It’s Jew Vs. Jew As Conservative Pol’s Popularity Rises In Rio
RIO DE JANEIRO – A few days before they read from the Passover Haggadah about how God split the Red Sea waters, Brazilian Jews have never felt so split between right and left. At the center of the divide, although hardly in the Moses role, is Jair Bolsonaro, a 61-year-old conservative lawmaker who appears…
Venezuela Expresses ‘Desire’ To Re-Establish Diplomatic Ties With Israel
RIO DE JANEIRO – Venezuela’s foreign minister expressed to his country’s chief rabbi “the desire to establish full relations with the State of Israel” eight years after the South American nation expelled its Israeli ambassador. “We suggested to start with a period of courtship, which means a beginning through consular relations, so that later…
Mexican Jewish Teen Challenged To Cook Non-Kosher Food On TV Reality Show
RIO DE JANEIRO — A 13-year-old Jewish girl who cooked pork during a primetime reality show on Mexican TV said “my grandfather is going to kill me.” Batia Bresca was clearly uncomfortable cooking non-kosher food during the premiere of the Mexican edition of “MasterChef Junior 2017” last week and invoked Jewish law when a referee asked…
Guatemala Makes Push To Teach The Holocaust
RIO DE JANEIRO — The Guatemalan government partnered with the local Jewish community to launch an educational project to study the Holocaust. Another aim of the project is to promote the values of tolerance and respect, reported La Hora newspaper on Tuesday. “Studying the Holocaust allows young people to see the tragic consequences of currents and movements….
Lost 400-Year-Old Jewish Manuscript Returned To Mexico
RIO DE JANEIRO — The oldest Jewish document of the New World will be returned to Mexico more than seven decades after it disappeared. The 1595 autobiography of Luis de Carvajal, who was a New Christian or “converso” Jew in Mexico, will be returned this month, the Mexican consulate in New York said on Friday. The document…
Frank London’s Yiddish Opera Will Premiere In Cuba
RIO DE JANEIRO — A new opera based on an 86-year-old Yiddish poem about a Taino indigenous chief who resisted the Spanish invaders will have its premiere in Havana next month. “Hatuey: Memory of Fire,” will first be performed in Havana on March 3, reported the New York Times. Composed by Frank London of the Klezmatics, the…
Jewish Club In Rio Hosts Populist Who Supports Far Right Dictatorship
RIO DE JANEIRO — A Jewish group from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil’s second-largest city, invited as a speaker a polemic right-wing congressman whom Jews in Sao Paulo had dis-invited from a speaking event following pressure by far-left activists. Rio’s Hebraica sports and cultural club invited Jair Bolsonaro, a prominent congressman who is an advocate both of…
Peru’s President, Son of Jewish Refugee, Tells Trump He Prefers ‘Bridges To Walls’
RIO DE JANEIRO — The president of Peru, whose father was a Jewish refugee who fled the Nazis, told U.S. President Donald Trump during a visit at the White House that he prefers “bridges to walls.” Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, born in Lima to a French Protestant mother and German Jewish father who…
Israeli Passenger Removed From Colombia Flight Over Bomb Joke
An Israeli passenger was removed from a domestic flight in Colombia after he reportedly joked about detonating a bomb due to a long delay, according to local media. Yossef Bronfen, 49, was aboard a Latam Airlines flight at the El Dorado International Airport in Bogota earlier this week for seven hours awaiting departure when…
Venezuelan President Meets Jewish Leaders To Smooth Rocky Relations
RIO DE JANEIRO — Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro welcomed Jewish leaders at the governmental palace to strengthen cooperation. Ties between the government and the Jewish community have faced roadblocks at times in the country. “A good day of dialog for peace. Boosting the co-existence and the dialog of civilizations, of religions to consolidate our…