uruguay 2005

 

Wall graffiti was the main expression of antisemitism in Uruguay in 2005. Some groups on the radical left link antisemitic stereotypes to anti-Israel political positions.

 

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

The Jewish community of Uruguay is estimated at about 25,000 out of a population of 3.2 million. 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 the national Jewish representative body. There are a number of well-attended Jewish day schools and several publications.

 

Extremist groups ANTISEMITIC ACTIVITIES

The level of antisemitic activity in 2005 was similar to that recorded in 2004. Wall graffiti in the streets and on or near Jewish institutions was the main expression of antisemitism. Small ultra-right-wing groups with nationalistic and neo-Nazis tendencies appeared to have been responsible for most antisemitic manifestations.

The principal ultra-right-wing groups are Aryan Significance (Protagonismo Ario) and Skinheads (Cabecitas rapadas).. An anarchist group promoting antisemitism, led by Ignacio Jacobo and Felilpe Gabriel Vilanova Vida, is active in educational institutions in Montevideo and Las Piedras, Canelones province.

Antisemitic graffiti appeared in the capital city Montevideo as well as in small towns with almost no Jews. For example, in March large swastikas alongside a Star of David were painted on the Jewish Treasury building in Montevideo. On 27 May, 20 swastikas were drawn on the wall of the Hebraica Club in Montevideo. On the same day, the slogan “Death to the Jews and the Negroes” signed by skinheads appeared on the walls of the Brausse School, in the small city of Pando, Department of Canelones, near Montevideo, where almost no Jews live. Swastikas and inscriptions such as “Death to the Jews” appeared several times from the beginning of May at a supermarket in the same city.

            The slogan “Israel is a fascist state” and drawings of a huge swastika alongside a Star of David, appeared together with an anarchist symbol on 16 August on the wall of a sport club (Club Trouville), in Montevideo. Similar graffiti was smeared on the same day on a wall in the neighborhood of Pocitos, where a large number of Jewish families live. Pocitos was targeted again in September and December when inscriptions such as “Ugly Jews,” “Gay Jews” and “Even making soap out of you is too good,” accompanied by large swastikas, were painted there.

On 31 May, the leaders of the anarchist group apparently responsible for the above graffiti, Ignacio Jacobo and Felipe Gabriel Vilanova Vidal, passed through the EIHU (Escuela Integral Hebrea Uruguaya) Jewish school shouting: insults such as “Dirty Jews” and “Jews are dirty Zionists.” They were arrested but freed on the following day because they had no criminal record.

 

Propaganda

There was no noticeable growth of antisemitism in the Uruguayan mainstream or ultra-right media and neither the press nor journalists in Uruguay may be considered antisemitic. Nevertheless, some groups and publications on the radical left, such as the unequivocally pro-Palestinian La Juventud (Youth), link antisemitic stereotypes to anti-Israel political positions.

A leaflet containing swastikas and anti-Jewish slogans (such as “Negroes to Africa,” Yellow people to Asia,” “Jews to soap”) was distributed in the Faculty of Psychology at the University of the Republic in Montevideo on 4 April by the ultra-right-wing Protagonismo Ario. Other leaflets of the group, stating “Destroy the cursed Judo-Masonic-Marxist alliance” and “No to Marxism and No to Liberalism. Say Yes only to Nationalism,” were handed out there in September.

            The ultra-rightist ‘Agusgas’ advertised Nazi literature for sale, including Hitler’s Mein Kampf, on the commercial web page www.deremate.com.uy.

On 28 June, Herman Hansen, governor of Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo, was accused by local Jewish businessmen of making antisemitic statements. Hansen allegedly made references to Hitler during a meeting over a conflict relating to public transport in the area.