Rise In Anti-Semi
Feared In Argentina

New York (JTA) — Torn by a
bomb that killed more than 100
people and leveled its communal
institutions, Argentina's Jewish
community is now facing tensions
with the government and the fear
of a resurgence of anti-Semitism.
For Ruben Beraja, the presi-

al panel and in a meeting in New
York with American Jewish lead-
ers.
Some in the Argentine media
have fanned the flames, said Mr.
Beraja, with one influential com-
mentator warning that the Jew-
ish community's high profile

AP/EDUARDO DI BAIA

Two members of the Jewish community at the rally in Buenos Aires.

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dent of the DAIA Jewish com-
munal umbrella organization
whose office was demolished by
the blast, this has brought new
challenges to the tightrope he
walks as a communal leader.
With some 220,000 members,
Argentina has the second largest
Jewish community in the Amer-
icas.
But its history, including both
ties with Germany during the
Holocaust and a military dicta-
torship that ended only a decade
ago, has given the Jewish com-
munity fears and sensitivities un-
familiar in the United States.
Statements and actions that
might have been taken as routine
expressions of Jewish pride and
solidarity in North America have
come under criticism from vari-
ous quarters in Argentina.
Mr. Beraja tried to explain this
to his American audiences in ap-
pearances before a congression-

could rouse the "dormant beast,"
referring to anti-Semitism.
These criticisms, coming at
this sensitive time, Mr. Beraja
told the American Jewish lead-
ers, challenge the Jewish corn-
munity to "moderate the feelings
of many Jews who feel threat-
ened by everybody and are para-
noid at this time, and feel
everybody's an anti-Semite."
At the same time, "we also
have to face those who are anti-
Semitic, and are taking advan-
tage of the present situation to do
what they usually do."
The community received
strong support at a rally three
days after the July 18 bombing,
attended by 150,000 people.
Jews were outnumbered by
their non-Jewish neighbors
at what was described as the
largest mass demonstration in
the country in the last 10 years.
But the bombing, the second

