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Latin American Jews Contend with Spike in Anti-Semitism

[Christian Science Monitor] Sara Miller Llana - In May, as Jewish families in Buenos Aires were headed downtown to celebrate the 61st anniversary of the State of Israel, an event sponsored by the city, about 30 young men and women began wielding sticks amid the dancing and singing, leaving 10 wounded. At least five people, from a group identified as the Front for Revolutionary Action, a leftist radical group, were arrested on charges including violation of antidiscrimination laws. "If it happened once, it can happen again," says Jorge Elbaum, the executive director of the Delegation of Argentine Jewish Associations, who has called off all public events until further notice. Across Latin America, Jewish leaders say they are contending with a new level of anti-Semitism that heated up after Israel's military operation in Gaza in December. Anti-Zionism has given anti-Semitism a new voice in Latin America. "It is politically incorrect to be anti-Semitic," says Elbaum, "but it is politically correct to be anti-Zionist."
2009-08-13 06:00:00
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