Wiesenthal Center slams Chavez "anti-Semitic" talk

[Xvall]

(Full Story (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N04386817.htm))

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Prominent Jewish rights group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday of using what it said were anti-Semitic remarks and demanded an apology.

In a televised Christmas Eve speech, Chavez, a left-winger and a former soldier, said that "minorities, descendants of those who crucified Christ ... have grabbed all the wealth of the world for themselves."

Chavez, a Catholic, did not mention the Jewish people and in the same comments referred to the betrayal of Venezuelan liberation hero Simon Bolivar. But the group said his remarks represented central arguments of anti-Semitism -- accusing the Jews of killing Jesus Christ and associating them with wealth.

"Both elements have served as a perfect excuse to justify the most cruel persecution and killing during two millenniums," the Wiesenthal center said in a statement.

"Our center strongly condemns his anti-Semitic declarations. This insult to universal humanitarian values demands an immediate retraction and public apology," it said.

An official from Chavez' presidential palace said the government had no immediate comment.

[Severian]

The first thing that jumps out at me: this is a Christmas Eve speech, i.e. Dec. 24, and the story doesn't come out 'til Jan. 4. Presumably because the Wiesenthal Center waited that long to put out Yet Reuters can't wait for a Venezuelan government response. Gotta love the news cycle.

Here's the speech (http://www.gobiernoenlinea.gob.ve/docMgr/sharedfiles/Chavez_visita_Centro_Manantial_de_los_suenos241220 05.pdf) Spanish, pdf format.


El mundo tiene para todos, pues, pero resulta que unas minorías, los descendientes de los mismos que crucificaron a Cristo, los descendientes de los mismos que echaron a Bolívar de aquí y también lo
crucificaron a su manera en Santa Marta, allá en Colombia. Una minoría se adueñó de las riquezas del mundo, una minoría se adueñó del oro del planeta, de la plata, de los minerales, de las aguas, de las tierras buenas, del petróleo, de las riquezas, pues, y han concentrado las riquezas en pocas manos: menos del diez por ciento de la población del mundo es dueña de más de la mitad de la riqueza de todo el mundo y a la... más de la mitad de los pobladores del planeta son pobres y cada día hay más pobres en el mundo entero.

My stab at translation: "The world has enough for everyone, but some minorities, descendants of those who crucified Christ, descendants of those who threw out Bolivar from here and also crucified him in a sense in Santa Marta, there in Colombia. A minority owns all the wealth of the world, a minority owns the gold, the silver, the minerals, the waters, the good lands, the oil, the riches, and has concentrated the wealth in few hands: less than 10 percent of the population of the world owns more than half of the wealth of the world and more than half the inhabitants of the world are poor and every day there are more poor people in the world."

It&#39;s not clear to me this has anything to do with Jews; the only thing pointing in that direction is the reference to "those who crucified Christ" - some people blame "the Jews" for that. But the overall context is one of "the minority" being the upper class, the richest <10%.

Chavez could easily be saying the rich and powerful people of the world were "those who crucified Christ." (And in fact it was the Roman authorities who were in the habit of crucifying people.)

Really that makes more sense when you take the quote in context. Unless it&#39;s common to blame "the Jews" for Simon Bolivar&#39;s misfortunes, or something I&#39;m not aware of.

Here&#39;s the Wiesenthal Center&#39;s press release- yup, Jan. 4. (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=fwLYKnN8LzH&b=245494&ct=1752793)

It quotes Chavez as saying "“the world has wealth for all, but some minorities, the descendants of the same people that crucified Christ, have taken over all the wealth of the world”.

Notice that unlike the Reuters story, it does not place an ellipsis (....) to indicate that they are leaving out part of the quote in the middle, and combining parts of two different sentences into one.

This is common misquotation. Reuters apparently fact-checked their press release enough to catch it and add the ellipsis...but chose not to give the more complete quote.

And just to give some idea of where the Simon Wiesenthal Center is coming from, two more press releases off their website:
WIESENTHAL CENTER CONDEMNS SECRETARY GENERAL ANNAN’S PARTICIPATION IN UN DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=fwLYKnN8LzH&b=245494&ct=1719097)

Describes as Nazi-like a Norwegian provincial government&#39;s decision to boycott Israeli products, (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=fwLYKnN8LzH&b=245494&ct=1746935) and demands: "that Norway "go beyond its current &#39;denial of responsibility for the acts of a local council&#39;. The vote by this
unreconstructed Stalinist faction of the SDP governing coalition partner,
is a betrayal of all Socialist values". Our Centre urged the Prime Minister "not only to condemn this outrage, but to expunge the racists in the ranks of his own government by expelling them and their sympathizers"."

Presumably all those who boycotted apartheid South Africa were automatically anti-Dutch racists, too.

[Leif]

Some within Israel would like to squelch vocal opposition of them from the left by declaring it anti-sementic. The state only tries to defend with the &#39;racist card&#39; when it itself is just the same, killing palestianians like it&#39;s their buisness. This conflict is old and bloody, a perfect example of how religion is bad for humanity. The only thing we can do is try to stop it.

[Reuben]

shit shit shit. is my reaction.

i am absolutely a defender of Chavez both within the left and within general political discussion but these comments make me feel extremely uncomfortable

[Intifada]

Same old crap from the Zionists...

[Reuben]

i hope ypur post - intifada - was in response to the simonwieenthal cetnre and not me.

To be honest i simply do not know whether Chavez meant anything ant-semitic by it. I can see, however, why many jews -whether they are zionist or anti-zionist may be made very uncomfortable by the discussion of the &#39;descendants of the people who killed christ&#39; who &#39;have hoarded the worlds gold and silver&#39;. For people who have experienced anti-semtism or who are knowledgeable about anti-semitic ideas, this language and imagery sets alarm bells ringing. Simply going on about ZIONISTS when things like this come up neither here nor there.

[PRC-UTE]

Did he ever say the Jews?

It was actually the Romans who killed Christ. Maybe he meant european whites, as he&#39;s indigenous, isn&#39;t he?

[Reuben]

no he didnt say jews and he could have been refferring to all manner of things. thatss why i dont think people shuld come out and *accuse* him of anything. at the same time the combination of two pieces of ultra-typical antisemtic imagery to describe a minority doesn&#39;t smell to good, and thats why i said in to Intifada, that simply grumbling about zionists doesnt cut it

[Reuben]

in relation to his background yes he is half indigineous and half black

[Jimmie Higgins]

Out of context, it sounds really bad. In the context of the whole statement and the fact that he said it on X-mas eve, seems like he was just trying to connect "latin American" struggle to christian theology.

I think it&#39;s a poor choice of wording and nothing else. Pat Robertson says more offensive things every 1/2 an hour.

[bolshevik butcher]

Yeh, I thought that it was possibly a reference to Jesus being a peoples hero and the rich men having him crucified. It was poor wording either way.

[Maynard]

I think everyone should read Severian&#39;s post before commenting. Read those press releases as well, it shows what kind of organization the Simon Wiesenthal Center really is. The exclusion of the ellipsis is critical, because the Simon Wiesenthal Center wants to make it seem that he claimed that jews owned all the wealth, when even if by "descendants of those who crucified Christ" he meant jews, which seems highly doubtful, it would still not be singling out jewish people. The statements should be read as an attack on the rich more than anything else.


vote by this
unreconstructed Stalinist faction of the SDP governing coalition partner,
is a betrayal of all Socialist values
I don&#39;t get that statement at all, those who voted for the boycott of Israeli goods on the Sor-Trondelag council, included members from the Red Electoral Alliance, the Socialist Left Party, the Labour Party and the Christian Democratic Party. As can be seen here: http://www.al-awda.org/norway-boycott.htm. Hardly "Stalinist", I&#39;m not sure what they mean by SDP, though.

[Luís Henrique]

Whether Jews or the Romans, the people "who killed Christ" were not the predecessors of those who now own most of world&#39;s wealth.

This is a common antisemitic theme. I don&#39;t know if Chávez didn&#39;t realise it, if it was a brain fart, if he was stroking some antisemitic feelings of his audience (is there antisemitism in Venezuela at all?), if he was just acting in accordance to being a Catholic and a milico. But I have seen people earning warning points on RevLeft for a lot less than that&#33;

Luís Henrique

[Intifada]

hope ypur post - intifada - was in response to the simonwieenthal cetnre and not me.


It was a response to the Wiesenthal Center, not you.


To be honest i simply do not know whether Chavez meant anything ant-semitic by it. I can see, however, why many jews -whether they are zionist or anti-zionist may be made very uncomfortable by the discussion of the &#39;descendants of the people who killed christ&#39; who &#39;have hoarded the worlds gold and silver&#39;. For people who have experienced anti-semtism or who are knowledgeable about anti-semitic ideas, this language and imagery sets alarm bells ringing. Simply going on about ZIONISTS when things like this come up neither here nor there.

Severian has highlighted the misinformation provided by the Wiesenthal Center, and it is that kind of misinformation that has become typical of Zionists who wish to create an air of an anti-semitic threat against Israel and the Jewish people.

The press release (SWC CONDEMNS ANTISEMITIC STATEMENTS BY VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ – DEMANDS PUBLIC APOLOGY (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=fwLYKnN8LzH&b=245494&ct=1752793)) is nothing but misinformed crap.

[BuyOurEverything]

I don&#39;t think, from Severian&#39;s translation, that Chavez meant to be overtly anti-semetic. However, the &#39;decendants of those who killed Christ&#39; comment is a little worrying. Could be nothing more than a little Christian liberation theology populism, but I&#39;ve never heard &#39;the rich&#39; be blamed for the death of Jesus before, and it seems extremely unlikely that he is refering to the Italians. I feel that an explanation from Chavez is in order and will hopefully clear everything up. Until then, it is probably best to avoid speculation.

[Morpheus]

Originally posted by [email protected] 9 2006, 12:25 AM
Could be nothing more than a little Christian liberation theology populism, but I&#39;ve never heard &#39;the rich&#39; be blamed for the death of Jesus before
I have.

[BuyOurEverything]

In what context? And by whom? I&#39;m not doubting, I&#39;m just curious.

[Severian]

^^^In the context that Liberation Theology people believe that Jesus was a revolutionary advocate for the poor, that crucifixion was a typical Roman punishment for rebels, and that the Roman Empire was definitely organized to enrich the patricians.

But it&#39;s true, as a number of people have said, that this is a poor choice of words at best. The statement&#39;s ambiguous and can be taken in more than one way. Assuming that Chavez didn&#39;t mean any reference to Jews, it has given his enemies an opportunity to misinterpret and attack him. And worse, it can be misinterpreted by Jew-haters and conspiracists to imply that Chavez supports them.

Haven&#39;t seen a response by Chavez or the Venezuelan government yet.

Associated Press (http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/world/13559988.htm) has a somewhat similar story which, however gives the full quote and adds:


Another Jewish leader, U.S. Rabbi Arthur Waskow, said in an e-mail he has serious doubts it was an anti-Semitic slur.

"I know of no one who accuses the Jews of fighting against Bolivar," wrote Waskow, of The Shalom Center in Philadelphia. "And certainly I - and most Jews - teach that it was the Roman Empire, and Roman soldiers, who crucified Jesus."

[Reuben]

Originally posted by [email protected] 8 2006, 09:59 PM

hope ypur post - intifada - was in response to the simonwieenthal cetnre and not me.


It was a response to the Wiesenthal Center, not you.


To be honest i simply do not know whether Chavez meant anything ant-semitic by it. I can see, however, why many jews -whether they are zionist or anti-zionist may be made very uncomfortable by the discussion of the &#39;descendants of the people who killed christ&#39; who &#39;have hoarded the worlds gold and silver&#39;. For people who have experienced anti-semtism or who are knowledgeable about anti-semitic ideas, this language and imagery sets alarm bells ringing. Simply going on about ZIONISTS when things like this come up neither here nor there.

Severian has highlighted the misinformation provided by the Wiesenthal Center, and it is that kind of misinformation that has become typical of Zionists who wish to create an air of an anti-semitic threat against Israel and the Jewish people.

The press release (SWC CONDEMNS ANTISEMITIC STATEMENTS BY VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ – DEMANDS PUBLIC APOLOGY (http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=fwLYKnN8LzH&b=245494&ct=1752793)) is nothing but misinformed crap.
i wasnt denying that the SWC are zionists. I was simply pointing out that one did not have to be a zionist to be made uncomfortable the imagery evoked by Chavez and so grumbling about the SWC being zionists is not really sufficient. By the same token if Louis Farakhan took exception to a comment that seemed to have genuinely racist undertones it would not be sufficient to simply grumble about him being an anti-semite.

From the rabbi severian quoted "I know of no one who accuses the Jews of fighting against Bolivar,"

this i think is crucial. Given this and the fact that the speech was on christmas eve i think we can afford to give Chavez the benefit of the doubt. I hope he does say something soon as this could be the perfect excuse for US liberals to side with the hawks on venezuela (those that are not already siding with the hawks)

[Andy Bowden]

This must be one of the few "anti-semitic" comments in which the word "jew" isn&#39;t mentioned <_<

[Intifada]

i wasnt denying that the SWC are zionists

I wasn&#39;t implying that you were.


I was simply pointing out that one did not have to be a zionist to be made uncomfortable the imagery evoked by Chavez and so grumbling about the SWC being zionists is not really sufficient.

Indeed.

I, however, never simply "grumbled about the SWC being Zionists".

I merely described them as Zionists, who were talking misinformed "crap".

[Morpheus]

Originally posted by Andy [email protected] 9 2006, 12:51 PM
This must be one of the few "anti-semitic" comments in which the word "jew" isn&#39;t mentioned <_<
Actually, that happens a lot. Criticize Israel often enough and eventually you&#39;ll be accused of anti-semitism, even if you never use the word jew.

[Andy Bowden]

And if your a Jew and criticise Israel, then your a "self-hating Jew" :lol:

Honestly if Chomsky is so convulsed by self-loathing where does he get the energy and drive to write so many books? :rolleyes:

[Conghaileach]

Originally posted by [email protected] 8 2006, 08:53 AM
My stab at translation: "The world has enough for everyone, but some minorities, descendants of those who crucified Christ, descendants of those who threw out Bolivar from here and also crucified him in a sense in Santa Marta, there in Colombia. A minority owns all the wealth of the world, a minority owns the gold, the silver, the minerals, the waters, the good lands, the oil, the riches, and has concentrated the wealth in few hands: less than 10 percent of the population of the world owns more than half of the wealth of the world and more than half the inhabitants of the world are poor and every day there are more poor people in the world."

Maybe it&#39;s just me but I think that Chavez is talking about imperialism here, not Jews.

[Andy Bowden]

I believe Chavez is a Catholic, and is inspired by Liberation Theology - which proclaims that Jesus was a revolutionary for the poor and was killed by the elite. I wonder if SWC thinks they are anti-semitic too :rolleyes:

[Reuben]

From Forward
Venezuela&#39;s Jews Defend Leftist President in Flap Over Remarks
By MARC PERELMAN
January 13, 2006

The Venezuelan Jewish community leadership and several major American Jewish groups are accusing the Simon Wiesenthal Center of rushing to judgment by charging Venezuela&#39;s leftist president, Hugo Chavez, with making antisemitic remarks.


click here for full article http://www.forward.com/articles/7189

[Intifada]

Originally posted by [email protected] 13 2006, 03:22 PM
From Forward
Venezuela&#39;s Jews Defend Leftist President in Flap Over Remarks
By MARC PERELMAN
January 13, 2006

The Venezuelan Jewish community leadership and several major American Jewish groups are accusing the Simon Wiesenthal Center of rushing to judgment by charging Venezuela&#39;s leftist president, Hugo Chavez, with making antisemitic remarks.


click here for full article http://www.forward.com/articles/7189
Exactly.