VENEZUELA 2001-2

 

There were no violent antisemitic incidents in 2001, but there were numerous reports of threats, harassment and insults, as well as antisemitic references during the polemic on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

THE JEWISH COMUNITY

Venezuela’s Jewish community numbers about 22,000 out of a total population of nearly 22 million. Most of the Jews live in the capital Caracas, while the second largest community is located in Maracaíbo. The Confederación de Asociaciones Israelitas de Venezuela (CAIV) embraces four organizations: Asociación Israelita de Venezuela (Sephardi), Unión Israelita de Caracas (Ashkenazi), the Zionist Organization and B’nai B’rith. All but one of the 15 synagogues are Orthodox and over 75 percent of school-age children attend Jewish schools. The community publishes the newspaper Nuevo Mundo Israelita.

 

political background

The mass demonstrations in Venezuela, culminating on 14 December 2002 with two million people taking to the streets, appear to herald the end of the democratically-elected Chavez government, which came to power in 1998. President Hugo Chavez has succeeded in alienating most of the population – including the lower classes, which were instrumental in his election, as well as the Catholic Church – because of constitutional violations, failed promises and massive corruption. The demonstrators have been calling for a referendum that would lead to his resignation. Chavez, who has eroded most of the democratic trappings of government and assumed a dictatorial role, has refused. It is estimated that 80 percent of the population would vote in a referendum for his resignation.

 

extremist GROUPS

In the last three years there has been an increase in numbers and membership of antisemitic radical left groups, which find some support among the lower classes. The most violent groups are Tupamaros and Carapaicas, with a total membership of some 20,000.

Radical right antisemitic groups are very small and without significant influence. Nueva Sociedad Venezolana (NSV), which calls itself the neo-Nazi movement, is based in Montalban, Caracas. The NSV disseminates neo-Nazi, anti-Zionist and antisemitic propaganda through its website libreopinion.com, and maintains links with similar groups in Latin America and in Spain, Portugal and Italy. A second small neo-Nazi group, Movimiento Patria Nueva, Partido Nacional Socialista Venezolano (PNSV), is also centered on an Internet site, where it calls, inter alia, for the deposal of the Hugo Chavez government.

            Both the radical right and the radical left are ardent supporters of the Palestinian cause and vehemently anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, anti-American and anti-globalization.

 

ANTISEMITIC ACTIVITIES

While the number of antisemitic incidents remained on the same level as the previous year, there was a notable rise in anti-Zionist expressions, which were often mixed with antisemitic threats and insults during the polemic on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

Threats, Harassment and Insults

There were no violent antisemitic actions in 2001, but seven death threat calls were received at Jewish community institutions. Three were made in September to the Moral y Luces Herzl-Bialik school. They said, “Everyone will die”; “We shall take a break but at the end we will get rid of you all and your cursed school. Happy Yom Kippur”; and “We know that it is Yom Kippur and we shall murder all the children when they leave the school.”

Between March and December antisemitic placards appeared in the city, especially in the Central University of Venezuela, and threat letters containing antisemitic slogans and swastikas were placed on cars owned by Jews. Two Jewish students received such letters with the word “Boom.”

A rise in the use of Nazi symbols and expressions was noted. There were 30 reported incidents of abuse shouted from cars passing Jewish community buildings, including the insults “Heil Hitler,” “Heil Führer,” “Heil Germany” and “Death to the Jews.” Nazi insignia on people or on cars was also observed in the main streets of Caracas.

The Green Book of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qadafi was found in the synagogue on Margarita Island, and some people were observed in the street carrying copies of Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Both books are used as propaganda symbols by radical left groups that support the government.

 

Propaganda

The line between anti-Israel/anti-Zionist and antisemitic rhetoric was often blurred. This trend was marked at several discussion forums held during 2001. On 6 December 2001 a conference was held by the Comite Nacional Marcha hacia el Muro por la Paz, la Justicia Social y contra el Neoliberalismo, entitled “A Condemnation of the State Terror of the Zionist and Imperialist State.” The conference was financed by public sources and attended by government officials, as well as by 20 members of foreign diplomatic delegations in Venezuela.

Several articles appeared in the national press which compared Israeli conduct toward the Palestinians with Nazi behavior toward the Jews. Journalists in mainstream papers who took this line included Héctor Sánchez Lecuna and Adán González, in El Nacional (Caracas, 17 June and 16 Dec. 2001, respectively), and Douglas Palma in Tal Cual (Caracas, 27 Aug.). Further, numerous articles published in mainstream papers throughout Venezuela during 2001 branded Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a terrorist, who massacred Palestinians and violated human rights. Most of the writers were of Arab descent (Jaled Ali Ayoub Bazzi, Shamsud Ali, Georges Abou Youn, Ahmad Abu Said, Moises Moleiro, Rafael Bayed Maardeni).

After the September 11 events, articles and letters in the mainstream press blamed US support of Israel and the Jews for sowing the seeds of hatred against it. The US attack in Afghanistan was branded terrorism and compared to Israel’s attacks on Palestinians (for more on this subject, see General Analysis). While the government officially supported the US war against terrorism, some government members expressed their opposition.

The Internet site of the Mosque of Caracas, where Muslims in the capital city congregate, and which hitherto had not participated in the discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, disseminated an article which claimed: “The first terrorism is that of the Jewish nation, a nation of anger that America is defending in the name of justice and injustice by aiding them militarily, economically and politically; this is the real terrorism.” Some leading mainstream newspapers such as Le Nacional claimed that the Jews had killed Jesus Christ

Two antisemitic books were circulating in Venezuela in 2001. Jews – 2000 Years Persecuted, 50 Years Persecutors, was written by Eduardo del Rio and published by Grijalbo, DF, Mexico. The second is a dictionary, Great Spain Illustrated, which includes blatantly anti-Israel entries, such as: “Menahem Begin was a terrorist criminal who was prime minister of Israel”; and “Ariel Sharon is a terrorist who committed a crime against hundreds of Palestinians in Sabra and Shatila; he profaned Muslim mosques and was rewarded by being elected prime minister of a terrorist people with Palestinian blood on his hands.”

 

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE HOLOCAUST

Some members of the government, such as Jose Vicente Rangel, responded positively to the request of the Simon Wiesenthal Center to locate Nazi collaborators in Venezuela. The main suspect sought is Harry Mannil, a nationalized Venezuelan who denies all involvement but has moved to Costa Rica to avoid possible extradition to Estonia.

 

RESPONSES TO RACISM and ANTISEMITISM

Between 19 and 30 October 2001 several articles in the national press dealt with links between government-supported financial circles and Muslim immigrants located in the cities of Nueva Esparta and Zulia, and Usama bin Laden. Reportedly, several of these groups finance terrorist activities in the Colombian cities of Maracaibo and Maicao. Six citizens of Pakistani origin suspected of involvement in terrorist activities were expelled from Venezuela.