ANTISEMITISM IN LATIN AMERICA

1
ANTISEMITISM IN LATIN AMERICA

• Religious origins
• Contemporary political events outside Latin
  America
• Internal political dynamics
• Consequences

2
Religious origins

• Catholic religious traditions in Latin America
• Inquisition, 17th century Messianism
• Dutch invasion of n. Brazil in 1624
• Linking native American to Jews
• Anti-Semitic publications
• Traditional accusations

3
Contemporary political events outside Latin
America

• 19th Century
• Expansion of foreign investment
• Arrival of new Jewish groups escaping from
  anti-Semitic pogroms
• Publication in Russia of the Protocols of the
  Elders of Zion

4
20th Century

• Post WWI Xenophobia
• Partly the result of continued movement of
  foreign capital, especially in Mexico
• Partly the result of efforts to control the flow
  of immigrants
• Partly due to the association of Jews with
  Bolshevism and international capitalism
• World depression of 1929

5
Mexico

• Mexican revolution 1910-1920 did little to
  resolve the question of foreign ownership of
  mines, industries, lands
• Beginning of oil boom prompted formation of
  anti-foreign organizations that focused on Jews
  and Chinese, but also formed to promote
  heightened nationalism Comité Pro-Raza

6
Cristero Rebellion 1926-29

• Mexican Revolutionaries expropriated church lands
  and insisted on secular education
• Response from Catholics Cristero
  RebellionThree year war opposing a ban on Masses
  being said
• Heightened religious sensitivities

7
Impact on Mexican Jews

• As in Argentina, Mexican Jews also divided based
  on ethnicity, degree of religious observance and
  class
• Cristero Rebellion sparked all kinds of
  anti-foreign sentiments that Mexican leaders did
  not stop
• Led to creation of a Central Committee in 1938 to
  serve as mediator and protector of the Jewish
  Communitynot successful until after WWII, and
  Mexico did not welcome Jewish refugees

8
Brazil

• Prior to 1920s, Jewish immigration to Brazil
  negligible due to failure of Jewish agricultural
  colonies
• Jewish immigration picked up after WWI, and
  approx. 30,000 Jews emigrated from Eastern Europe
  between 1920 and 1930
• Most went to southern part of Brazilpolitical
  unstable in the 1920s

9
Anti-Semitism in the 1930s

• Anti-Semitic fears in Brazil more intellectual
  than economic
• Brazilian intellectuals and leaders very
  concerned with European theories of race
• Jews defined as non-European and
• Numbers of Jewish immigrants plummeted

10
Anti-Semitism in Other Countries

• Rise of anti-Semitism linked, but no completely
  due to rise of Fascism
• No anti-Semitic content of Spanish Falangism
• Little anti-Semitic content to Italian Fascism
• No anti-Semitic content to fascism in Chile
• Strong anti-Semitic content in Argentina and
  Brazil

11
What accounts for the differences?

• All Catholic countries
• Had different experiences with immigration
• Had distinctive problems forging a nation state
• Had diverse relationships with communism

12
Contemporary Anti-Semitism

• International factors
• Increasing polarization between Israel and
  Palestine
• Rise of international terrorism in the 1960s
• Relationship to U.S. politics
• Growth of Non-Aligned groups since the 1960s

13
Local Factors

• Local factors
• Relation of local groups to Zionist questions
• Impact of the Dirty Wars in Latin America
• Strong pro-Catholic links
• Jews identified as threats to the social order
  (Timerman in Argentina, Jewish youth involvement
  in leftist causes strong support of Zionism
• Presence of Arabic-speaking communities and their
  influence

14
Age Structure of Religious Jewish Community
15
The Dirty War and Subversives
16
Bombing of the AMIA

• Preceded by bombing of the Israeli embassy in
  Buenos Aires March 19, 1992. Car bomb killed 29
  and injured 250. Liked to Islamic Jihad, but
  terrorists who were never brought to justice.
• Larger explosion destroyed the Argentine Israeli
  Mutual Aid Association in 1994Once again a car
  bomb. Evidence of Iranian involvement but never
  taken to courtWhy?

17
AMIA after the bombing
18
Impact on Jewish Community

• Spurred continued exodus to Israel, particularly
  by the young
• Promoted solidarity between Jewish groups and
  other Argentines horrified by the attacks
• Created new interest in preserving this as
  another holocaust moment

19
AMIA Memorial