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ANTISEMITISM IN LATIN AMERICA

ANTISEMITISM IN LATIN AMERICA. Religious origins Contemporary political events outside Latin America Internal political dynamics Consequences. Religious origins. Catholic religious traditions in Latin America Inquisition, 17 th century Messianism Dutch invasion of n. Brazil in 1624

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ANTISEMITISM IN LATIN AMERICA

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  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 Rebellion—Three 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 Community—not 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 Brazil—political 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 1994—Once again a car bomb. Evidence of Iranian involvement but never taken to court—Why?

  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

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