THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

The Jewish community numbers about 40,000, out of a total population of 98 million. Most Jews live in the capital Mexico City and its suburbs, while the rest can be found in the cities of Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana, and in the new community of Cancún.

Jewish immigrants to Mexico formed communities according to their place of origin, a way of life which has persisted until today. The six main communities, four orthodox (originating in Aleppo, Damascus, Eastern Europe and the Balkans) and two conservative, as well as the communities in Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tijuana, along with the Jewish Sports Center, are represented in the Jewish Central Committee of Mexico (JCCM).

The public opinion and analysis agency Tribuna Israelita cooperates with various national organizations on joint educational projects, reviews national publications to detect anti-Semitic trends and seeks to sensitize public opinion to the dangers of anti-Semitism.

High enrollment in Jewish day schools and a very low rate of intermarriage characterize the Jewish community which is highly organized and cohesive, with a wide range of welfare and educational services. A variety of periodicals reflect the different political, cultural and ideological trends.

ANTI-SEMITIC ACTIVITIES AND RACIST GROUPS

The year 1999 was relatively quiet in terms of anti-Semitic manifestations. The Aguilas Mexicanas (Mexican Eagles), who idealize Mexico’s Indian past and previously expressed open anti-Semitism, were dormant throughout the year.

Events concerning the Arab-Jewish conflict continued to be the source of most anti-Semitic and Holocaust denial expressions. The representative of the National Palestine Authority in Mexico, Fawzi Youssif, maintains a high media profile, which is openly anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist and revisionist. For example, he alleged that the “Jews make a pretence of being martyrs and claim that the Nazis killed 6 million of their people, which is impossible” (El Día, May 1999). On 10 November, the low-circulation, left-center local newspaper Uno Mas Uno, which is distributed in Mexico City and environs, printed an article, which claimed that “like Germany in 1939, Israel has expansionist ambitions and treats the Palestinians just as the Nazis did the Jews.”

For the first time Mexican Jewish institutions and sites were the target of offensive e-mail messages. In September the Tarbut Hebrew school received a letter which accused the Jews of killing Palestinians and expressed a desire for Arab unity in order to destroy Israel and the Jewish people. In addition, three pro-Nazi messages were received by The Jewish Presence in Downtown Mexico web page, a walking tours page showing sites of special Jewish interest.

Stickers claiming the Jews were responsible for the economic crisis in the country appeared in some cars of the Metro (underground) service. They read: “Jews are our disgrace," "Banks equal Jewish business” and “Heil Hitler!!! Join us.”

Anti-Semitic arguments in the periodicals of left and right radical groups diminished in 1999. The ultra-right-wing magazine Surge continued to print articles that claimed the existence of “an international Zionist conspiracy, which seeks to gain control over the whole world”; and that, in accordance with The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, “through commerce and business, helped by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Jews are now trying to win power and govern Mexico.”

Anti-Semitic classics such as Henry Ford’s The International Jew and The Protocols of the Elders of Zion continued to be published locally and circulated throughout the country, and an Ecuadorian edition of Mein Kampf was available in some bookstores.

The revisionist books of Salvador Borrego, one of the most prolific anti-Semitic authors in Spanish, which are published in Mexico by Editorial Tradición, were available in various bookstores.

In November the newsletter Tlatelolco Hoy, which is distributed in the lower middle class neighborhood of Tlatelolco in Mexico City, published a Spanish translation of an article from The Journal of Historical Review, claiming the Holocaust was a “great hoax.” It asserts inter alia: “there was no such thing as a project to exterminate the Jewish people; Zyklon B gas was used to clean clothes, furniture and buildings; the gas chambers were never used as homicide chambers; and the number of deaths accepted at Nuremberg was technically impossible.”

In order to increase teacher awareness and promote Holocaust education, Tribuna Israelita sponsored a program of study in which 16 non-Jewish Mexican educators visited Poland and Israel, where they met with prominent scholars in the field of Holocaust studies, participated in workshops and visited historic sites.

Additionally, Tribuna Israelita, in cooperation with the Mexican Association of Jewish University Students, periodically organizes Judaic study programs in universities, in order to improve relations between Jewish and non-Jewish students. A decline in anti-Semitism has been noted on those campuses where the program was held.

A compilation of 60 documents issued by Pope John Paul II, promoting the improvement of Jewish-Catholic relations, is currently being prepared by Tribuna Israelita for distribution among religious and secular Catholic institutions in Mexico.

In an effort to strengthen relations with the Catholic Church, representatives of the Jewish community traveled to Israel with Archbishop of Mexico Cardinal Norberto Rivera, who has publicly condemned anti-Semitism and discrimination on religious grounds. At the same time, it promoted the establishment of an interfaith dialogue group, in which Jews and Catholic exchange information and points of view, and work on the development of joint projects to help the most vulnerable sectors of Mexican society.