Chile Blames Israelis For Breaking Rules At National Parks

RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — A senior official of an entity under the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture threatened Israeli tourists with a hate-filled speech after a group was removed from a national park.
National Forestry Corporation director Elizabeth Munoz criticized “Israelites” for “cultural bad behavior” after three Israeli tourists were expelled late last month from the Torres del Paine National Park for switching on a portable mini stove in an unauthorized area, reported El Mercurio newspaper.
“They are united at hostels and ‘these people’ are received not due to their nationalities. However, we can’t bar their entrance, but they will be removed if they present an aggressive attitude,” Munoz declared during an interview to Tele13 Radio on Wednesday.
“I have been reviewing the statistics and since 2012 we have had 36 expulsions, of which 23 were Israelites and these three are also Israelites. It seems they have the culture of not obeying and going against the rules,” she said.
The Comunidad Judia de Chile, the country’s umbrella Jewish organization, released a statement indicating that such generalization fosters a scenario of hatred and discrimination.
“We condemn all kinds of attacks against the nature of our country, but we cannot accept that our authorities make such statements that give rise to acts of hatred at a time when Chile is fighting to end discrimination against tourists and immigrants,” read the statement.
“We request that this type of situation is not repeated and so we can avoid the hostility and racism we do not want for our country,” the statement added.
The three Israeli tourists were fined about $1,000, which will be designated for fighting forest fires in the region. In 2014, other Israeli travelers accused Chilean authorities for degrading treatment at the same park after being expelled for cooking.
“We were treated like murderers. In a moment we turned into Israelis who are trying to burn down the reserve,” a tourist told Ynet.
Last month, a young Jewish and gay activist wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the flag of Israel was attacked at a Santiago park in with several razor cuts perpetrated by three men who carried neo-Nazi symbols.
Chile is home to some 15,000 Jews. The country is also believed to host the largest Palestinian community outside of the Arab world, with more than 300,000 members.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Protesters clash in Crown Heights as Ben-Gvir visits Chabad headquarters
-
Yiddish ווידעאָ: היסטאָריקער שמואל קאַסאָוו דערציילט מעשׂיות פֿון זײַן משפּחה־געשיכטעVIDEO: Historian Samuel Kassow shares stories about his family history
דער ווידעאָ איז טשיקאַווע סײַ פֿאַרן אינהאַלט סײַ פֿאַר קאַסאָווס נאַטירלעכן ליטוויש־ייִדיש
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.