Hate crimes against Jews escalate in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela — As President Hugo Chavez intensifies his anti-Israel campaign, some Venezuelans have taken action, threatening Jews in the street and vandalizing the largest synagogue in Caracas — where they stole a database of names and addresses.Now many in Venezuela’s Jewish community fear the worst is yet to come.Chavez has personally taken care not to criticize Israelis or Jews while accusing Israel’s government of genocide against the Palestinians. He vehemently denies inciting religious intolerance, let alone violence. But Venezuela’s Jewish leaders, the Organization of American States and the U.S. State Department say Chavez’s harsh criticism has inspired a growing list of hate crimes, including a Jan. 30 invasion of Caracas’ largest synagogue.About 15 people overpowered two security guards at the Tiferet Israel Synagogue, shattering religious objects and spray-painting “Jews, get out” on the walls. Most worrisome, according to Elias Farache, president of the Venezuelan-Israelit e Association, was their theft of a computer database containing many names and addresses of Jews in Venezuela.Police are now posted outside the synagogue, and prosecutors said Friday that the security guards “could be involved.”One week before the invasion, a Chavista columnist named Emilio Silva posted a call to action on Aporrea, a pro-government Web site, exhorting Venezuelans to confront Jews as anti-government conspirators.Silva called for protests at the synagogue, a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses, seizures of Jewish-owned property and the closure of Jewish schools.With criticism mounting, Chavez phoned Farache Thursday night in a conversation broadcast live on state television, and vowed to guarantee the safety of Venezuela’s 15,000 Jews. He condemned the synagogue attack and demanded that Jewish leaders publicly recant accusations against his government.Hate crimes have escalated despite Chavez’s declaration that his government “rejects any type of aggression against any temple, be it Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, or any other.”According to the Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations, one threat involved a rabbi who was leaving a Jewish school in Caracas when two men, one wielding a broken bottle, shouted: “Jew, we are coming for you!” A nearby taxi driver offered refuge and sped him away.