranged watching news coverage of the Israel conflict.
The boy鈥檚 mother survived the knife attack, during which the landlord reportedly shouted, 鈥淵ou Muslims must die!鈥�
Again: what other hate crimes might be in the offing on this side of the Atlantic if political opportunists like DeSantis keep pounding the bellows?
Like Petro鈥檚 outburst, DeSantis鈥� blast is a reminder that Florida鈥檚 governor is less than prepared or fit for the statesmanship a presidency requires.
DeSantis already warned us of that earlier this year when, once again hoping to woo MAGA nativists, he dismissed Russia鈥檚 barbaric invasion of Ukraine as nothing more than a little 鈥渢erritorial dispute鈥� that was of no interest to the U.S. (He later walked the remarks back under GOP pressure.)
I congratulate DeSantis鈥� effort this week to charter flights to bring home Florida Jews stuck in the middle of the Israel chaos. Still, even in that gesture he and Petro are kindred spirits.
Petro鈥檚 posturing seems less about championing Palestinians than about burnishing his leftist 鈥渞evolutionary鈥� street cred in Latin America.
Likewise, DeSantis鈥� crusade feels less about defending Jews 鈥� this is a governor, after all, who鈥檚 loath to condemn neo-Nazi rallies in his state 鈥� than about catering to evangelical Trump voters who consider the Israeli state a necessary Biblical actor in the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Either way, as the war in Israel intensifies, we over here don鈥檛 deserve the spectacle of Petro and DeSantis. They, however, do deserve each other.
