The Politics of Intimidation

[question everything]

MAY 1, 2009

The Politics of Intimidation

By MELANIE KIRKPATRICK
WJ

In 1998, the year Hugo Chavez was elected president, there were 22,000 Jews in Venezuela. Today the Jewish population is estimated at between 10,000 and 15,000. Those numbers tell a story, and it's not a happy one. The Jews of Venezuela are fleeing to Miami, Madrid and elsewhere because of the anti-Semitism they face at home. In an interview this week in Washington, D.C., the country's chief rabbi sounds a warning bell: "There's anxiety in the Jewish community because of what has happened," says Rabbi Pynchas Bremer, "and of course because of what may happen."

Mr. Chavez's vitriol about Jews is well documented and of long standing. In recent years he has referred to Venezuelan Jews as "descendants of the same ones who crucified Christ" and "a minority has taken ownership of all the gold of the planet." According to Shmuel Herzfeld, a Washington, D.C., rabbi who visited Venezuela in March: "Chavez is isolating the Jews and turning Venezuelans against the Jewish community. . . . The government is transforming a society that has been welcoming and accepting of Jews" in the past. Rabbi Bremer, who has lived in Venezuela for more than 40 years, says that he had never personally encountered anti-Semitism or heard of anti-Semitic incidents until recently.

This year has seen an intensification of attacks -- verbal and physical -- on Jews and Jewish institutions in Venezuela. In January, the largest Sephardic synagogue in Caracas was vandalized and desecrated. Among the slogans painted on the wall was "damned Jews, death to you." A list of members of the congregation was stolen. In February, another synagogue was attacked with a grenade. Eleven people have been arrested in the first attack. The attacks on the two synagogues took place in the context of Mr. Chavez's tirades against Israel over its campaign in Gaza as well as his continuing charm offensive with Iran. In early January, the president expelled the Israeli ambassador, calling Israel's campaign a "holocaust." He demanded that Venezuelan Jews denounce Israel.

In January, a professor published an article online calling on citizens to boycott Jewish-owned businesses and confiscate the property of Jews who support Israel. He urged Venezuelans to "summon publicly every Jew found in the streets, squares, shopping malls, etc. and force them to take positions, screaming at them slogans in favor of Palestine and against the abortion-state of Israel." Change the language from Spanish to German, and this could be an anti-Semitic tract from the 1930s.

(snip)

Venezuelan Catholics are also "at risk," the Commission on International Religious Freedom notes, and there have been "repeated attacks" on Catholic leaders and Catholic institutions. In January, La Piedrita, a pro-Chavez group, threw tear-gas cannisters into the house of the papal nuncio. Last year pro-Chavez thugs occupied the residence of the archbishop of Caracas and held a press conference at which they denounced Catholic leaders. There have been no arrests in either incident.

(snip)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124114549461976071.html (subscription)

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page W13

[BlooInBloo]

1. Wow - christians still do the jews-killed-jesus shit?

[mikehiggins]

2. This isn't good, to say the least

Is there any confirmation of this story by a non-Murdoch source?

What is La Piedrita, described as a pro-Chavez group?

Who was the "professor" calling on Venezuelans to stage their own version of Krystalnacht (sp?)? Has he any credibility? Where was the article published?

And so on and so forth. Any time articles appear which seem to reveal bad things about the "enemy of the week" it usually is good to check their premises, as Ayn Rand would put it.

[bananas]

3. "Editing Chavez to Manufacture a Slur" from 2006

Editing Chavez to Manufacture a Slur
Some outlets spread spurious charges of anti-Semitism
1/23/06
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2805

[question everything]

4. From 2006?

His attacks on Israel during the Gaza attacks are well documented. So it is not a stretch to believe that such attacks were extended to Jews. After all, on at least one anti-Israel rally in Florida, I think, a woman with a scarf was screaming for the "Jews to get back into the ovens."

Him befriending Ahmedinejad also is well documented and we know where he stands.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Yeah, that's what your first sentence in your second paragraph is about

Kirkpatrick's "well documented and of long standing" accusation is a lie. I'm not a particular fan of Chavez, but it's plain from the actual speech that he was attacking rich and powerful people (ie those who opposed Bolivar), not Jews.

"So it is not a stretch to believe that such attacks were extended to Jews."

But that is a supposition for which you haven't produced any evidence yet. You're just saying "he hates the Israeli government, maybe he hates Jews too".

[marybourg]

6. Yes.

http://jta.org/news/article/2009/04/23/1004619/rabbi-requests-investigation-into-venezuelan-anti-semitism

This is a highly respected source.