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There were numerous reports of swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti
appearing on walls and monuments throughout the city of Montevideo during 1997,
especially in the last months of 1997. The proximity to Uruguay of Cidudad del
Este on the Paraguay border of the Triple Frontier, where Islamic extremists
have settled, is a cause of anxiety to the Jewish community.
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
The Jewish community of Uruguay is estimated at 30,000 out of a total
population of 3.1 million. The majority of Jews live in the capital city
Montevideo, with an organized smaller community in the city of Paysandú. There
are Jewish families scattered over other parts of the country but not in
organized communities.
Zionism is very strong among Uruguayan Jews who have the highest ratio of
aliya to Israel among Western countries. The umbrella organization, Comite
Central Israelita del Uruguay (Israelite Central Committee of Uruguay - CCIU)
includes sixty Zionist societies. There are four Jewish religious communities:
Russo-Polish, German, Hungarian and Sephardi.
ANTI-SEMITIC ACTIVITIES AND HATE GROUPS
There is no tradition of anti-Semitism in Uruguay in spite of its contiguity
with Argentina, where nationalistic anti-Semitic individuals and groups have
long been active. No political party has ever broken the liberal democratic
tradition with anti-Semitism or racism in its platform. Nevertheless, several
small right-wing anti-Semitic groups were active in the 1980s and a few such
groups continued to operate in the 1990s.
Vandalism and Threats
There were numerous reports of swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti appearing on
walls and monuments throughout the city during 1997, especially in the last
months of 1997. A memorial to the Holocaust on the Montevideo boardwalk was
defaced.
There were 11 telephone calls and faxes threatening Jewish community leaders.
In October, the president of Keren Hayesod received telephone threats on his
own and his family's lives, as well as those of the Jewish community as a
whole. Swastikas were drawn on the door of his home and on his wife's car.
In July 1997, abusive expressions, swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans such as
"Death to the Jews!" were written on the home of a Jewish family in Montevideo.
This occurred during the evening of a meeting organized by the Jewish
community identifying with Israel and denouncing terrorism.
Propaganda
In September 1997, during preparations for the opening of the Israeli booth at
the Exproprado exhibition in Montevideo, a publication was distributed
containing incitement against Jews and Judaism. It claimed that the Jewish
religion discriminated between those born Jews and those "born normal," and
that Jesus had set new norms for God's attitude towards humanity, rejecting
Judaism and its laws. The pamphlet was distributed at the fair by young people
who sold military clothing, which included Third Reich type uniforms without
the swastika. The administrators of the fair stopped distribution of the
pamphlet when they were informed.
Nazism has infiltrated the local Internet. A site calling itself Poder Blanco.
La Primera pagina Nacional Socialista del Uruguay (White Power.The First
National Socialist Page of Uruguay), which identifies itself with a swastika,
has appeared, similar to a page existing in other countries.
RESPONSES TO EXTREMISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM
Among the Holocaust memorials being erected in several South American cities
was one in Montevideo. Another was planned for Quito in Ecuador.
Islamic terrorism and Arab influence were important issues on the continent. A
meeting of interior ministers of Southern Latin American countries, Mercosur,
was held in November in the resort city of Punta del Este. Argentina's Interior
Minister Carlos Corach said that, according to the security forces, the cities
of the Triple Frontier between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, provided a base
for Islamic terrorist activities. The proximity of Cidudad del Este, on the
Paraguay border of the Triple Frontier, to Uruguay, is a cause of concern for
the Jewish community. Another border city, Chuy, between Brazil and Uruguay,
may also pose a threat because of the many Palestinians who settled there
during the 1980s.
Legal Activity
Article 149 of the Penal Code of Uruguay was changed to include the following
articles: 1) One who publicly, or by means of public distribution, incites to
hatred, contempt, or any form of violence, moral or physical, against one or
more persons because of their color, race, religion or national or ethnic
origin may be sentenced to 3 to 18 months imprisononment; 2) One who commits
an act of violence, moral or physical, of hatred or contempt against one or
more persons because of their color, race, religion or national or ethnic
origin, may be sentenced to 6 to 24 months in prison.
In October 1997, the anti-discriminatory law was applied for the first time in
Uruguay to two persons who had made a phone call threatening a Jewish person.
They were sentenced to two months in prison.
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