![]() ![]() ![]() Last year he was voted the most popular congressman by Brazilian news website Congresso em Foco and was named by The Economist as one of the 50 most important public figures championing diversity. Wyllys came to national prominence in 2005 as the first openly gay winner of the wildly popular reality TV show “Big Brother Brazil.” A university professor of humble origin, he won over the national audience with his erudition and intellect, and converted his celebrity into being elected as the only openly gay member of the national Congress in 2010. PSOL positions itself as the left-wing alternative to the more moderately left PT, making Wyllys’ statements particularly surprising. Under both Rousseff and her predecessor, PT’s Lula da Silva, their party has been vocally supportive of Palestinians. Brazil’s nominally leftist Worker’s Party (PT) government, led by embattled President Dilma Rousseff, has refused to accept the appointment of Dani Dayan as Israel’s ambassador to Brazil on the grounds that he is a proponent of Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Wyllys’ controversial visit to Israel and his defense of Israeli policies come at a particularly tense moment in bilateral relations. The Intercept repeatedly posed questions to Congressman Wyllys for this article through his staff, but neither he nor his aides have responded directly to inquiries. That sentiment is reflective of the left-wing backlash triggered by his trip and subsequent remarks. “Lamentable and deplorable, Congressman Jean Wyllys’ comments about his visit to Israel reveal a crass ignorance of and total misinformation about Israel’s current human rights policies,” he said. In a video message posted today on Facebook, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, a popular Brazilian diplomat who served on the country’s Truth Commission on human rights abuses that took place during the era of Brazil’s military dictatorship and was the U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, harshly criticized the congressman. Wyllys’ unexpected stance is one of the most powerful cases yet to highlight the tried-and-true tactic of exploiting liberal social issues to generate left-wing support for militarism. The legislator, Jean Wyllys, has angered much of the base of the leftist Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), which he represents, after participating in a conference at an Israeli university with deep ties to human rights abuses against Palestinians and then defending that decision with anti-Palestinian talking points common among hard-core Israel defenders. ![]() A POPULAR LEFT-WING Brazilian congressman known for his leadership in the social justice movement is trying to fend off a major backlash from his left flank while he travels in Israel. ![]()
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