This article was first published in 2008 on different media sites. There is not a trace of it in search engines. Reposting here to make sure it continues to exist on line!
Haaretz reports that an Argentine judge has
ordered the property of a former Iranian diplomat to be seized as compensation awarded
to a survivor of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center
in Buenos Aires. Without verification, Israeli and American
accusations trump lack of evidence in any jurisdiction- Argentina in particular – since it
stands to benefit from the verdict.
The U.S.-Argentina relationship has always been in a struggle; but it was
Ronald Reagan, the man who declared to the American people: “We raised a
banner of bold colors--no pale pastels. We proclaimed a dream of an America that would be a Shining City
on a Hill” who strengthened the
ties. Reagan’s opposition to the
Sardinistas prompted him to solicit the aid of the most ruthless military regime
Argentina
has ever known to train the Contras[i].
The
same regime that was responsible for the disappearance of 20,000 people during
1976-1983, according to The Center for Legal and Social Studies in Buenos Aires. Other reports speculate the toll to reach as
high as 30,000. Juan Mendez of Americas
Watch has compared Argentine’s “dirty war” to “the tragedies experienced by human kind subsequent
to World War II". A former
lieutenant commander in the Argentine navy confessed in 1995 that 1,500 to
2,000 live and drugged bodies of victims had been jettisoned into the Atlantic from planes[ii].
Among
the victims were some 2000 Jews. Hitler
was not without long-term impact in Argentina. The country's military regime kept secret
camps decorated with swastikas.[iii] A
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs publication reveals
that during this period, the foreign policy of Israel was to offer assistance
to the Jews in Argentina, but at the same time “to cooperate with the military regime in realizing economic
goals” of Israel. “Israel was accused by various quarters within the
Israeli political system and the Jewish community in Argentina of deserting hundreds of
Argentinean Jews, some of whom disappeared and some of whom were arrested and
tortured under the military junta's rule.”
Some
two thousand Jewish lives later, with a different ambition in mind, that of
destroying 70 million Iranians, Israel
is seeking compensation for a building that was bombed. With U.S. in tow and a compliant
Argentine who is too happy to bury the past –literally, a compensation of one
million dollars is being sought for one survivor.
It has
been a well-kept secret that an important project being carried out in the
Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building was a review of previously
secret government files that reportedly reveal how Nazis entered Argentina
following World War II helped by Argentine officials. The review of the files
had gone on for two years, but had not been completed at the time of the
bombing. “Speculation centered on the
possibility that former Argentine government and military officials, fearful of
exposure, were responsible for the bomb attack.”[iv]
It is
hard to disregard the views of Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate director of the Simon Wiesenthal
Center in Los Angeles.
Cooper suggests that government and military figures may have sought to
embarrass the Menem government because of its decision to release the files.
"Anti-Semitism is endemic in Argentina". Exemplifying this is the fact that Argentina's
chief rabbi was assaulted while walking to synagogue by youths who pushed him
to the ground and shouted anti-Semitic curses. The attack was followed by the painting of Nazi slogans on the chief
rabbi's synagogue[v]. Unlikely events in Iran.
However,
blaming the bombing on Iranian-backed elements serves both Israel and Argentine.
It
exonerates Argentina – and while it saves them domestic conflict and
embarrassment, spares the compensation that would be due not only as a result
of the bombings, but the paper trail would assure them a fate similar to that
of Germany’s. Perhaps no other judge has
better served Argentina
than Alberto Nisman. In
spite of Madoff’s disservice to the Jewish community, it is not the million
dollar compensation that will make or break anyone in the community. Even as the United
States is in a recession, Israel continues to enjoy receiving
30% of the total foreign aid. The
2008 budget
submitted by Bush to Congress was a 12% increase over 2007. President-elect Obama, addressing
AIPAC, promised even more: $30 billion in aid to Israel.
The aim of this fiasco is to further Israel’s
foreign policy. In a diversionary tactic
and in order to distract from their expansionist ideology and terrorist
tactics, Iran
is being scapegoated. A Soviet
correspondent once said this of the Americans:
“I think that the fundamental difference between our worlds, with
respect to propaganda, is quite simple. You tend to believe yours ... and we
tend to disbelieve ours." Obviously
he was not familiar with Israeli propaganda. Once again, ambitious Israeli politicians are
demonstrating that they can turn away from the anti-Semitism in Argentina in order to further their destructive
policies in the Middle East. With persecution of Iran as centre-piece of this policy, they fail
to recognize that the rubbles in Buenos
Aires will not hide the truth.
“Truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it and ignorance may
deride it, but, in the end, there it is.” - Winston Churchill
[i] Pawning Honor for the Contras. New York Times. (Late Edition
(east Coast)). New York,
N.Y.:Aug 21, 1987.
p. A.26
[ii] Jerry
W. Knudson, “Veil of Silence; The
Argentine Press and the Dirty War 1976-1983”.
[iii] Esther
Schrader, President of Argentina
Apologizes for Nation's Role as Haven for Nazis. Los Angeles Times. : Jun 14,
2000. pg. 16
[iv] Jewish Center
Bombed in Argentina.
The Christian Century. Chicago:Jul 27, 1994. Vol. 111,
Iss. 22, p. 716 (2 pp.)
[v] Jewish Center Bombed in Argentina, ibid
