[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E291-E292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EXPRESSING GROWING CONCERN WITH THE RECENT RISE IN ANTI-SEMITISM IN 
                             SOUTH AMERICA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, February 13, 2009

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a 
resolution expressing growing concerns about the recent rise of anti-
Semitism in South America, and the accompanying acts of violence and 
hatred against members of the Jewish community there.
  Throughout my life, and throughout my tenure in Congress, I have 
always condemned the unconscionable spread of anti-Semitism wherever it 
has raised its ugly head. There is never an excuse to single out 
members of the Jewish community for attack, to destroy their sacred 
property, to boycott their businesses, or to perpetuate physical harm.
  From Asia to Africa to Europe to the Middle East, too many leaders 
have too often used anti-Semitism to deflect attention from their own 
failings, or to stir up their domestic populations for political gain.
  We see the pernicious tidings of anti-Semitism, this time in South 
America. In Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina, Jewish communities in 
recent weeks and months have been the subject of vicious attacks, 
verbal abuse, and government-supported expressions of extreme 
intolerance and intimidation. My resolution highlights some of these 
recent attacks, including the January 30th assault on the Tiferet 
Israel synagogue in Caracas, Venezuela, in which armed men using tear 
gas violently ransacked this house of worship.
  While I am pleased that eleven suspects have been arrested, I am 
disturbed to learn that a majority of these men are police officers. 
Indeed, the Venezuelan government of late has fostered a climate of 
hatred, openly questioning the loyalties of Venezuela's Jewish 
community, and using recent events in Israel to score cheap political 
points by assailing members of the Jewish community.
  Madam Speaker, I could tell a similar story about events in Bolivia 
and Argentina, where Jewish children have arrived at their schools to 
find swastikas painted on walls and graffiti admonishing Jews to leave 
the country.
  These attacks are not isolated incidents of a few bad apples, but 
rather reflect the systematic use of violence and intimidation in the 
place of dialogue and debate. Anti-Semitism is not a legitimate form of 
public protest. It never has been and it never will be. We cannot, in 
good conscience, allow these acts of hatred to go unnoticed and 
unreported. I ask my colleagues to support this resolution to condemn 
these acts of violence and to encourage the Venezuelan, Bolivian, and 
Argentinean governments to take all necessary steps to ensure that 
anti-Semitism is not tolerated in South America.

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