Recent anti-Semitic disturbances here have elicited sharp attacks on police laxity by leading democratic political parties and newspapers.
The section of the Radical (centrist) Party which has joined in an election coalition with other anti-government groups issued a statement pointing to the existence “of an anti-Semitie atmosphere among all elements supporting the candidacy of Juan Peren,” Argentine strong man. It denounced the “corrupt press which incites the people to racial hatred” and charged that the police are indifferent to attacks on Jews, while they disperse with violence demonstrations by democratic groups.
The Socialist Party has accused the police of “tolerating an anti-Semitic atmosphere and deliberately refraining from interfering with anti-democratic aggressions, of which the anti-Jewish manifestations are a part.” The Communist Party issued an appeal to all citizens “to defend Jews against attacks by Nazi-Fascist elements.”
The Labor Party, which is the party of Peron, also issued a statement in which it voiced “sincere repudiation of anti-Jewish attacks,” and asked members of the party to defend Jews. It alleges that the anti-Jewish violence was committed by “Nazis and enemies of the Labor Party in order to harm its cause.”
The newspapers La Critica, liberal organ, and La Hora, Communist spokesman, carry editorials attacking the attitude of the police, while other democratic papers refrain from editorial comments, but stress the fact that the police usually arrive at anti-Jewish demonstrations after they are all over, and if they do arrest any of the attackers, they release them immediately.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.