Venezuelan Jewry slams anti-Semitic magazine cover

Venezuela’s umbrella Jewish organization slams a local weekly magazine whose recent cover blamed “rabbis”and “Israelites” for an illegal money exchange scheme at a governmental agency.

The Confederation of Jewish Associations of Venezuela, or CAIV, sends a letter to the editor of “Las Verdades de Miguel” (“The Truths of Miguel”) condemning the magazine, which pictured on its cover a caricature of an Orthodox Jew speaking on a cellphone with a Star of David made of dollar bills at the side, says Radio Jai news service.

The headline on the cover of the magazine, released on August 12, reads in Spanish: “Foreign exchange to Israel: The rabbis of CADIVI.” CADIVI is Venezuela’s Foreign Exchange Administration Commission, from which billions in cash may have been swindled in a wide-ranging corruption scheme.

“According to our obligation to combat any anti-Semitic expression, we point out the cover is a replica of anti-Semitic pamphlets and lampoons,” CAIV says in its letter.

“The use of the term ‘Israelite’ referring to the alleged Jewishness of people and companies is simply defamatory and anti-Semitic,” the letter continues. “The misuse of terms associated with the Jewish people such as ‘rabbis,’ ‘Israelites’ and ‘Israel’ has been dangerous and historically tragic and perverse. They reveal an anti-Semitic bias that we should note and denounce without hesitation for they can put at risk the physical integrity of our community’s members.”

— JTA