Israel Matzav

Wikileaks highlights plight of Venezuela's Jews

Aussie Dave and I heard a presentation a few months ago about the plight of Jews in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. We were told not to discuss it out of fear of retribution against the Jewish community there. Unfortunately, thanks to Wikileaks, it's now out in the open.

Venezuelan Jews raised concerns with US diplomats regarding the increasingly hostile environment created for them by the government of President Hugo Chavez, saying they see a “dark horizon” for their community, according to a document released by WikiLeaks on Thursday morning.

The document, dating from November 2009 and labeled confidential, the third highest level of classification, was the first of its kind that focused on Jewish communities in the Diaspora since WikiLeaks unleashed an avalanche of US diplomatic documents to the Web earlier this week.

In the dispatch, a US diplomat described a gloomy meeting with members of the Confederacion de Asociaciones Israelitas Venezolanas, a local Jewish organization, who feared the leftist government’s growing ties with Iran, and the language chosen by Chavez to protest against Israeli policies.

“While Chavez’s rhetoric once clearly differentiated criticism of Israel from that of the Venezuelan Jewish community, since 2004 they believe he has merged his anti-Zionist views with anti-Semitic ones,” US Political Counselor Robin D. Meyer quoted the leaders as saying.

Members of the Jewish community complained about having to meet with the foreign minister rather than the interior minister to raise their concerns, giving the impression that they were perceived by Caracas as foreigners. Jewish leaders suggested strengthening ties with the US Embassy in case of an outburst of violence against the community.

“Given the ongoing sense of threat, CAIV members agreed on the need for close relations with the US and other embassies as a form of diplomatic protection for the Jewish community,” Meyer wrote.

There are also some statements about Russian Jewry. Read the whole thing.

Labels: Hugo Chavez, Russian Jewry, Venezuelan Jewry, Wikileaks

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:30 AM