The appointment of Rahm Emanuel as Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff hasn’t taken long to bring the creepy crawlies of racial hatred out from under the nearest rock. An Argentine national newspaper has today headlined a piece about him with the words “The ‘Jewish Rahmbo’ brings more war.”
On the streets since March this year, Crítica de la Argentina is Argentina’s newest national daily newspaper. Its founder and editor-in-chief is Jorge Lanata, a journalist often said to be one of the most credible in the country. He was previously the founder of Página/12, another national daily which since his departure has turned into something of a mouthpiece for the government.
Page 18 of today’s edition of his new paper carries two stories about the appointment of Emanuel. The first and longer one is similar to those that have appeared in newspapers throughout the world in the last couple of days. It is devoted to the Emanuel’s allegedly aggressive character and the possible implications for internal American politics of his appointment as Obama’s Chief of Staff.
The second story deals with Palestinian and Israel reaction to the news and appears under a headline which reads “The ‘Jewish Rahmbo’ brings more war.” Neither story carries a byline.
Now it’s perfectly possible that the headline was written without too much thought by a harassed sub-editor as press time neared. It’s also possible that it reflects something of Lanata’s real views and prejudices. In 1994 he co-wrote a book entitled Smokescreen. It suggested, among other things, that the bomb attack on the AMIA Jewish community centre which cost 85 lives on July the 18th, 1994 not primarily antisemitic in nature and that the deadly explosion was caused by a device located within the AMIA building itself and was not the result of a suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden van into the front of the building, as all the official investigations have maintained. An idea of the book’s seriousness can be gauged from the fact that it ascribes the historical predominance of the Maronite community in Lebanon not to the influence of the French or the Syrians or the Americans or anyone else, but solely to the influence of Israel.
Jorge Lanata is a key former of progressive opinion in Argentina.
An American friend, part Irish part German, told me recently that given the antisemitic reaction to Obama’s appointment he hopes the New President would appoint someone of the Jewish faith to very position in order to give these Jew haters apoplectic fits.
He normally doesn’t care about the religion of the appointees (and neither do I) but the reaction in all the usual places has been pretty extreme and Obama hasn’t even taken the oath of office yet.
I am personally not shocked by these reactions be they in Greece or Argentina. Argentina was after all an ally of Nazi Germany and gave asylum to countless Nazi war criminals.
What is shocking and what the Argentinean reaction shows yet again is that antisemitism in most cases speaks the language of the “progressives” these days.
Argentina was never an ally of Nazi Germany
“Argentina gave asylum to countless Nazi war criminals.”
For instance to Adolf Eichmann.
“What is shocking and what the Argentinean reaction shows yet again is that antisemitism in most cases speaks the language of the “progressives” these days.”
Unfortunately this is true.
Argentina or rather Juan Domingo Perón, did not “give asylum” to Nazi war criminals. It actively encouraged and facilitated the arrival of many here and allowed them to live and work under assumed identities. Check out Uki Goñi’s brilliant book
http://tinyurl.com/peronandthenazis
Yes, Eamonn, officially Argentian was neutral but the country was unofficially allied to the axis powers.
This short comment on wikiAnswers taken from the University of San Deigo Website
http://home.sandiego.edu/~tpace/Timeline.htm
captures the reality the defacto German Argentian alliance as I understand it perfectly:
“When war broke out in 1939 Argentina declared neutrality 1939. Argentina economic interests lied with the Allies and they continued to sell vital food stuffs to the Britsh for the coming years. However is is commented that Argentina’s heart and culture lied with the Axis. The United States put pressure on Agentina after Pearl Harbour to break ties with the Axis powers but didn’t. In 1944 Agentina finally breaks ties with the axis powers after pressure from the USA. On March 27 1945 Argentina finally declared war on Germany after realizing that defeat was imminent.”
The reason Argentian finally declared war on Germany after the Nazis were defeated was that the US had threatened Argentina with not allowing it to join the UN if it didn’t do so.
“Argentina or rather Juan Domingo Perón, did not “give asylum” to Nazi war criminals. It actively encouraged and facilitated the arrival of many here and allowed them to live and work under assumed identities.”
I don’t get the difference, Eamonn.
If Peron’s government “actively encouraged and facilitated the arrival of many here and allowed them to live and work under assumed identities” is this another case of defacto but not dejure governmental policy.
Argentina is knows to have official policies which are never acknowledged by law.
Witness the “dirty war” against dissidents in the 70’s. This too was not “official” policy at the time.
I am afraid that the bombing at the Jewish center there has the smell of another one of those unofficial stamps of approval.
I intend to read Uki Goñi’s book, Eamonn. Thanks for the reference.
I am Argentinian. It is not so simple.
Argentina was not allied to the nazis. Peron thought that the country could profit better by remaining neutral (just like it did during WW1).
Many nazis came, but they were mostly sought out for technical knowledge, not sympathies.
Peron was very much sympathetic to Zionism and tried to win over for his party the support of the Argentinian Jews (just like McCain, and both failed).
Eammonn I didn’t know that that was the thesis of the book by Lanata. Amazing. What a bastard!
My brother is a fan of his new newspaper.
Pagina 12 is unreadable.
“Many nazis came, but they were mostly sought out for technical knowledge, not sympathies.”
Fabián, have you read Goñi’s book?
Thanks for the information Fabian.
It is indeed a complex picture.
The wikipedia article uses information from Goni’s book and says the following about the presence of Nazis in Argentina:
“Protection of Nazi war criminals
Further information: Ratlines (history)
After World War II, Argentina became a leading haven for Nazi war criminals, with explicit protection from Perón. Uki Goñi showed in his 1998 book that Nazis and French and Belgian collaborationists, including Pierre Daye, met Perón in the President’s official residence, the Casa Rosada (Pink House). In this meeting, a network was created with support by the Argentine Immigration Service and the Foreign Office. The Swiss Chief of Police Heinrich Rothmund [1] and the Croatian Roman Catholic priest Krunoslav Draganović also helped organize the ratline [32]. According to Goñi, 1948 was the most active year, during which Carlos Fuldner was in Switzerland with a special passport describing him as “special envoy of the President of Argentina.” In 1946, Cardinal Antonio Caggiano went to the Vatican in the name of the Argentine government, and offered refuge for French collaborationists who had fled to Rome [32].
An investigation of 22,000 documents by the DAIA in 1997 discovered that the network was managed by Rodolfo Freude who had an office in the Casa Rosada and was close to Eva Perón’s brother, Juan Duarte. According to Ronald Newton, Ludwig Freude, Rodolfo’s father, was probably the local representative of the Office Three secret service headed by Joachim von Ribbentrop, with probably more influence than the German ambassador Edmund von Thermann. He had met Perón in the 1930s, and had contacts with Generals Juan Pistarini, Domingo Martínez and José Molina. Ludwig Freude’s house became the meetingplace for Nazis and Argentine military officers supporting the Axis. In 1943, he traveled with Perón to Europe to attempt an arms deal with Germany.[33]
Examples of Nazis and collaborators who relocated to Argentina include Emile Dewoitine, who arrived in May 1946 and worked on the Pulqui jet, Erich Priebke, who arrived in 1947, Josef Mengele in 1949, Adolf Eichmann in 1950, his adjutant Franz Stangl, Austrian representative of Spitzy in Spain, Reinhard Spitzy, Charles Lescat, editor of Je Suis Partout in Vichy France, SS functionary Ludwig Lienhardt, German industrialist Ludwig Freude, SS-Hauptsturmführer Klaus Barbie….”
There is mor here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Per%C3%B3n#Per.C3.B3n_and_Fascism
Whatever Peron’s own sympathies though I am not sure I would comfortable with a government that allowed a pack of murderers to settle in the country.
The word historians use is ‘sympathizer’. When it comes to the main neutral countries during WW2, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Argentina, there is no question that they were neutral, since they did not participate in the war. But beneath this neutrality which side did they sympathize with? When it comes to Sweden, Switzerland, and Argentina there are those who claim that their sympathizes were with the axis powers.
No, I didn’t.