URUGUAY 2002-3
Graffiti appeared to be the most popular way of
manifesting antisemitic/anti-Israel sentiments in Uruguay in
2002/3. A few other incidents of vandalism and threats were also reported.
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
The Jewish community of Uruguay is estimated at about 25,000
out of a population of 3.2 million. Conversos were among the earliest settlers
of the region; however, today most Uruguayan Jews are descendants of twentieth
century immigrants of both Sephardi and Ashkenazi origin. The majority of Jews
live in the capital Montevideo, with a smaller community in the city of Paysandú.
Jewish families are scattered throughout other parts of the country but not in
organized communities.
The Comité Central Israelita
del Uruguay (CCIU), embracing some 60 communities and organizations,
functions as a national Jewish representative body. There are a number of
well-attended Jewish day schools.
Uruguayan Jews, like all
Uruguayans, have been hard hit by the economic collapse in Argentina, and there
has been a dramatic increase in the number of those considering aliya or
relocation to other countries.
ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS
Most antisemitic manifestations in Uruguay in 2002/3 seemed
to be related to anti-Israel sentiments of members of the population, many of
them left-wing. Anti-Israel demonstrations in front of the Israeli embassy in
2002/3 were organized, for example, by the leftist taxi syndicate (Sindicato Uruguayo
de Taximetristas) and the Federation of University Students in Uruguay (Federación
de Estudiantes Universitarios del Uruguay). A proclamation read out at the end
of an anti-Israel demonstration led by the Federation of University Students in
Uruguay, in June 2003, equated Sharon and his policies with Hitler and the
policies of Nazi Germany. Much of the anti-Israel/antisemitic graffiti (see
below) was probably also the work of left-wingers.
Eight gravestones were overturned
in Cementerio Israelita de La Paz, the main Jewish cemetery in the country, in
March 2002. There was no graffiti indicating who the perpetrators might be. Antisemitic
phone threats were also reported by a Jewish family and by a Jewish-owned food
store. In July 2002 a youth Jewish woman was insulted and threatened by fellow students
of no known political affiliation at the University of Uruguay. Another
threatening incident occurred outside a synagogue in Lindoro Forteza Street at
Yom Kippur (September). A man pulled a knife and asked what the place was. He
fled when the guard produced his truncheon but returned some time later, and
was arrested.
Graffiti, the most popular way of manifesting
antisemitic/anti-Israel sentiments in 2002/3, appeared in numerous places. In
April and May 2002 twelve incidents of graffiti, such as “Sharon is a
murderer,” were reported in Pocitos, a Montevideo neighborhood with a large
Jewish population. Graffiti equating the Star of David and the swastika as well
as anti-Zionist texts appeared throughout the month of April in Montevideo.
September and October were also marked by a similar wave. Swastika=Sharon was
commonly found on Jewish property and on public buildings, and swastikas
appeared in many places, including on a synagogue. In November, graffiti,
including swastikas, appeared on the walls of a Montevideo high school attended
by many Jewish children.
During the year 2002 La Juventud (The
Youth), a marginal weekly linked to radical left parties, published dozens of virulently
anti-Israel articles which, inter alia, accused Israel of state
terrorism.
