B’nai B’rith International Tuesday condemned an obscene anti-semitic attack by a massive gathering of union members in downtown Buenos Aires. The diatribes were triggered by a speech by Saul Ubaldini, Secretary-General of the General Confederation of Laborers (CGT). The Union had organized the gathering as part of its tactics during a general strike here.
Ubaldini attacked the Speaker of Argentina’s Chamber of Deputies, Cesar Jaroslavsky, who is Jewish. According to Alfredo Neuburger, B’nai B’rith International’s assistant director for South America, Ubaldini stated that Jaroslavsky deserved an “Oscar for the best Comedian.” This comment touched off a series of anti-semitic chants.
Neuburger said that Ubaldini, fearing the loss of control over the crowd, declared that “the (Jewish) community has nothing to do with this. There are black sheep everywhere.”
B’nai B’rith Argentina’s Acting President, Elbio Svidler, repudiated the diatribes. “All of us solid democratic-committed people know that these attacks, unacceptable in a free and pluralistic society, are targeted against democracy itself,” Svidler said.
He added that B’nai B’rith, committed to the struggle for human rights and opposed to any kind of discrimination and prejudice, “expects a clear and categoric denunciation from the entire political spectrum of the country, especially from those parties represented in the public rally, from human rights organizations, and all those committed to democratic principles.
“No one, no representative sector in the country may remain in indifferent silence.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
