Monday, May 18, 2009
At Z-Word: A New Antisemitic Attack in Buenos Aires
A street event jointly organized by the government of the city of Buenos Aires and the Israeli embassy to celebrate the 61st anniversary of Israel's foundation was yesterday disrupted by a gang of 15 or 20 people who emerged from a nearby subway station and laid into members of the public with clubs, chains and nunchakus.
Between blows they shouted slogans like "Death to the Zionist Jews!" and scattered leaflets bearing the name of the Revolutionary Action Front. Three people were taken to hospital for treatment, two of them are said to be in a serious condition. One police officer was also injured seriously enough to be kept overnight in hospital. Five arrests were made, the rest of the gang escaped. One of those detained is Leonardo Del Grosso, a prominent member of the far left Quebracho group; another was found to be carrying a sevillana, a kind of knife that's quite unsuitable for peeling apples or slicing bread...
The rest. More at JTA: Anti-Semitic violence erupts in Buenos Aires
..."In the middle of the cultural festival, the group attacked with complete impunity," Aldo Donzis, the DAIA Jewish local political umbrella institution president, told JTA. "Five police officers who were standing in a corner took a long time before acting. Two people from the public were hurt as well as a policeman. Many of the aggressors ran away, but five of them were caught by the policemen and others from the public who chased them."
DAIA officials said the group will take legal action against the five aggressors.
"It was really a very violent act," said Donzis.
The Israeli festival, held a block away from the central Plaza de Mayo, is part of a series of events "celebrating Buenos Aires' diversity and the pluralism that builds our identity," Claudio Avruj, the head of the city's Institutional Relations General Direction office, told JTA. A Greek festival was held in March and a Russian celebration is planned for June.
The demonstration lasted a few minutes and the celebration -- which included Israeli music, poetry, crafts and dance -- continued as scheduled...
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In Argentina, apparently even attacking Jews as a mob on the street can't be described as other than legitimate criticism of Israeli policies without an argument. At Z-Word: Argentine Left Calls for Open Season on Misbehaving Jews Adolfo Pérez Esquivel... Read More
This was inevitable. Eventually hateful propaganda takes a human toll.
The sad thing is, those creating the propaganda can't or won't see the link between their incitement and violence in the Middle East which is now rippling back in Europe, Asia, the Americas.
They hold themselves blameless for inciting war instead of working for peace, instead of encouraging the abandonment of violence they celebrate "resistance" and empower the most extreme actors - all of which winds up being blamed on the Jews who aren't supposed to defend themselves; if we do we are "Nazis" and the Arabs are the victims of anti-Semitism.
Arrrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
After almost 2000 years without Israel as a home base, and being unwanted guests of many nations, Israel has had the opportunity to articulate and communicate its side of the Middle East conflict. However, Israel has chosen not to promote a public relations campaign - which, unfortunately, leaves only the information disseminated by the enemies of Israel and Jews in general. Yes, there may always be incidents like the one in Buenos Aires; nevertheless, if 99% of what people see, hear and read is anti-Israel and anti-semetic propaganda, then why shouldn't they consider it true?
When Argentina fought England for the Islas Malvinas (Faulkland Islands), most Argentines thought they were winning the war right up until the unconditional surrender by Argentina - why? - because the only source of information during those 5 days was the government controlled Argentine media.
If Jews and Israel want to change the views of people, they better launch a massive public relations campaign around the world. Prejudiced and ignorant folk say that "Jews are cheap". Well, let's hope that there enough generous Jews out there to finance such a campaign and help promote the truth: both current and historical.