THE 4liETROlt JEWISA . NEWSc

Friday; August 21, 1931 23'

Bnai Brith Report Analyzes the Situation of Latin Jewry

JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Although disappearances of
Jews and others have stop-
ped, and terrorism of the
right and left has been
largely curtailed, Argen-
tinq is haunted by both its
past excesses and its pre-
sent weaknesses, the Inter-
national Council of Bnai
Brith (ICBB) was told Tues-
day.
Warren Eisenberg, direc-
tor of the council, said that
the current military gov-
ernment of Gen. Roberto
_.la is seeking a "middle
und" as it struggles for
survival.
Eisenberg visited Argen-
tina and several other
, South American countries
last spring, meeting with
Bnai Brith and other
Jewish community leaders,
members of the "grass
roots," journalists, human
rights activists and gov-
ernment officials.
Eisenberg reported
that conditions have sub-
stantially improved over
the mid-1970s and that
there was "a definite
mood among many Jews
that past excesses must
be buried." They feared
that continued rehashing
"will undo any chance of
strengthening the new
government" of
President Viola who,
they believed, is their
best hope of containing
anti-Jewish behavior.

lip

The Jewish community's
chief concern is for an im-
proved economy, Eisenberg
reported. "There is incipient
fear . . . that a decline in the
economy will result in
scapegoating of the Jewish
community," he declared.
Eisenberg stated that un-
like Americans, who seek
compromise as a means of
resolving issues, Argenti-
nians cling to their exces-
sive views, which fre-
quently results in a collision
of forces and a search for
someone to blame.
Viola is viewed "as a crea-
ture of the three-man junta
which is beholden to other
military who are ultimately
controlled by lower-ranking
forces, including Nazi ex-
tremists and other anti-
Semites," Eisenberg re-
ported. Nevertheless, most
Argentinians want Viola to
succeed, fearing "more re-
pressive measures in the
name of quelling opposition
or criticism" of the govern-
ment, he added.

Eisenberg said that
Argentine Jews protest
anti-Semitic acts, "but
their isolation makes it
difficult for them to be ef.
fective without help from
the outside," he declared.
"On the surface, the situ-
ation is far quieter than
the stormy debate inside
the United States
suggests. American must

remember that the U.S.
has limited leverage on
Argentina, and what they
have should be used ef-
fectively."
On the other hand, he
noted, "ignoring the lever-
age we have will send the
wrong message to Argen-
tina."

In other nations he vis-
ited — Brazil, Chile and
Uruguay = Eisenberg said
anti-Semitism, if not dead,
is not flagrant. He reported
that the basic dilemma for
Brazil's 170,000 Jews "is
the degree of discomfort
they feel in a society which
has, historically not evinced
strong signs of anti-
Semitism." Nevertheless,
there is "a general atmos-
phere or uneasiness and
disquieting which has
grown out of instability in
the country's economy and
political structure."
The major problem facing
the 35,000 Jews of Chile is
complacency, Eisenberg
said. The Jewish commu-
nity lives comfortably and is
"deeply immersed" in all
aspects of Chilean life. The
result is apathy, and accord-
ing to the organized Jewish
community there are less
than 20,000 people who
identify themselves as Jews
and participate in Jewish
communal affairs.
In Uruguay, where the
Jewish population is

Archbishop Promotes PLO Cause

By MORTON ROSENTHAL

Director, Latin American
Affairs Department
Anti-Defamation League
of Bnai Brith
(Copyright 1981, JTA, Inc.)

The black-robed priest
was a featured speaker in
Buenos Aires at ceremonies
last November, marking
the International Day of
Solidarity with the Palesti-
nian people. With his long
full beard, he has become a
ubiquitous and controver-
sial personality. In Iran he
visited American hostages
and subsequently retrieved
the bodies of American
soldiers killed in the
aborted rescue mission.
He publicly embraced
Yasir Arafat, chief of the
Palestinian Liberation
Organization, in Spain and
subsequently went to Syria
to accept honorary member-
ship in the PLO's Palestine
National Council. Some
South American Arab
communities have de-
nounced him as "an active
member of the Palestine
guerrillas."
his priest, Hilarion
ucci, first came to inter-
national prominence in
1974, when Israeli security
forces detained him for
smuggling arms for Arab
terrorists. He was sen-
tenced to 12 years in prison.
Israel rejected re-
peated demands from
various quarters that
Capucci be released. In
January 1975, in reply to
a Syrian complaint Israel
sent a letter to United Na-
tions Secretary General
Kurt Waldheim stating
that Capucci, "having

been caught red-handed
tflagrante delicto' admit-
ted his misdeeds and was
properly and lawfully
convicted and sentenced
after due process of law."
However, in November,
1977, Israel relented and
responded favorably to a
Papal appeal for cle-
mency on humanitarian
grounds.

During the past three
years, the government of
Israel has had ample reason
to wonder whether it had
erred in releasing him. On
various occasions it regis-
tered official protests that
Capucci's activities violated
terms of the agreement for
his release.
On Dec. 19, 1977, Cardi-
nal Paul Phillippe an-
nounced that Capucci had
been appointed, by the Sac-
red Congregation for
Churches of the Eastern
Rite, as Visitor of the Faith-
ful of the Melkite Byzantine
Rite in Venezuela, Colom-
bia, Mexico and Argentina,
where some 50,000 adhe-
rents of the Melkite Church
live. Capucci declared that
he would visit those coun-
tries as a representative of
Pope Paul VI, with Ven-
ezuela the first country on
his Latin American tour.
In January 1979, the
Caracas daily, "El Univer-
sal," reported that his pur-
poses would be "strictly
religious and spiritual," but
at a press conference in
Caracas two days later,
Capucci announced that
part of his mission was to
persuade the president of

Venezuela to permit the
opening of a PLO office.

In April, Capucci went
to Argentina where the
press reported that his
visit "has divided the
wealthy and numerous
Arab community in
Argentina, bringing to
light differences between
Christians and Mos-
lems." The Moslem Arabs
hailed Capucci as a de-
fender of Palestinian
interests, but Christian
Arabs, through the East-
ern Catholic Association,
publicly criticized his
visit as "fomenting sub-
version and disturbing
the peace . . . a slap in
the face to the spiritual
values and morals of the
Argentine people." The
association caustically
observed that "the Papal
Nuncio keeps a prudent
silence."
Many adherents of the
Melkite Church in Latin
America agree that there is
a need to curb the activities
of Archbishop Capucci who
is sometimes referred to as
"The Archbishop of Ter-
rorism." They also agree .
with Archbishop Joseph
Raya, the spiritual head of
the Melkite Church in Is-
rael at the time of Capucci's
conviction, who said, "It is
the duty of every clergyman
to bring peace to his own
community and to the world
as a whole.
If there are those that
hide behind their cloth to
aid murderers, their place is
not in the Christian
Church.",

50,000 out of a total popu-
lation of three million, the
suspension of many tra-
ditional liberties by a
military dictatorship has

brought unease, Eisen-
berg said.
While the country re-
mains "relatively tranquil"
and the people — Jews and

non-Jews alike — look to a
re-democratization, young
Jews are making aliya to Is-
rael at a rate' that is the
highest in the continent.

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