Lula refuses to visit grave of founder of Zionism http://www.voltairenet.org/article164477.html

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has refused to visit the grave of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism.In response to the rebuff, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman decided to boycott the Brazilian president’s visit.On Monday, Lieberman also criticized Lula’s close ties with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his plan to visit Tehran in the near future.

Lula described his Middle East tour, which includes scheduled visits to the occupied West Bank and Jordan, as "a mission of peace."“We are very proud that we can say Latin America and the Caribbean have no nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction… We would like to serve as an example for other regions of the world,” he added.In a speech to the Israeli parliament on Monday, Lula said efforts should be made to turn the Middle East into a nuclear weapons-free zone.