CARACAS, Venezuela — As President Hugo Chavez intensifies his campaign against Israel’s Gaza offensive, some Venezuelans have taken action, threatening Jews in the street and vandalizing the largest synagogue in Caracas — where they stole a database of names and addresses.
Many in Venezuela’s Jewish community are fearful that the worst is yet to come.
Chavez has taken care not to criticize Israelis or Jews while accusing Israel’s government of genocide against the Palestinians. He vehemently denies inciting religious intolerance let alone violence.
But Venezuela’s Jewish leaders, the Organization of American States and the U.S. State Department say Chavez’s criticism has sparked a growing list of hate crimes, including a Jan. 30 invasion of the capital’s largest synagogue.
About 15 people overpowered two security guards at the Tiferet Israel Synagogue, shattering religious objects and spray-painting “Jews, get out” on the walls. Most worrisome, said Elias Farache, president of the Venezuelan-Israelite Association, was their theft of a computer database containing many names and addresses of Jews in Venezuela.
Police are posted outside the synagogue, and prosecutors said Friday that the security guards “could be involved.”
Venezuela’s attorney general ordered them to court Feb. 13 — two days before Venezuelans vote in a referendum that could enable Chavez to extend his rule indefinitely.
One week before the invasion, columnist Emilio Silva posted a call to action on Aporrea, a pro-government website, describing Jews as “squalid” — a term Chavez often uses to describe his opponents as weak — and exhorting Venezuelans to confront them as anti-government conspirators. Aporrea later replaced the column with an apology.
With criticism mounting, Chavez phoned Farache on Thursday night in a conversation broadcast live on state television and vowed to guarantee the safety of Venezuela’s 15,000 Jews. He condemned the synagogue attack and suggested it might have been an inside job.
