Posted on 04/23/2009 8:45:55 AM PDT by Nachum
(IsraelNN.com) The head of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hassidic movement's center in the northeastern Bolivian town of Rurrenabaque told Ynet on Thursday that he has hired a lawyer to handle a number of issues following police closure of the center. Police forces had raided the center a number of times in recent days and arrested a number of Israeli tourists who were staying there.
(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
Exactly. This is so not good news. The rise of ‘anti-Semetism’ ( by which we really mean anti-Jew because I don’t see that much anti-Arab or anti-Muslim stuff going around) across Europe and now thw western hemisphere is frightening on a good day. So much happening so fast. It gives me pause
People who run around as “tourists” to countries with corrupt and unstable governments, are either not right in the head or not really “tourists”. Yeah, the Bolivian police suck. So don’t go to Bolivia unless you’re being paid to go their to work, by an employer who is providing you with appropriate security and is prepared to back you with serious political and legal muscle if anything happens to you.
What does this have to do with anti-Semitism or anti-Jewism? The three people gunned down by Bolivian police last week weren’t Jewish — they were just political opponents of the current Bolivian regime. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517502,00.html The Bolivian government is allowing its forces to do whatever they want to anyone who isn’t an active supporter of the current regime, and it’s safe to assume that the police are collecting plenty of bribes for doing this stuff. Nobody in their right mind would go there as a tourist.
I am not so sure about that. Bolivia has had a lot of neo Nazi types since a small group of Jews fled there in 1933. It is not so simple.
I note that they diud not close down the local Catholic charity or church and they did not close down any Protestant houses of worship just a Chabad center.
It’s sounds like garden variety corruption in a politically corrupt/unstable country. THIS particular incident may have had elements of anti-Semitism in it, but the evidence suggests that anyone, Jewish or not, is at risk of serious harassment or even murder by Bolivian police and that cleaning up the problem with the Bolivian police/government would have an equal effect on the safety of both Jews and non-Jews. The message I get is that the Bolivian police are available for hire to harass or even murder anyone, as long as the target is not a loyal supporter of the current regime. I just don’t see a Jew-specific problem here. And the practice of running off on tourist jaunts to seriously corrupt/unstable countries is hardly limited to Jews either — it has somehow become fashionable among most financially secure social circles. I don’t doubt that there are some anti-Semitic forces in Bolivia — I just don’t think that’s the proximate cause of this incident.
At least they didn’t kill anybody in the process. Same can’t be said for last week’s victims, who apparently weren’t Jewish and weren’t affiliated with any Jewish or Israelis organization. As for the Catholic organizations, they presumably fall into the category of loyal supporters of the socialist regime, since that’s how the Catholic Church and most of its affiliated organizations have politically aligned themselves in other South/Central American countries. Their safety is due to toeing the political line, not due to being Catholic. Trust me, if the Chabad staff had been singing the praises of the current Bolivian regime, their operation would be perfectly safe and thriving, even if all their near neighbors were rabid neo-Nazis.
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