Monday, October 5, 2009

Honduras and Jew Hatred

During the age of Spanish exploration of the western hemisphere many Jews from western Europe turned to South America as a haven from persecution. The oldest organized Jewish community in the United States was founded by Jews from Brazil and their synagogue and community programs still function almost 400 years later.

However, all is not well in Central and South America.

Argentina has gone through a wave of Jew hating attacks as it sought to place blame for its economic woes on a particular aspect of its population. The 1990s bombing of the community center was not properly investigated for many years.

Today, a new center of Jew hatred appears to be rising in Venezuela under the government of Hugo Chavez who has bought into the wackiness of Iran's Ahmadinejad regarding the Holocaust. Chavez, never content to just deal within his borders, is busy trying to export his particular brand of government to neighboring countries. Honduras being one of them.

As commented upon in today's Wall Street Journal by Mary Anastasia O'Grady, the ouster of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya has led to much talk. But she writes,
"The Honduras debate is not really about Honduras. It is about whether it is possible to stop the spread of chavismo and all it implies, including nuclear proliferation and terrorism in Latin America."
She continues,
"Most troubling is the unflinching support for Mr. Zelaya from President Barack Obama and Democratic Sen. John Kerry—despite the Law Library of Congress review that shows that Mr. Zelaya's removal from office was legal, and the clear evidence that he is Mr. Chávez's man in Tegucigalpa. On Thursday, Mr. Kerry took the unprecedented step of trying to block a fact-finding mission to Honduras by Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who is resisting Mr. Obama's efforts to restore Mr. Zelaya to power."
Are Jews in physical danger? Not yet, but the canary is going into the mine, it seems.

Read the full article Revolutionary Anti-Semitism.

Stephen M. Flatow

3 comments:

shana maydel said...

Mr. Flatow
How interesting that you chose to delve into the politics of both Central and South America. It is all too true as I have cousins living in Caracas, second generation. What Robert Morgenthau should have said was "Iran and Venezuela are beyond the courting phase;they are creating a {CRAZY}financial, political and military partnership, and both countries have strong ties to Hezbollah and Hamas." They look over their shoulders every day.

Stephen M. Flatow said...

The unasked question of the Obama Administration is, "do you believe in the Monroe Doctrine?"
Beyond the issue of anti-Semitism is the distinct possibility that Iran will attempt to convince Venezuela to introduce nuclear weapons into the southern hemisphere.

shana maydel said...

Curious and it seems that in 1928, the Clark Memorandum concluded that the United States need not invoke the Monroe Doctrine as a defense of its interventions in Latin America. Unfortunately time will tell. All of this can send chills down your spine.