Left-wing Argentine legislators pledge allegiance to ‘free Palestine’ in their oaths of office

JTA – As 127 newly elected Argentine legislators took the oath of office in Buenos Aires last week, several departed from the standard formula to pledge allegiance to a “free Palestine”. 

The demonstration by the left-wing elected officials transformed what is typically a boilerplate ceremony into a political showdown over Israel, with shouting on the floor of the legislature as well as a wave of criticism from both pro-government and opposition voices. 

Argentina’s main Jewish umbrella organisation filed a formal complaint over the incident, which took place on Wednesday, 3 December. 

At least four legislators participated. When left-wing deputy Nicolás del Caño was called to the podium, he used his brief time to swear on behalf of “the boys and girls massacred in Gaza”. 

Another leftist legislator, Nestor Pitrola, took the oath wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh draped like a scarf and swore “for an end to the Zionist genocide and a free Palestine”. 

Wearing a T-shirt with a large watermelon print – now used as a Palestinian symbol – Romina Del Plá took the oath declaring that she did so “for Palestine’s right to exist from the river to the sea”. 

And Myriam Bregman, a Jewish socialist, swore “against the genocide in Palestine”. She also protested against the United States’ threat to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, saying, “Yankees out of Venezuela.” 

All of them replaced the formula for the oath of office – “Sí, juro” (I swear) – with political statements, triggering an immediate backlash in the chamber. 

Legislators from President Javier Milei’s right-wing and libertarian coalition interrupted with boos and shouted insults, arguing that the oath shouldn’t be used for foreign-policy slogans. Lila Lemoine, a member of Milei’s party, rebuked Bregman, to whom she was formerly close, saying, “You must swear for your country.” 

While largely left-wing legislators in countries around the world have sought to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinians or advanced legislation on their behalf, the show in Argentina represented an unusual level of intrusion for the cause into a government’s regular operations. 

After these oath-taking ceremonies – broadcast nationwide by major media outlets – political analysts and journalists strongly criticised the legislators who departed from the established protocol. Later in the week, a legislator introduced a Bill that would prevent those who don’t take the oath in accordance with the chamber’s regulations from assuming their seats. 

“Let’s put an end to this circus,” said the legislator, Sabrina Ajmechet, who is Jewish and from a right-wing political party. She added, “That there are members of Parliament who have taken office swearing allegiance to another territory … it’s more than just ugly, it’s problematic.” 

Whether the legislators who made the unusual oaths will face consequences isn’t clear. The Argentine government adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, which defines some forms of Israel criticism as antisemitic, in 2020, adding to an anti-discrimination law that has been on the books since 1988. There is already one legislator facing prosecution over antisemitic posts. 

Argentina’s Jewish political umbrella, the Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas (DAIA), said that the oaths, particularly those using the phrase “from the river to the sea”, which many Jews interpret as a call for Israel’s destruction, were inappropriate for the occasion and amounted to discrimination. 

“This expression is neither a neutral slogan nor a simple protest chant. It is a phrase of hate, used to call for the destruction of a sovereign state and the elimination of its Jewish population. It promotes violence, legitimises terrorism, and fuels an atmosphere of hostility toward Jews everywhere,” the statement said. “By using it, one makes an openly anti-Jewish declaration, incompatible with democratic values and with respect for pluralistic coexistence.” 

The pro-Palestinian legislators weren’t the only ones to depart from the standard oath, which is taken over the text of the Bible. Patricia Holzman, a newly elected Jewish deputy who has been the executive director of a Jewish community organisation founded in the wake of the 1994 Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) bombing in Buenos Aires, adjusted her wording to say “Sí, prometo” (I promise) instead of “Sí, juro”, and she pledged her oath on a Tanach. 

The swearing-in ceremony was also derailed when a left-wing legislator Juan Grabois made what resembled a Nazi salute toward Milei, who was present. People close to Grabois said the gesture was meant to evoke the salute in The Hunger Games, the young-adult series about protagonists defying an oppressive regime.