Anti-Semitism in Latin America

LOCAL

PROFESSOR JOSEPH SCHRAIBMAN

Anti-Semitism in Latin America

BY ROBERT A. COHN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF EMERITUS

"Anti-Semitism: Alive and Well and Growing in Latin America" was the topic of a talk by Joseph Schraibman, professor of romance languages and Jewish studies at Washington University, to the Missouri/Southern Illinois Regional Advisory Board of the Anti-Defamation League. About 50 members and guests of the ADL board attended the meeting last week at the Center of Clayton.

Schraibman, a native of Havana who has been on the Washington U. faculty since 1969, and whose academic specialty is Inquisition Studies, assessed the levels of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiments in various Latin American countries. In welcoming Schraibman to the meeting, Karen Aroesty, regional director of the ADL said the agency and other Jewish groups have been deeply concerned over what appears to be a rising tide of anti-Semitism in Latin America, especially the recent attacks on two synagogues in Caracas, Venezuela.

Aroesty pointed out that the attacks on the synagogues were carried out in the aftermath of inflammatory speeches by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez during the recent conflict in Gaza. Chavez denounced Israel as solely to blame for the conflict and called Israel's actions in fighting back against Hamas terrorists "genocidal." A few days after the Chavez speech, 15 armed men severely damaged the Tiferet Israel Synagogue in Caracas, and stole computers containing personal records of the Venezuelan Jewish community. In late February, a hand grenade was thrown into the Beit Shmuel Synagogue, also in Caracas.

Schraibman denounced the "goons who attacked the synagogues in Caracas, who apparently included six policemen and a guard for one of the synagogues. Chavez, who tries to emulate the anti-Israel rhetoric of his hero, Fidel Castro of Cuba issued a statement 'denouncing' the attack' which is hard to take seriously."

"Ten years ago, there were 25,000 Jews living in Caracas; now there are about 12,000, so the Jewish community feels isolated." He added that Chavez broke diplomatic relations with both Israel and the United States, and as a result there is a shortage of teachers for the Jewish day schools in Venezuela and its capital city.

It was pointed out that the ADL, American Jewish Committee and other U.S.-based Jewish groups maintain contact with the leadership of the Jewish communities in Latin American countries, including Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Cuba. As to the situation in his native Cuba, Schraibman said, "there never has been much outright anti-Semitism in Cuba either before or after Castro came to power. Prior to Castro, anti-Semitism existed most among the 1 percent of the wealthiest Cubans."

He added that economic dislocation, along with concern over the anti-Israel rhetoric of the Cuban regime have contributed to the exodus of Cuban Jewry, which had numbered 12,000 until a few years ago, but now is down to between 750 to 1,200 people. The Canadian Jewish Congress for years has shipped Jewish prayer books and Passover matzos and other supplies to the Jewish community, and in the aftermath of a visit to Cuba by the late Pope John Paul II, the Jewish Agency and American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee were permitted to resume operations in Cuba to meet various needs in the Jewish community.

Schraibman added that "because Hugo Chavez is a disciple of Fidel Castro, he has adopted his anti-Israel rhetoric. The problem is that attacks on Israel spill over into outright anti-Semitism," he said.

"The biggest source of anti-Semitism is ignorance," said Schraibman, pointing out that Spanish language editions of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious Czarist Secret Police forgery about a "world Jewish conspiracy" are widely distributed in Latin America. "Clearly harsh anti-Israel rhetoric is picked up and exploited by those who espouse outright anti-Jewish beliefs and actions," he noted.

He added that while anti-Semitic materials like the Protocols are not taught in Latin American schools, they are "widely sold under the counter."

Brazil, however, is generally calm regarding the Jewish community and "there are not many instances of anti-Semitism in Brazil," he said.

Schraibman said another literary source of anti-Semitism in Latin America are the writings of the European author Louis Ferdinand Celine, who went from being a Communist to being a Fascist in the 1930s. Celine promoted many anti-Semitic ideas, which had an influence in France, Spain and in Latin America, he said.

Schraibman said that the situation regarding the Jews varies from country to country, but there has been an uptick in anti-Israel rhetoric by Chavez, which has created negative feelings towards Jews. "The problem is that Chavez wants to be a poster child for Fidel Castro," he said.

Schraibman said that American Jews and groups like the ADL can help Jews fight anti-Semitism in Latin American nations through groups like World Solidarity, governmental channels and enlisting the support of American academics who would be willing to combat anti-Semitism through their own contacts in Latin American countries.