Odd alliances and worrying associations

The secretary of the Brazilian Labour Party, Valter Pomar, recently opposed an agreement between the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio De Janeiro and Tel Aviv University on the following grounds:

Pomar had contended that “this is not a time for such agreements”, and that
“Israel deserves the same treatment as South-African Apartheid regime”.
Pomar also claimed that the Israeli army used ‘Nazi practices’, so he was
now promoting boycott of Israel and its isolation.

Once again we see the willful attempt to deligitimize the Jewish state by association with the twin political evils of Nazism and apartheid. It is so sad to see the left and labour falling into this discourse. Martin Regg Cohn in today's Toronto Star hits the point on its head:

But what's the point of calling this apartheid – unless the motive is to
muddy the waters by reviving a bygone brand: the anti-apartheid struggle and the
glory days of boycotts that united idealists against South Africa's
state-sanctioned racism and its policy of shunting blacks into bantustans.

Worse, the same party signed a cooperation agreement with the Syrian Baath Party...? That's right, the same party that bombed the city of Hama in order to send a powerful message to the Muslim Brotherhood (of which Hamas is the Gaza branch). Apparently between 10,000 and 25,000 died in this attack in February 1982. These are troubling alliances.

Read the SWC report here: http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=lsKWLbPJLnF&b=4441467&ct=6808091

Read the Star column here: http://www.thestar.com/article/599218