Special

Around the world, Zionist organizations have been leading a charge against free speech based on cynical, false charges of antisemitism.

Longtime industrial union leader and political activist faces 2 years' sentence for speech in defense of Palestinian liberation. His life story is the story of the Brazilian working class and pro-democracy movements.

Zé Maria's conviction anticipates the contents of Bill 1.424/2026, authored by Congresswoman Tabata Amaral (PSB-SP), which conflates anti-Zionism (opposition to Zionism, a colonial project) with antisemitism.

First published by the IWL in 2022 A confusion, always lurking but gaining traction in recent days, is that anti-Zionism is somehow a form of antisemitism. Nothing could be further from the truth. We understand that there are three types of confusion regarding this: the first is deliberate and therefore criminal, as done by the […]

Below, we publish an English translation of an attack against Zé Maria authored by Demétrio Magnoli in the major Brazilian newspaper, Folha do S. Paulo, followed by a response from Zé Maria published in the same paper. Original links to the Portuguese articles in the Folha are included. Freedom for antisemitic opinion By Demétrio Magnoli […]

Statement published on April 30, 2026Link (Portuguese) – https://www.cut.org.br/noticias/solidariedade-a-ze-maria-contra-arbitrariedade-censura-e-repressao-7a04 Brazilian trade union centers repudiate the conviction imposed by the 4th Federal Criminal Court of São Paulo on the national president of the PSTU, José Maria de Almeida. He was sentenced to two years in prison, in an open regime, for a speech in which he denounced […]

The Brazil-Palestine Institute (IBRASPAL) expresses its vehement repudiation of the conviction of political leader José Maria de Almeida (Zé Maria), president of the PSTU, by the 4th Federal Criminal Court, which sentenced him to two years in prison under the accusation of “racism.”This is a serious and alarming decision that criminalizes a legitimate political position: […]

Introduction José Maria de Almeida, Zé Maria, national president of the Unified Socialist Workers’ Party (PSTU), was sentenced to two years house arrest by the Federal Court in a case brought by the Israeli Confederation of Brazil together with the Israeli Federation of the State of São Paulo (case no. 5004694-46.2024.4.03.6181), under accusation of racism […]

On Tuesday, the 28th, the 4th Federal Criminal Court sentenced PSTU President Zé María to two years in prison for the crime of “racism.” What is most surprising is that the decision stems from a speech by Zé María in defense of the Palestinian people, denouncing the genocide and the colonialist regime imposed by the State of Israel on occupied Palestine. In the face of a decision with no legal basis, the PSTU will appeal to the Federal Court of São Paulo (TRF3). Beyond that, the party will not back down one inch from its condemnation of the State of Israel and the successive crimes against humanity it has been perpetrating under the gaze of the world.

—Fabio Bosco, Unified Socialist Workers’ Party (PSTU) Brazil March 1, 2025. According to Israel’s Channel 13, the government had decided to block humanitarian aid from entering Gaza to force the Palestinian resistance to surrender. The State of Israel had decided to use starvation as a weapon of war on a large scale. On the 18th, […]

By Fabio Bosco [Originally printed May 23, 2025] Between May 13 and 16, Donald Trump, President of the United States, visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The visit followed the failure of Trump’s tariff hike, which was reversed in the face of repudiation by all countries, the majority of the US population […]

By Wilson Honório da Silva, PSTU-Brazil Petrograd, early in the morning of October 26, 1917. “Lenin, standing (…), let his small shining eyes roam over all those present, while he waited, looking inattentive, for the long and noisy ovation that greeted him (…). When it was over, he simply said: “That’s all, comrades! Let’s get […]

We have seen frightening images of the aftermath of flooding in Valencia, Spain. Homes and retirement homes flooded, cars piled up because of the torrential rains, people were trapped, and emergency services collapsed. The death toll as of November 3, was 217, but we cannot rule out that it could be higher, because at this […]

The COP 16 Convention on Biodiversity is currently being held in Colombia; it is the first summit after the signing of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Fomented by institutions and numerous environmental groups, an agreement to stop the destruction of biodiversity and fight against the sixth mass extinction that is underway was claimed as historic[1] […]

While in New York to speak at the opening of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, President Lula met with the global president of the British multinational oil company Shell, Wael Sawan, and with the president of Shell Brazil, Cristiano Pinto. By Jeferson Choma In his UN speech, Lula spoke about wars and also about […]

By RICHARD WESLEY On Thursday, Sept. 26, Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida’s panhandle out of the Gulf of Mexico, causing massive devastation with a powerful storm surge. But Helene’s path of wreckage had only just begun, as it tore through the southern Appalachian Mountains of Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia. The storm dumped […]