ARGENTINA: 15 ARRESTED FOR ANTI-SEMITIC VIOLENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000599 SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL/SEAS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/20/2029 TAGS: PHUM PTER PREL ASEC AR SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: 15 ARRESTED FOR ANTI-SEMITIC VIOLENCE AT ISRAEL INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION REF: (A) BUENOS AIRES 0095 (B) BUENOS AIRES 0121 Classified By: Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Argentine police have arrested 15 persons for their involvement in a violent attack on a Buenos Aires city celebration May 17 marking the 61st anniversary of the founding of Israel. The attack left five persons injured, including two federal police officers. On May 18, two synagogues were evacuated after receiving bomb threats. The GOA was quick to denounce the violence and contend that it was perpetrated by a small, isolated group. However, further protests broke out on May 19 demanding the release of those detained after the May 17th incident. These incidents, along with January's anti-Israel protests featuring anti-Semitic imagery (reftels),have renewed concerns among the Argentine Jewish community of rising anti-Semitism. The Ambassador raised with Minister of Justice Fernandez on May 20 our concerns, and afterward reiterated to the press our repudiation of this violence. End Summary. ¶2. (U) On May 17, approximately 20 demonstrators from the Revolutionary Action Front (FAR) carrying a banner "Israel, Genocide" violently disrupted a street celebration organized by the city government to mark the 61st anniversary of the founding of Israel. Armed with clubs and nunchucks, the demonstrators attacked participants of the commemoration event, leaving five persons injured, including two federal police officers. Federal Police initially arrested four men and one woman May 17 on charges of discrimination, resisting arrest, and harming a police officer. They reportedly arrested another ten persons on May 20. The FAR bills itself as Marxist-Leninist and uses an acronym that coincides with the one used by the Armed Revolutionary Forces, an armed guerrilla movement in the 1970s. According to the press, one of the individuals arrested has ties to Quebracho, a radical organization which violently prevented Jewish community groups from peacefully demonstrating in front of the Iranian Embassy in August 2006. (Note: The Delegation for Argentine-Jewish Associations' (DAIA) case against Quebracho for that incident is still pending in the courts.) Federal judge Claudio Bonadio refused to release the initial five detainees, noting that the charges against them were aggravated by their belonging to "an organization seeking to impose its ideas by force" and hate-crime provisions. ¶3. (U) GOA officials, including the Justice Minister, Interior Minister, and Foreign Minister, were quick to denounce the violence and contend that it was perpetrated by a small, isolated group. DAIA issued a communique denouncing event organizers and the GOA for not providing adequate security for the event. According to DAIA President Aldo Donzis, only five police officers were assigned to cover the event. He claims that the police did nothing to stop the armed demonstrators and only intervened when the protestors began to flee the scene. Buenos Aires City official and former DAIA Board member, Claudio Avruj, agreed that the federal police took too long to act. Federal police authorities denied the accusations, saying that 15 police officials had been assigned to the event and that their response to the violence was immediate. The local press reports that a few moments after the attack, two patrol cars and a group of anti-riot police showed up at the scene with police helmets and shields. ¶5. (U) The President of the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) Guillermo Borger also condemned the attacks, and AMIA Secretary Julio Schlosser alleged publicly that police inaction was reminiscent of the military dictatorship's practice of declaring certain areas as "liberated zones" ("zonas liberadas") so that the military's death squads could carry out their operations without police presence. Minister of Justice Anibal Fernandez publicly refuted the accusation and asserted that the incident "was contained in the fastest manner possible and that (the event) had a significant police presence." He downplayed concerns of an outbreak of anti-Semitism, saying that "there are no indications for people to be concerned." He indicated that he hoped that the five detainees would be punished for the incident. ¶4. (U) On May 18, two synagogues were evacuated after receiving bomb threats. Donzis vigorously repudiated the "anti-Semitic bomb threats which disturb the peaceful coexistence of Argentines." Further protests broke out on May 19, when members of the FAR gathered outside of the courthouse to demand tPu667XjVQaper (360,000) placed the incidents as its lead fronQ'QfQ2}:QQ~\%k7secutive days, May 18 and 19. The paper condemned the anti-Semitic events and attributed them to extreme far-left marginal groups. Newspaper of record "La Nacion" ran a scathing editorial May 20, calling the GOA's actions "unsatisfactory," noting GOA forbearance of pro-Iran, anti-Israel statements and activities by social activist Luis D'Elia, who reportedly still retains a government office and budget. "La Nacion" also called for an investigation of an assertion by one of the detainees that the FAR runs a cooperative that has a government contract to produce schoolchildren uniforms, "which would make the state the financial sustenance of a criminal group." The editorial also noted (as have some Jewish leaders) that the May 17 violence occurred the day after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez concluded his visit to Argentina, and that Chavez has antagonized the Venezuelan Jewish community and Israel. Ambassador Raises the Issue with the GOA -------------- ¶6. (C) On May 20, the Ambassador raised the incident with Minister of Justice Anibal Fernandez and stated that anti-Semitic violence is not acceptable in any democracy. He urged the GOA to take action to investigate this incident and prevent any recurrence of anti-Semitic violence. Minister Fernandez agreed and informed the Ambassador that federal authorities had searched the detainees' apartments and found anti-Semitic propaganda and two passports for FAR member Roberto Martino. The Minister indicated that he had had a run-in with Martino several years before when Fernandez was a provincial official, and lamented that the judge let him go at the time. He expressed concern that the FAR's anti-Zionist rhetoric reminded him of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", which is a tract that alleged a Jewish plot to achieve world domination. He asked rhetorically, "what do everyday Argentines have to do with Israel and the conflict in the Middle East?" He indicated that Judge Bonadio had decided not to release the suspects and that he hoped the suspects would be imprisoned "where psychologists could attend to them." ¶7. (U) At a press conference after the meeting, both the Ambassador and the Minister vigorously denounced the incidents, stressing that violence and discrimination should not be tolerated in democratic societies. When the press asked the Minister whether the GOA would continue to offer social assistance to the FAR, he replied that the GOA would not provide social assistance funds to organizations that foment violence. He added that for those who previously received social assistance through the FAR, the GOA would review their cases. If the GOA found that their need for government aid is warranted, the GOA will channel social assistance funds through other organizations, he said. Comment -------------- ¶8. (SBU) These incidents, along with January's anti-Israel protests featuring anti-Semitic imagery (reftels),have renewed concerns of rising anti-Semitism among the Argentine Jewish community. Post contacted DAIA leadership to express our condemnation of this violence and informed them of our intentions to press GOA officials to investigate the incident and prevent further violence. The GOA prides itself on promoting interfaith dialogue between its Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities, and the GOA's public condemnation of these incidents is positive. It remains to be seen, however, whether Argentina's notoriously slow judicial system can hold the perpetrators of these violent acts accountable for their misdeeds. WAYNE