URUGUAY 2003-4

 

Although the number of antisemitic incidents in Uruguay remained on the same level as in 2002, there was a general sense that antisemitism had increased in the media in 2003. Some young Jews reacted violently to antisemitic harassment and insults.

 

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.

 

ANTISEMITIC ACTIVITIES

Although the number of antisemitic incidents in Uruguay remained on the same level as in 2002, there was a general sense that antisemitism had increased in the media in 2003. A few violent incidents were reported, some the result of Jewish reaction to verbal harassment.

For example, after a Jewish youth was insulted with antisemitic comments in the Bigua Sports Club, Montevideo, he reacted violently. Later, when he returned to the dressing room he was attacked and badly bitten by four young men. Another incident involved the defacing, with swastikas, of a model built by two Jewish architecture students at the Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo, which was to be presented as a final work. The matter ended up in the courts after the Jewish students took justice into their own hands by severely beating up the two persons who were responsible for the act.

One act of desecration was reported in January when 500 bronze plaques were stolen from the Jewish cemetery of La Paz, the only Jewish cemetery in the country. There was no indication of the identity of the thieves.

As in the previous years threats and insults were directed at Jewish individuals and institutions in Montevideo on an almost monthly basis. For example, a viciously antisemitic message was received at the shop of a Jewish woman on 14 January. A member of the Jewish community received an offensive phone call following some differences over a commercial matter. In April a teacher at the Ciudad de San Felipe high school made antisemitic and anti-Israel comments in front of a Jewish pupil. The teacher later apologized.

There were several attempts by suspicious-looking individuals to gain access to Jewish institutions. In October and November, for example, a Canadian citizen tried to enter Jewish schools and the offices of the Jewish organization Nativ. A photograph of the man, Jacov Mehki, had appeared in the vehemently anti-Israel newspaper La Juventud of the left-wing group 26 de marzo (see below).

 

Propaganda

Antisemitic motifs appeared in several anti-Israel articles in 2003, including in the abovementioned La Juventud. On 26 January La Juventud published an article which described Israelis as greedy and ambitious, and as first causing pain and then talking cynically about peace. The right-wing nationalist newspaper La República asked rhetorically on 17 July: “What is the difference, Mr. Yoel Salpak [Israeli ambassador to Uruguay], between what Himmler did in Germany and what you are doing to the Palestinians?” Politicamente Incorrecto of the JRN (Juventud por el Resurgir Nacionalista, the youth group of the leading conservative party in Uruguay, Partido Nacional) is also known for its anti-Israel articles with antisemitic overtones.

Numerous instances of antisemitic graffiti were recorded in 2003 in the city of Montevideo. For example, in March swastikas were daubed on the wall of the Wizo (Zionist Women's Organization) building in the Parque Rodo neighborhood, as well as three times on the front of a Jewish shop in the city center. On 17 July Nazi symbols were discovered in two neighborhoods of Montevideo, under the signatures ‘Hess’, ‘X-Klan’ and ‘Rebelión y Protagonismo Ario [Aryan Rebellion and Heroism]’. The signature ‘Protagonismo Ario’ also appeared on several other occasions, for instance: in April in a phone booth in front of the Hospital de Clinicas, under swastikas and antisemitic caricatures, as well as the slogan “Total extermination to the cursed and dirty Judeo-Masonry of Uruguay, no more!”; and in September, on the walls of Montevideo under threats to the government and to several groups. The persons or group behind the graffiti, probably right-wing extremists, claimed their objective was “to exterminate the Jews, Negros, Mestisos (people of mixed race), gays and Masons. Stars of David equated with the swastika appeared on the wall of a (non-Jewish) school, in March, and, together with a Palestinian flag and caricature of Sharon praying, at a bus stop, in May.

My Kampf was on sale in March in the port zone of Montevideo city, where a market of old publications often takes place.