“YO“discomfort and concern” have generated in the Jewish community of Colombia the comments that President Gustavo Petro has been expressing about Israel, related to the conflict that this country faces with the Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, following the deadly raid on October 7.
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The most recent episode occurred last Saturday when the US ambassador against anti-Semitism, Deborah Lipstadt, accused the Colombian president of having “anti-Semitic rhetoric” for comparing what is happening in Gaza with the Jewish Holocaust during World War II: “The continued rhetoric of Colombian President Gustavo Petro normalizes anti-Semitism. We cannot accept this.” We cannot tolerate this. We must condemn these harmful narratives,” he said.
To which Petro responded in a message on social network X: “I am not anti-Semitic, do not confuse and respect. I am not anti-Jewish (…) Palestinians are Semites according to the Bible, since the word Semite designates the descendants of Shem and their language.” He added: “It is anti-Semitic to kill children by throwing bombs in Gaza and not to oppose it.”
But the issue is not new. The commissioner of the Organization of American States (OAS) for monitoring and combating anti-Semitism, Fernando Lottenberg, recently visited Colombia to learn first-hand about the Jewish community’s perception of Petro’s comments, the war in the Strip and Bogotá’s break in relations with Israel. Lottenberg, a prestigious Brazilian constitutional lawyer, spoke with EL TIEMPO.
The first logical question is: what exactly is meant by anti-Semitism?
To put it simply, it is hatred against Jews.It is something that began a long time ago, it had a religious character, then a racial basis and today it has a political basis that has to do with the positions taken by the State of Israel. I prefer to adopt the definition of anti-Semitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which Colombia adopted, as well as 40 other countries: “A certain perception of Jews that can be expressed as hatred. The physical and rhetorical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed at Jewish or non-Jewish people and/or their property, at the institutions of Jewish communities and their places of worship.” We can speak of graffiti, of physical harassment, of a demonstration that says, for example: ‘Palestine goes from the river (Jordan) to the sea (Mediterranean)’, ‘Jews, go back to Poland’. There are many forms and we must be vigilant, because anti-Semitism is not limited to Jews. It is based on a perception that, in my opinion, is anti-democratic. So there is a conspiracy theory base, whatever it may be, left, right, or extreme, something that seeks to make Jews look different from other people.
When we talk about Semitic peoples, we also talk about Arab peoples. Why, then, is the definition of anti-Semitism limited to the Jewish people?
In truth, Semitic is not an ethnic definition, it is a linguistic definition. There are Semitic languages and that is where it comes in. But what is accepted internationally is anti-Semitism, which is linked to hatred against Jews. For other peoples other terms are used, such as Islamophobia, for example. In academic terms, antisemitism is focused on Jews.
Has the war in Gaza sparked anti-Semitic sentiments in Colombia?
Yes, especially in virtual media, with outrageous expressions and openly anti-Semitic comments. But there are no demonstrations in the streets and at universities like in other countries in the region, especially the United States and Canada.
Has the breakdown in relations between Gustavo Petro’s government and the Israeli government led to anti-Semitic sentiments in Colombia?
As far as I could see, The almost daily statements by the highest authorities make undue comparisons with what happened in World War II, which generates a situation of discomfort and concern, It is as if others were allowed to express themselves in inappropriate terms. But fortunately these feelings will not be transferred to Colombian society. The diplomatic rupture was seen by the Colombian Jewish community as unnecessary and disproportionate. A feeling of injustice, to the extent that there are people with families or friends who live in Israel and who are part of the Jewish identity.
Has the war and the Colombian president’s comments disrupted the normality of the lives of community members, their businesses or activities in general?
They are alert and working together with the authorities and the security sectors, police, etc., to face any situation that may arise.
Is Colombia a safe country for Jews?
I think so, and it is the responsibility of the authorities to maintain a situation of security and tranquillity for Jews and all other minorities.
There are claims from various quarters that the conflict in Gaza has increased anti-Semitic expressions around the world. Have you noticed an increase in your work?
Yes and no. Let me explain. There is no doubt that anti-Semitism has grown in several countries. The data in Brazil, the United States, Europe, both on social networks and physical attacks and harassment of people, has increased a lot, but I do not see it as a causal phenomenon, meaning that the exacerbation of the conflict (in Gaza) is not the cause of anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semites are out there and appearing more often, more or less publicly. This is an opportunity for them to openly express their prejudices. For example, blaming Jews collectively, no matter where they live, for decisions of the Israeli government is a form of anti-Semitism. Because it only happens to Jews. If you are against Russia’s actions in Ukraine, you are not going to protest in front of a club of Russian immigrants in the United States or Europe. If you are against what the Turkish government is doing in Kurdistan, you will protest in front of the embassy or the consulate, you will not demonstrate against the Turkish community in Germany or the United States. But with the Jews it is different. The demonstrations are taking place in front of clubs, synagogues… it is obvious that Jews outside Israel have no way of influencing or being held responsible for what one government or another in Israel does. What we are facing is a real tsunami of anti-Semitism after October 7.
Don’t you think that the Israeli government itself uses the term as a weapon of political disqualification, because when someone does not agree with what it does in Gaza, they are immediately branded as anti-Semitic? In other words, it is one thing to have a disagreement with Israel’s political and military actions, and quite another to hate the Jewish people…
Issues of policies between states or governments are something that is beyond my agenda. I cannot comment on this because I do not have the authority to do so. But I think that criticism of what the government of Israel or Colombia does is normal, everyone is subject to criticism and it is part of democracy. What worries me is when they use a double standard or when they demonize a specific country, which is the only Jewish state in the world. When people say, for example, that the situation in Gaza is a case of ethnic cleansing or genocide, or that Jews kill children, as was said in the Middle Ages, these are ancient myths that are recycled for the purpose of criticism.
Why is it inappropriate or anti-Semitic for analysts or politicians to draw parallels between the Jewish Holocaust and the reported deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza during the current conflict?
Because they are completely different things. What happened in World War II was a persecution of civilians based on racial prejudice against people who had done nothing, without trials, without due process, their property was confiscated and then their lives, all based on the fact that they were born with a certain characteristic. What is happening in Gaza today is completely different. It is more comparable to what happened in Fallujah or in Mosul (Iraq) when the international coalition was fighting the Islamic State, and yes, there are civilian victims, which is a tragedy, there is collateral damage to the civilian population, but it is a war situation. I do not see how these two situations can be compared. Personally, I have doubts about the death toll in Gaza because the source is the Hamas Ministry of Health, which stresses that the dead are mostly women and children, and again ‘Jews killing children’…
In Benjamin Netanyahu’s current coalition government, there are members who defend the thesis that the entire territory, from river to sea, is Israeli, that there is no room for Palestinians there, that they should go and live in neighbouring Arab countries… In other words, they use a discourse similar to that of anti-Semitism, but in the opposite sense.
I think these extremists behave deplorably and have never played an important role in Israeli politics except now in this government. But I think there are extremists in many places in the world, in France, in Italy, in Germany, and that doesn’t mean that you’re going to become anti-French, anti-Italian or anti-German. So I think that bad ideas can be fought with good ideas, with the moderation of balanced centrist policies. But I don’t think you can take a person or a type of politician, no matter how criticizable they may be, to take a position against an entire people or an entire country.
What can be done at the political, cultural and educational level to combat anti-Semitism?
Informing, educating, is the most important thing. It is necessary but not enough.In the case of Brazil, which I am most aware of, teaching about what happened to the Jews in World War II, the Holocaust, is now a mandatory item in the national curriculum. If generations are coming into contact with what happened and have quality information from trained teachers, it is more difficult for someone to convince others by making undue comparisons, distorting or relativizing the subject of the Holocaust. We must face great competition from ‘fake news’ that proliferate on social networks and virtual platforms, These are the media where most people now get their information. The information circulating there is not always correct. This is a battle in which social networks should also join in. If people are well informed, it will be more difficult to convince them that what is happening in Gaza is a new holocaust or a new genocide. This should not be trivialized.
EDUARD SOTO
Deputy Editor of EL TIEMPO
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