This dubious charge is potentially very dangerous, as outlined by Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center.--MN
>From: The Shalom Center <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Jan 5, 2006 3:41 PM >Subject: Is Venezuela's President Anti-Semitic? > >Dear Friends, > >This message raises some serious doubts about a claim put forward by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela spoke an anti-Semitic slur this past Christmas Eve in a speech to a Venezuelan rehab center. > >My own analysis of the full text of the talk, together with correspondence I have now had with North Americans who are in Venezuela, cast great doubt on the charge. > >I am not absolutely certain the charge is wrong, but I think it probably is, and should be further investigated before being propagated. Already, however, some other Jewish organizations have leaped on this JTA article to attack President Chavez. > >I think the charge itself may, if incorrect, bring about great and unnecessary hostility between North American Jews and Chavez and his supporters throughout the Americas. > >I wrote privately to urge JTA to explore the issues further through good journalism; my urgings were utterly rejected. So I am more publicly sharing this concern and my own effort at serious investigation (in what I see as the best version of Jewish journalism). > >Shalom, Arthur >Rabbi Arthur Waskow >The Shalom Center >www.shalomctr.org > >Here is the story: > > This past Friday (December 30), JTA sent out the following bulletin: > >Chavez makes anti-Semitic slur > >Venezuela's president said in his Christmas speech that "the descendants of those who crucified Christ" own the riches of the world. > >"The world offers riches to all. However, minorities such as the descendants of those who crucified Christ" have become "the owners of the riches of the world," Chavez said Dec. 24 on a visit to a rehabilitation center in the Venezuelan countryside. > >When I first read the bulletin, I was both surprised and angry. > >Surprised because never has anyone, through all the years of attacks by the US government against Chavez, suggested he was anti-Semitic. > >Angry because if he actually said and meant what he is quoted as having said and meant, this is disgusting. > >I was angry enough to write the listserves of United for Peace and Justice that I was very concerned, thought maybe there was a way to understand the talk that did not bring the Jews into it at all, but that this needed to be clarified. I quoted the teaching that "Anti-Semitism is the socialism of fools," and added that I had never thought Chavez was in any way a fool. > >So I sent the JTA bulletin (accurately cited and sourced) to people whom I >thought might have some contacts in Venezuela. I got back a comment from an >American in Venezuela expressing great surprise, since, she said, no >in-country press has quoted President Chavez' Christmas speech to any >anti-Semitic effect. She said he usually teaches his views to the public by >repeating a theme over and over again, but this has not appeared at all that >she knows of. > >At that point I did not have a source for the text of the speech in full, since the JTA bulletin did not give one; but I was able to find it at -- > >www.gobiernoenlinea.gob.ve/docMgr/sharedfiles/Chavez_visita_Centro_Manantial_de_los_suenos24122005.pdf > > >The remarks about those who crucified Jesus are on page 18. They are as follows: > >Presidente Ch�vez: Primero, primero hay que reconocer, todos tenemos que >reconocer, yo el primero, el gran esfuerzo de ustedes, de los pioneros, de Fabiola, de Juan el Alcalde, de la Direcci�n de Atenci�n al Ciudadano, al Soberano de la Alcald�a Mayor de Caracas, f�jense ustedes lo importante que es la consolidaci�n pol�tica de la Revoluci�n y el avance de la Revoluci�n. Ya lo dec�a Fabiola, ya lo dec�a Leida: Un buen d�a se llevaron de aqu� a los ancianos �por qu�?, le pregunt� yo, porque no hab�a dinero, dec�an, en la Gobernaci�n de Miranda ni en la Gobernaci�n de Caracas seguramente. No hab�a dinero �y d�nde estaba el dinero? El dinero en Venezuela se concentr�... as� como en el mundo, porque esto es un fen�meno mundial �saben? Acabo de leer esta madrugada el �ltimo informe de la Organizaci�n de Naciones Unidas sobre la situaci�n del mundo y es alarmante por eso es que digo que hoy m�s que nunca antes jam�s en 2005 a�os nos hace falta Jes�s el Cristo, porque el mundo, el mundo, se est� acabando el mundo cada d�a, cada d�a, la riqueza del mundo, porque Dios, la naturaleza es sabia, el mundo tiene agua suficiente para que todos tuvi�ramos agua, el mundo tiene riquezas suficientes, tierras suficientes para producir alimentos para toda la poblaci�n mundial, el mundo tiene suficientes piedras y minerales para las construcciones, para que no hubiera nadie sin vivienda. El mundo tiene para todos, pues, pero resulta que unas minor�as, los descendientes de los mismos que crucificaron a Cristo, los descendientes de los mismos que echaron a Bol�var de aqu� y tambi�n lo crucificaron a su manera en Santa Marta, all� en Colombia. Una minor�a se adue�� de las riquezas del mundo, una minor�a se adue�� del oro del planeta, de la plata, de los minerales, de las aguas, de las tierras buenas, del petr�leo, de las riquezas, pues, y han concentrado las riquezas en pocas manos: menos del diez por ciento de la poblaci�n del mundo es due�a de m�s de la mitad de la riqueza de todo el mundo y a la... m�s de la mitad de los pobladores del planeta son pobres y cada d�a hay m�s pobres en el mundo entero. Nosotros aqu� estamos decididos, decididos a cambiar la historia y cada d�a nos acompa�a y nos acompa�ar� mayor cantidad de jefes de Estado, de presidentes y de l�deres; vean ustedes c�mo el pueblo boliviano... Bolivia, que es el pa�s m�s pobre de Suram�rica y uno de los m�s pobres del mundo, esa Rep�blica fundada por Bol�var y por Sucre, esa que lleva el nombre de nuestro Bol�var, esa Bolivia, muy rica es Bolivia: minerales, oro, plata, esta�o, petr�leo y gas, y tierra muy f�rtil, y grandes monta�as. Sin embargo, es uno de los pueblos m�s pobres de este planeta, Bolivia, pero los pobres est�n resucitando y acaban de elegir a un indio, por primera vez en la historia, Presidente de Bolivia. > >Please note the following section: > ><< El mundo tiene para todos, pues, pero resulta que unas minor�as, los descendientes de los mismos que crucificaron a Cristo, los descendientes de los mismos que echaron a Bol�var de aqu� y tambi�n lo crucificaron a su manera en Santa Marta, all� en Colombia.>> > >Please note the parallel between those who crucified Jesus and those who fought against Bolivar. > >I know of no one who accuses the Jews of fighting against Bolivar. > >And certainly I -- and most Jews -- teach that it was the Roman Empire, and Roman soldiers, who crucified Jesus. > >So knowing the presence of the Bolivar piece of the passage, which did not appear in the JTA bulletin, poses at minimum an important doubt to the interpretation of the speech embodied in the JTA headline -- that it was an anti-Semitic slur. > >At that point I wrote JTA to raise my concerns. > >Meanwhile, my contacts in Venezuela then translated the longer passage, as follows: > ><< On Christmas Eve, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited the "Nucleo de Desarrollo Endgeno Manantial de los Sue�os," a drug rehab center in the state of Miranda, about an hour and a half from Caracas. Residents and outpatients there get detox if they need it, medical and psychological attention, and vocational training. After talking with the director, staff and participants of the program and celebrating its accomplishments, Chavez started talking about the availability of resources for such efforts. Not long ago, he said, neither the state government of Miranda nor the government in Caracas had any money. > ><<"Where was the money?" Chavez asked. He continued, "Venezuela's money is concentrated, as the world's money is concentrated, because this is a worldwide phenomenon... > > << Early this morning I just read the latest report from the U.N. on the world situation and it is alarming. Because of it I say that today more than ever before in 2005 years we need Jesus Christ, because the world is ending every day. Because God, nature, is wise, the world has enough water that all could have water. The world has wealth enough, land enough to produce food for everyone, the world has enough rocks and minerals for construction that no one should be without housing. The world has enough for all, but for, it turns out that some minorities, descendants of the same ones who crucified Christ, descendants of the same ones who threw Bolivar out of here and also crucified him in their own way at Santa Marta there in Colombia. A minority takes over the wealth of the >world, a minority takes over the gold of the planet, the silver, the minerals, the waters, the good land, the oil, the wealth and has concentrated the wealth in a few hands. Less than 10 percent of the world's population owns more than half the world's wealth. More than half the population of the planet is poor and every day there are more poor people. > ><< We are determined to change history and every day more heads of state, presidents and leaders join us, and every day more will join us. You see how the Bolivian people... Bolivia, the poorest country in South America and one of the poorest in the world, this republic founded by Bolivar and Sucre, this republic that carries the name of our Bolivar, this Bolivia is very rich: minerals, gold, silver, tin, oil and gas, very fertile land and tall mountains. Without a doubt it has one of the poorest populations of the planet, Bolivia, but the poor have revived and have just elected an Indian president for the first time in history." > >This is what I wrote JTA: > >To me this sounds more likely to have been an attack on what in English we might call the "heirs," not the "descendants," of those who killed Jesus and fought against Bolivar -- that is, the heirs of the Roman Empire and the Spanish Empire. > >For Chavez, as he has said again and again, that means the American Empire. > >Whether one agrees with his hostility to the present US government or not, it is not anti-Semitism. > >Now even IF that is the correct understanding of the speech, the phrasing is both careless and dangerous. It is hardly surprising, given the history of the Jewish people, that a reporter reading the speech without knowing much about Chavez would take it as anti-Semitic. And it certainly behooves us to find out -- I would say, neither assuming it is nor assuming it is not. > >I asked for and received comments from my contacts in Venezuela � from people who know Venezuela and the Chavezian rhetoric well, who are independent-minded � open to disagreement with Chavez but not members of the intense opposition to Chavez that attempted to overthrow his elected government. > >They said �- even before I had tried out my hunch or hypothesis about the "crucifiers" as the empires, not the Jews -- that after studying the speech they had come to much the same thought. > >I still do not view this as a settled question. If the speech was intended as anti-Semitic, we must not only denounce it but try to reeducate Chavez. If it was not so intended, then we need to correct whatever misimpression of it that North American Jews might have given or taken, and he needs to understand what dangerous language he is flirting with. > >But surely until we on further examination become convinced that the "anti-Semitic" interpretation of the speech is correct, we need not go running to recruit a new and powerful person into the bands of anti-Semites. There are already more than enough without our recruiting for them! > >I suggest that until more is learned, serious Jews and responsible citizens of all communities should take this assumption as not yet substantiated, and hold in abeyance either believing it or not believing it. > >How do we learn more? > >In the meantime, I urge that JTA say publicly that serious doubts have been raised concerning the interpretation of the speech as anti-Semitic, and that JTA asks readers to suspend judgment on this question. > >Since both Western folk wisdom and Jewish teaching remind us that false accusations run far more swiftly than the truth to correct them, I urge JTA to issue such a statement right away. > >Shalom, >Arthur > >Rabbi Arthur Waskow >The Shalom Center > >************************************************* > >The managing editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency utterly rejected this line of thought. He utterly rejected the possibility that anyone at all had ever or would ever talk about "Christ-killers" without meaning the Jews. He refused to examine the matter further by any investigations in Venezuela, and shrugged off the Bolivar reference as irrelevant (though Bolivar is in fact the central hero of Chavez' life and politics). > >Already the Simon Wiesenthal Center has accepted the JTA's premise without thinking further. Other Jewish organizations will probably do the same. > >This is incredibly dangerous. If my hypothesis is correct, this behavior by leading organizations in the North American Jewish community can turn Chavez and his supporters into enemies for no reason. If my hunch is incorrect, we can find out by checking the facts in Venezuela. > >Only two interests are served by jumping off this cliff: those of the Bush Administration, which is intensely hostile to Chavez, and those of Jewish organizations that gain politically or financially from such alarms. > >I repeat: I am by no means claiming that for sure Chavez' comments had nothing to do with the Jews. But I am claiming that decent Jewish ethics, prudent Jewish self-protection, and honest journalism all require further investigation. > >I welcome your comments. Please send them to >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Shalom, Arthur --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
