Posted on 01/04/2006 9:12:48 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
Prominent Jewish rights group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday of using what it said were anti-Semitic remarks and demanded an apology.
In a televised Christmas Eve speech, Chavez, a left-winger and a former soldier, said that "minorities, descendants of those who crucified Christ ... have grabbed all the wealth of the world for themselves."
Chavez, a Catholic, did not mention the Jewish people and in the same comments referred to the betrayal of Venezuelan liberation hero Simon Bolivar. But the group said his remarks represented central arguments of anti-Semitism -- accusing the Jews of killing Jesus Christ and associating them with wealth.
"Both elements have served as a perfect excuse to justify the most cruel persecution and killing during two millenniums," the Wiesenthal center said in a statement.
"Our center strongly condemns his anti-Semitic declarations. This insult to universal humanitarian values demands an immediate retraction and public apology," it said.
An official from Chavez' presidential palace said the government had no immediate comment.
The center's International Relations Director Shimon Samuels and its Latin America representative Sergio Widder also sent a letter to Chavez demanding an apology, according to the center's statement.
They said they would call on the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to suspend Venezuela's entry into the Mercosur trade bloc until Chavez apologizes.
The center said "the reactionary and medieval rhetoric" echoed that of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who last month expressed doubt the extermination of Jews by the Nazis known as Holocaust occurred and suggested the Jewish state be moved to Europe.
Chavez, a vocal critic of Washington, has recently been fostering ties with Iran as he builds political and trade alliances as an alternative to U.S. influence.
The influential Simon Wiesenthal Center promotes tolerance and confronts issues like racism, anti-Semitism, terrorism and genocide. It also deals with the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, neo-Nazism, and hate on the Internet.
All right, who tied up Reuters and took their place?
I am pretty sure that this an example of a blog catching news that the MSM ignored. I think somebody at Front Page Magazine first reported this and, apparently the Simon Wiesnthal Center got wind of it from that, so finally, eleven days after the speech was made, it makes Reuters.
If there were no internet, this would never have been reported.
Hugo Chavez is a very frightening man.
But you would not know it from the MSM.
Chavez shows us something about his kind once again in his evil comments: commies, Nazis--same thing.
Chavez needs is looking for a pretext to declare a "socialist" dictatorship. "The Americans are going to invade us" didn't work. He tries other bogeymen.
I think Chavez has some form of dementia or psychosis. It's nearly irrelevant in that context, then, as to what he proclaims his religious affiliation to be other than perhaps Catholics everywhere should pray for him as a deceiver.
I agree that he's dangerous but dangerous in the sense that he's obviously a corrupted individual.
I guess the Weisenthal Center has to speak out in rejection of and about him but they're missing the point as to Chavez's disturbance.
The man is a total kook.
Someone should remind him of what happened to Noreiga.
Or Allende...
He already has "marxist" and "fascist" covered; he's going for "nazi" too, just to cover all his bases. When he starts praying to Mecca, we'll have to award him some kind of prize for "most obnoxious head of state ever", wannabe division.
Keep in mind that chevez is a Communist. Communists' have always been anti-Semitic. Makes one wonder why Jews in American vote for Democrats who are the mirror-image of communists everywhere.
Actually, it occurs to me that he's just proving his "bona fides" to Iran. Don't ask me why.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.