Venezuela: remarks like ‘Hitler didn’t finish the job’ are routine

This is really worrying.

In Venezuela, remarks like ‘Hitler didn’t finish the job‘ are routineMore than half the Jews in Venezuela left the country since Chavez has been in power, and those who remain say there is official antisemitism in the country.

“I am not even horrified anymore when I see swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans such as ‘Hitler didn’t finish the job’ on walls near my synagogue,” says a former Israeli who lives in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.

“This is an influence that trickles down from the top – from the government – against the Jews. I know that Chavez is exerting efforts not to appear anti-Semitic to the outside world, and that he welcomed the leaders of the Jewish community, but I haven’t heard of him ever punishing someone for anti-Semitic writings or remarks.”

She would rather her name not be mentioned. “This gets translated and immediately appears on various internet sites. I don’t need trouble,” she says. “A few years ago it was heaven here, who could have believed that it would turn into such a burdensome place?”

She isn’t the only one who feels this way. According to data from the Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations, the number of Jews in Venezuela sharply decreased in the ten years President Hugo Chavez has been in power.

In 2000, there were some 18,000 Jews listed, and today the number stands at a little less than 9,000. The outward flow of people amplified in the last two years, when more than 5,000 Jews left the country, in particular to Miami in the United States.

via In Venezuela, remarks like ‘Hitler didn’t finish the job’ are routine – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

This is worrying. But then it’s me the one who is “generating hate”… 🙄