Having made no effort to rein in those of its own supporters who fomented recent antisemitic episodes in Argentina, the government decided to win some cheap brownie points for itself by expelling the Holocaust denier Lefebvrist bishop Richard Williamson from the country.

According to this story in Pagina/12 - a newspaper with close links to those in power - it is now considering the idea of making a Holocaust denial a criminal offence, yet another move that would play well to the gallery without inconveniencing those in the ranks of its most convinced and valued supporters who delight in calling Israel a Nazi state and damning the power of the Jewish lobby.

María José Lubertino - the head of INADI, the Argentine state organization charged with leading the fight against all forms of discrimination - was charged with floating the proposal at a press conference last Tuesday. If it becomes law it would make denial or justification of the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide or the state terrorism of the 1976 - 1983 dictatorship in Argentina, a criminal offense punishable by up to two years in prison.

Lubertino, who distinguished herself during the recent rash of antisemitic events in Argentina by saying that “Israel broke international law and now it’s getting own back”, made the following remarks at the press conference.

We don’t want to impose anything, just open up a debate. We believe that a debate of this sort will raise awareness. We don’t know exactly what sort of consensus will be arrived at but education and the raising of awareness are the best allies we have in the cultural battle we want to fight, a fight that has the aim of eliminating the ignorance that generates prejudice. The idea of opening a debate arises from the fact that there is often a lot of double talk in society; those who demand specific penalties [for discriminatory acts] are often the same ones calling for unlimited freedom of expression. Some condemned INADI for not taking action against Williamson but we couldn’t do anything because Holocaust denial is not a crime in Argentina. The idea is that there not be an abstract discussion about this, that’s why we have made the proposal for a change in the law, but that doesn’t mean we have made up our minds about anything.

So, a change in the law is being proposed and the head of the state organization proposing the change says that it hasn’t made up its mind about whether such a change is really necessary. What sense is there to be made of this?

Firstly, the gormless Lubertino is being sent in to bat for a proposal she plainly doesn’t support as part of her penance for her idiotic response to the upsurge of antisemitism here in January. Secondly, and more importantly, the government is seeking to ingratiate itself with the leadership of the Jewish community (the secretary general of the DAIA was present at the press conference), the Armenian community and those Argentine citizens in general who support its efforts to bring the torturers and assassins of the 1976 - 1983 dictatorship to justice. The simple floating of the idea of a change in the law achieves this goal and the proposal is unlikely to go any further.

In some ways, there is nothing to object to about this, it’s the sort of thing governments do all the time. Nevertheless, it shows that this government still regards the question of antisemitism in Argentina as essentially trivial, a matter to be dealt with by sucking up to the leaders of community organizations and expelling crazed foreign clerics and not a “cancer in the brain of humanity”, as it was recently described by Judge Carlos Fayt, the longest serving member of Argentina’s Supreme Court.

Luis D’Elía is the government’s favorite piquetero leader, an admirer of the present Iranian regime and was one of the main propagators of the recent round Jew baiting. Until Fernández de Kirchner’s government puts him beyond the pale it will be difficult to take its concerns about antisemitism seriously.