French Jewry is on the brink of a coordinated attack, with community members in some cases behaving almost like crypto-Jews. In the UK, people avoid wearing a kippah in public, while Australian Jews are experiencing unprecedented levels of antisemitism.

Video: Suspected antisemitism: A French journalist harasses a Jewish passenger on the bus

Since Oct. 7, antisemitism has spiked globally, but the most significant activity is a new form of antisemitism emanating from individuals and groups across the political left spectrum and driven by pro-Palestinians. In Europe, flooded with Muslims from across the Middle East, the result is the most severe escalation since the Holocaust, with phenomena reminiscent of those darkest days.

Alex Lalush, who immigrated from France to Israel about 25 years ago, chairs the Hebrew Ulpan Forum, a program overseeing Hebrew language courses for new immigrants. For the past two decades, he has been actively involved in helping immigrants from various countries integrate into Israeli society. When asked about the current state of antisemitism in France, his country of origin, Lalush paints a grim picture.

"Since the start of the war, violent incidents in France on antisemitic grounds have increased by 300%," he said. "Unlike in the past, we're seeing overt antisemitism in parliament. It's certainly fair to say that it's much more dangerous in France than before, and there's a great sense of insecurity. There's a feeling that it's very unsafe to be Jewish – you need to remove your kippah or Star of David necklace. However, it should be said that there's a lot of security around schools, synagogues, and even restaurants."

France, which already had a very high antisemitism threshold before Oct. 7, is probably the most problematic country, and perhaps the most dangerous for Jews living there. In late August, a pro-Palestinian carrying an Israeli flag approached the Beit Yaakov synagogue in the city of La Grande-Motte. Security cameras showed him setting fire to two vehicles parked at the entrance, at least one of which contained a gas cylinder, which exploded. A police officer was injured in the incident.

"Jews not only remove Jewish symbols but also avoid having packages delivered directly to their homes, or have the security guard receive things for them, to prevent strangers from coming to the door," Edna Weinstock-Gabay, CEO of Keren Hayesod, a fundraising organization for Israel described. These phenomena indicate that Jews are indeed afraid of a coordinated attack, and signs of such an attack are certainly present on the ground.

Despite the notable difficulties, Emmanuel Zion, head of the Jewish Agency delegation in France, said that Jews in the country are not giving up their solidarity with Israel: "The Jewish community organizes rallies supporting Israel and calling for the release of the hostages regularly every week, in addition to large support events from time to time."

UK

Although France is ostensibly the most problematic place, there is also significant escalation in countries where it was previously safe to be Jewish and where there is a clear concentration of Jews. One of the prominent countries is the UK, home to hundreds of thousands of Jews, which has been suffering from severe antisemitism since the outbreak of the Gaza war.

"In fact, the situation in the UK is more severe in some respects than in France," Lalush said. "The atmosphere among politicians is causing antisemites, who were relatively quiet until now, to be more active now."

"How has the situation in the UK reached a point where I'm more worried about my daughter, who walks around with a Star of David around her neck than about my son serving in the military?" David Wolfson, a member of the House of Lords raged a few weeks after the war began. He later said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Globes that "the Jewish community in the UK is like a frog in hot water."

A report published a few months ago by the Anti-Defamation League revealed that while there were 1,662 antisemitic incidents in the country in 2022, in 2023 there were 4,103 such incidents. The number of physical attacks increased from 136 to 266.

In June, more than 20 Barclays bank branches were vandalized by pro-Palestinians, due to alleged claims of connections to Israel. "This is a neighborhood with many Jews, and I'm a member of a WhatsApp group of 1,000 Jewish women. We're disgusted and shocked by what's happening here, some are scared. Jews are already starting to talk about moving to Israel, Miami, or villages in England, where there's a less threatening feeling," a Jewish resident of London said.

In an attempt to protect British Jews, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in March a grant of $92 million to secure schools, kindergartens, synagogues, and Jewish community centers. Recently, a bus line was also launched that travels between Jewish communities across London to provide residents with a sense of security.

"The Jewish community in Britain is the second largest in Europe and has been experiencing increased antisemitic incidents since the war," Avi Cohen-Scali, Director General of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs. "The community is demonstrating impressive resilience despite facing relentless antisemitism in the public sphere since Oct. 7."

Keren Hayesod, the Jewish Agency, and the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs are heavily involved in measures to protect Jews. Among other things, significant funds have been invested in fortifying synagogues and public institutions, a step that already proved life-saving in 2019 in Germany – after attackers tried to break into a synagogue in the city of Halle during Yom Kippur and were blocked thanks to secured doors.

"We've significantly increased investment in Europe, through the Security Assistance Fund, to protect and strengthen communities," Weinstock-Gabay said. "We've seen how a secure synagogue door prevented a major attack. Therefore, we're investing quite a bit in training professional teams that work for community security and have increased manpower."

"We've received reports of real fear from Jews about leaving the house, fear of wearing any Jewish symbol, and the danger of speaking Hebrew on the street," Cohen-Scali clarified. "This is an unacceptable situation. We will continue to do everything in our power to strengthen the community and provide it with tools to cope with the situation – in schools, on campuses, in synagogues, and all areas of life."

Australia

In the 24 hours following Oct. 7, the Opera House in Sydney was illuminated in blue and white colors, as a sign of solidarity with the State of Israel. Solidarity was at its peak, and many Jews mobilized to help Israelis in distress, whether through demonstrations or donations. One of the donations was groundbreaking – advanced medical equipment that helped treat soldiers injured in Gaza suffering from complex burns through the implantation of artificial skin.

A year later, it seems that Australian Jewry needs help itself, due to antisemitic manifestations never seen before. As in almost every other place in the world, they hide Jewish symbols, and in extreme cases even change their identities, due to threats to their lives.

"These are things we haven't seen," Dafna, an Israeli living in the country said. "There are threats to synagogues and Jewish schools, demonstrations on campuses, and more. It's scary." Indeed, dealing with antisemitism in Australia seems almost disconnected. Australia is home to a sizeable Jewish community that typically focuses on local concerns. The country's connection to Israel is usually most visible during New Year's celebrations, which Australia, due to its time zone, marks before most other nations. This annual event often serves as a primary point of engagement between Australia and Israel.

However, antisemitism is certainly present in Australia, and it intensified following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October. While not as widespread as in some European countries, the incidents are still deeply troubling. A particularly alarming event occurred in May 2023, months before the current conflict, when a 15-year-old boy planned an attack against the Jewish community. He tried to recruit his friends, saying: "I want to do this to a bunch of Jews. What about Palestine, I want to attack Jews here."

A few months ago, details of a WhatsApp group created after Oct. 7 by one of the Jewish communities to provide support to its members were leaked. A New York Times journalist accidentally exposed the group's details, and pro-Palestinian activists collected pictures and details of more than 600 Jews. Some of the people on the list received explicit death threats, including a 5-year-old child whose picture was distributed. A Jewish family was forced to go underground.

As a result of the escalation, the Jewish community began to significantly increase security for educational institutions and synagogues, and in some cases also for families and individuals who received threats. It should be noted that the Jewish community in Australia is characterized by being very Zionist and devoted to the people of Israel, and Israelis and Jews in the country make it clear that this has not changed even in the wake of the attacks.

South America

About two months ago, hundreds of teenagers and adults gathered in Panama. In the presence of then-Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and Rabbi Eliahu Hamra, rabbi of the AMIA community in Argentina, those present inaugurated a new community center. "I met a vibrant Jewish community, which is a model of renewal and preservation of tradition," Rabbi Hamra later wrote on his X account. Last week, massive Jewish events were held with the participation of the most significant rabbis in the ultra-Orthodox-Israeli public in Panama and throughout Brazil.

These events, while not particularly dramatic but rather routine, symbolize more than anything the significant dissonance in South American countries. On one hand, some of the countries' leaderships are extremely anti-Israel - the President of Brazil called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "Hitler," and the prime minister of Colombia declared the severance of relations with Israel, although this did not actually happen. On the other hand, the residents of those countries, Jews and also some of those who are not Jewish, are openly pro-Israel. This stark contrast between government positions and public sentiment creates a complex political landscape in these South American nations.

Brazil is a prime example of this. "There's a huge difference there between the defined policy of the governments versus the residents. In Brazil, the government is not friendly to Israel, but the people are actually not against Israel," Weinstock-Gabay explained. Thus, while the Brazilian President constantly attacks Israel, students of the Jewish school in São Paulo held a festive and public ceremony last week with prominent rabbis, including the ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch. This doesn't mean there's no antisemitism in South American countries. "The situation is not easy there either," Weinstock-Gabay added.

"There's a rise in antisemitism and it can't be ignored. This is due, among other things, to the Palestinian community which is considered the largest outside the Palestinian Authority. But in Latin America, relatively speaking, the situation is better."

Argentina is one of the more Israel-friendly countries these days. In February, President Javier Milei met with Netanyahu and declared that he would declare Hamas a terrorist organization and prayed at the Western Wall, with Argentina's ambassador to Israel being his rabbi.

There's also prominent antisemitism in Argentina. "It's aimed at the younger generation: in schools, sports clubs, and universities," Weinstock-Gabay said. "Students stopped wearing their school uniforms for fear of being attacked on the street, racist comments were heard during sports games and on public transportation. Parents are afraid every time the children leave the house in the face of expressions of hatred we thought we'd never see again."

At the same time, there was quite a bit of flourishing in the Jewish community precisely during the crisis. "Despite the great distance, Jewish communities in South America and Australia have a close connection with the State of Israel, especially since Oct. 7," Cohen-Scali said.

"Members of these communities have visited Israel several times since the outbreak of the war and volunteered in various activities, aiming to assist where needed and to express solidarity. The Ministry of Diaspora Affairs conducts extensive activity in Latin America in the field of formal and informal education, including Hebrew language instruction, connecting to Jewish identity, and strengthening community resilience – and we will continue to strengthen this connection."

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The Pacoche Marine Reserve in Ecuador documented 786 hundred dead bird species in the first week of June, as well as in areas that were regarded as environmental refuges occurring simultaneously with the presence of the H5N1 avian influenza virus that has already killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds in the region.

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According to the Ministry of the Environment, one of the most trustworthy theories is that the "El Niño" phenomenon is the reason for "the lack of food supply" for various species, including birds. The tropical Pacific's seas are home to El Niño, the king of climatic phenomena affecting the waters of the Tropical Pacific. Its arrival, scheduled for November or December in Ecuador, means extreme warming of the oceans.

According to Luis Cumba, undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment, "There are no signs that the deaths are caused by a viral process, which affects all migratory birds." The environmental authorities have found 783 migratory bird carcasses as of the first week of June. According to Paolo Piedrahita, a research professor at the Higher Polytechnic School of the Coast, birds rely only on the fish that the seas produce for nourishment.

When the ocean, or in this case the coastline, is warmed by the incidence of El Niño, the supply of fish decreases. In addition, marine species, even with a slight variation in sea temperature, modify their behavior, affecting their predators, such as birds.

Amid the alert thousands of black cormorants are reportedly appearing on the Ecuador beaches. Most of them come from Peru, where researchers are on the alert for the presence of the coastal El Niño.
"These migrations correspond to oceanographic events related to the variation of the surface temperature of the sea," adds Piedrahita. These trips can last hours, days, or weeks, but the problem occurs when the birds cannot find food in the regions where they fly. For this reason, he warns that the massive appearance of birds is not 'normal' either, since the distribution ranges of birds are established according to where they can "reproduce and feed directly from the sea."

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Chilean President Gabriel Boric's pitch last week to enshrine greater state control over lithium is emerging as the latest test for the resource nationalism embraced by Latin America's ascendant left but which has proven tough to implement in practice.

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While the former student protest leader's proposal to give the government a majority stake in all future lithium projects faces an uncertain path in Congress, its mere introduction shook one of the mining industry's most lucrative corners. The push from Boric also highlights the long-running regional tension between governments' hunger for control of coveted commodities and future profits versus their ongoing need for private sector capital and know-how. "In Chile, it's probably going to be the most significant case," said Carlos Pascual, top energy executive with IHS Markit, referring to other regional efforts to exert more government control over the mineral seen as key to a greener future and citing Chile's outsize role in the global metals market as the world's top producer of copper and No. 2 in lithium.

Last year, Boric's fellow in Mexico, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, enacted a sweeping lithium nationalization and later ordered the creation of a new state-run lithium company, LitioMx, even though the country is still far from selling its first cargo of the ultra-light metal.

Lopez Obrador, who reveres the country's landmark 1938 oil nationalization, justified his policy as its logical extension. He invoked past abuses at the hands of colonial masters and more recent corporate titans, arguing that only the government can prevent exploitation and ensure broadly-distributed benefits.

Lithium is in high demand for rechargeable batteries for future fleets of electric vehicles in the global transition to green energy. Peru, a mining powerhouse best known for copper, might have pursued a similar approach to Boric to bolster its development of lithium had former President Pedro Castillo not been ousted late last year.

The leftist Castillo won a narrow victory in 2021, pledging to nationalize the ultra-light metal along with other minerals including copper, but later moderated his position, leaving the promise unfulfilled. That leaves the exception to the trend, Argentina, as an increasingly likely Latin American destination for new private capital for lithium.

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Former Argentine President Mauricio Macri said on Sunday that he will not be a presidential candidate in the country's October general elections, as the opposition coalition moves to confirm its candidates.

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The center-right Macri's decision to opt-out opens the door wider for other candidates of the opposition coalition "Together for Change," considered the front-runner against the incumbent Peronist-led leftist party of President Alberto Fernandez.

"I will not be a candidate in the next election," Macri said in a video posted on social media on Sunday. "I am convinced that we must expand the political space for the change that we initiated," added.

Although Macri had previously suggested he would not run for the October elections, other opposition members speculated he would still announce his candidacy in the midst of a prolonged economic crisis with 100% annual inflation, nearly half of Argentina's population has been thrust into poverty. The opposition coalition appears poised to garner more support than the ruling party, which has not yet defined its candidate amid major internal disputes between Fernandez and his Vice President Cristina Fernandez.

While Argentina is six months away from electing a president, the tension between presidential candidates is increasing, In an interview with the Argentinian radio show Modo Fontevichia in which Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez discussed his meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington, Fernandez called the opposition libertarian politician Javier Milei "a threat to democracy",

"Javier Milei is a threat to democracy, Hitler was voted in. Totalitarians use democracy to gain power and there are many examples in the history of mankind,"

"Libertad Avanza" coalition deputy and presidential candidate Milei responded to the accusation on Twitter, "With your words, you fall into the crime of trivializing the Shoa, which, beyond the personal, offends the memory of millions." He accompanied his message on social networks with a video that shows him at the Holocaust Museum in Buenos Aires.

At the end of the short video, the libertarian closed: "Say anything about me, but don't offend the victims of a massacre like the Holocaust." After his response, the deputy continued his criticism of the President and gave his version of the origin of the support that drives him to run in the 2023 elections.

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Forest fires across south-central Chile that have left 24 people dead and swallowed up hundreds of houses spread into new areas on Wednesday after raging overnight, burning up the habitats of vulnerable woodland animals.

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Chile's national forests association CONAF said on Wednesday that the area affected by the fires had spread to over 300,000 hectares (741,315 acres) – an area nearly twice the size of Greater London.  Authorities said some 2,180 people have been injured and 1,180 houses have been destroyed, with most of the deaths and damages in the south-central Biobio, Araucania, and Ñuble regions.

In the rehabilitation center in Chillan, the capital of the Ñuble region, veterinarians treated burns on animals native to the woodlands.

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Thousands of protesters in the streets of Peru's capital faced volleys of tear gas and pellets on Tuesday, hours after President Dina Boluarte called for a cease of almost two months of riots.

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The crisis is a result of continued political turbulence in Peru. Former President Pedro Castillo, Peru's first Andean leader, ordered the dissolution of parliament in December to shorten the third impeachment trial against his fledgling government. Instead, he was indicted by lawmakers, the National Police arrested him before he could find sanctuary, and Boluarte, who had been his vice president, was installed.

Since then, 56 people have died amid the unrest involving Castillo's supporters, 45 of whom died in direct clashes with security forces, according to Peru's government. None of the deaths have been in Lima yet.

Large groups of people from Andean regions have been going to the capital demanding Boluarte's resignation, dissolution of congress, and new elections.

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Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan-Nahoum is one of the candidates to head the Jewish Agency, the largest Jewish nonprofit organization in the world. If elected, she would become the first woman to head the agency.

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Established in 1929, the Jewish Agency predates the state itself and acted as a central player in its establishment and development. Today, it facilitates aliyah to Israel, in addition to the absorption of immigrants and funds programs in Israel and around the Jewish Diaspora. "Its history and impact are immeasurable on the state of Israel," Hassan-Nahoum told JNS.

Former chairman Isaac Herzog recently vacated the position when he became Israel's 11th president this summer, following the seven-year term of Reuven Rivlin.

For now, Yaakov Hagoel is serving as acting chairman of the Jewish Agency. Traditionally, the prime minister suggests a candidate, who must be approved by nine of 10 members on the selection committee (including Hagoel and other representatives of the World Zionist Organization, Keren Hayesod and the Jewish Federations of North America), and with unanimous confirmation from the board of governors. The chosen successor will serve a four-year term.

The committee is set to meet with all candidates, passing the name of an approved candidate to the board of governors by mid-October. It is not required to vote for the prime minister's choice, though it has only rejected such a selection – when the committee rejected then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's choice of Likud Party minister Yuval Steinitz in 2018.

JNS sat down with Hassan-Nahoum to speak about why she believes she is the best person for the job.

Q: What do you bring to the table that makes you the best fit for the job?

"First, I was a Diaspora Jew until 20 years ago, so I understand the mentality of the Diaspora and have complete empathy for and a unique understanding of their challenges.

Second, I'm an immigrant, and the Jewish Agency is still the organization bringing immigrants to the State of Israel, an ongoing enterprise and even our raison d'être. Jerusalem absorbs the largest number of immigrants on a yearly basis, many of whom I end up helping in one way or another. I understand new immigrants, their challenges and what could help them make their aliyah more successful. When working with Diaspora and aliyah, it also helps that I speak several languages – a package that can take the agency to the next level in its development.

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Last, as well as being a fundraiser for 12 years and a lawyer before then, I became a consultant to organizations wanting to be more successful in fundraising and engagement. This is exactly the skill set that the Jewish Agency is looking for – someone who can attract a new audience, who can bring in young engagement and help them do the work they do."

Q: In this next phase of the Jewish Agency's development that you refer to, what would you do differently or keep the same if awarded the position?

"One thing I'd keep the same is the organization's prioritization of Diaspora engagement with Israel, which the Jewish Agency shifted towards years ago in a very wise evolution. That focus was needed then and is still needed today.

"However, to take the agency to the next level, we need to understand how to engage the new generation effectively, young people who are mainly impacted digitally. We need to communicate with them to bring them in, to inspire and excite them.

"I would also engage the government for better absorption programs for olim; we are not thinking creatively enough about how to make the immigrant life better, helping them find good jobs, schools, etc. and we need to be much more engaged and sensitive to the absorption process."

Q: How do you view the gap between Israel and Diaspora Jewry? What do you believe can be done to bridge that gap?

"As a now-Israeli for 20 years, I understand the importance of the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora. I don't buy into the whole "us vs. them" mentality; we are one people. Yes, we are one people living in different places, with different mentalities and challenges, but ultimately, we are one. And if we absorb this fact, then disagreements can be viewed as something between any normal family. We need to ensure that the Diaspora understands that we see them as one people with us and do our utmost to embrace all our communities, whether we agree with them or not.

"To bridge the gap, the Diaspora must understand Israel's richness, pluralism and diversity. In the current toxic intersectionality culture, many Diaspora Jews feel for the embodiment of white colonialism, and that is because there's a lack of understanding of our history and our diversity. To inspire the new generation with our incredible heritage and bridge that gap, we must communicate the best of all we have to offer in our incredible diversity of backgrounds, opinions and creativity in this county.

In my work, I speak to a lot of students, and the most important thing I want them to take away is pride in our incredible history and achievements. We are the only people who managed to solve our own refugee crisis after a genocide. We are a special people. To bridge the gap, I hope to imbue others with the same passion I have for our people, notwithstanding the issues we must fix."

Q: You have said previously that you understand the sensitivities of living as a Jewish minority, with its difficulties and dilemmas. What are the main issues facing worldwide Jewry today?

"Just as the Diaspora doesn't fully understand Israel, Israel doesn't understand the Diaspora, its community life and what it means to be a minority. Over the last few years, and especially in America and Europe, there has been a rise in antisemitism. Jews are being attacked in synagogues, on the streets for wearing a kippa, and it's been a shock for many.

"In July, I led an Israeli mission of solidarity to the Diaspora communities with Gesher to New York. We went to learn what the challenges were and how we could help. The fact we are seeing a resurgence of antisemitism in America – the land of the free and the melting pot of society – that is very disturbing, and we need to help these communities feel safer again.

"Another main challenge for the Jewish people is not the various streams of Judaism and how everyone prays, it's the unaffiliated who are our greatest challenge—the disconnected, the apathetic, the disengaged, young Jewish people totally disinterested in their heritage and Israel.

Q: How can you promote unity and cohesion, and why are you the right person to do that?

"With my skill set, passion, energy and creativity. I straddle many worlds that need to be brought together. I am a Sephardi, a Latin, an Anglo, a woman, a liberal, a feminist, and I speak a few languages.

"I understand the sensitivities of many groups, and I believe that everyone who wants to strengthen the Jewish people is welcome in the Jewish tent. Diversity is part of the beauty of the Jewish people, and I am proud that we have so many different types of people, languages and cultures; but at the same time, we share the same heritage."

Q: We have spoken several times together about the importance of women in political leadership positions. You have shared your belief that being a woman is a strength – that women have qualities and skills infused with emotional intelligence, empathy and the ability to dedicate themselves to a higher cause. How are these traits vital for the head of the Jewish Agency?

"The Jewish Agency is the largest Jewish agency in the world, representing all the Jews. Women are natural consensus-builders, and to be an empathizer, thinking about so many different people with so many needs, would be an asset to the role. Women are uniters by nature – we do it every day – and this could be applied to uniting the entire Jewish people.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Argentinian journalist Julio López recently discovered a Spanish-speaking hate network by creating a computer program that scans websites for hate speech. A journalist and hacker by trade, López originally sought to search for groups like QAnon, wondering if there were similar groups in Argentina. His study unexpectedly uncovered a secret network of alt-right, Nazi groups in Latin America that perpetuate conspiracy theories related to Jews.

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"I found out there are groups like QAnon in Argentina – there are many – and they're large and have done a tremendous job" infiltrating the web, López told Jewish News Syndicate. After creating computer code utilizing terminology that is considered hate speech, his program scanned thousands of sites, exposing a "breeding ground" for hate that he says is experiencing a "boom."

"The first one I found had a YouTube channel with 220,000 subscribers, 3,000 hours of video and over 24 million views," he explained. "They were recording on a TV studio to replicate regular media content." The channel, named "TLV1" posed as a legitimate Israel-based news site with the same name, violated YouTube community standards and was eventually taken down for inciting hate.

Conspiracy theories perpetuated, according to López, such as "theories like the Andean plan for Jews to merge a nation into Patagonia, and the idea of a new order governed by key positions that are occupied by Jews;" ideas about "a superior race and the male man as the center of the family;" as well as portraying Jews as "immigrants who steal jobs."

This particular YouTube channel, he explained, spanned multiple countries including Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Spain, and had linked Facebook groups in order to reach the maximum number of people. It operated for three years before López's advocacy got YouTube to shut it down. "However, Facebook allowed their groups to stay open while YouTube banned them; therefore they still had the power to regroup," he said.

A second group that López found was "more militarized and had more than 80,000 subscribers, wore black and used Nazi fonts and icons … recruiting young people and nurturing them with these ideals. We also found hundreds and hundreds of Telegram channels and satellite groups on Facebook, just waiting to regroup and take action."

According to López, a self-proclaimed "tech geek who loves media and happened to end up with a microphone in front of me," his algorithm also uncovered hate speech in the network towards the LGBTQ community, women and reproductive rights, and other minorities, and calls to disobey the state.

López, who hosts the most-listened-to radio show in the country, "Lanata Sin Filtro," said Argentine media originally refused to broadcast his findings (which López said occurred out of fear of the sites losing financial partnerships with Facebook and Google) until pro-Israel NGO Fuente Latina secured him an interview on CNN Español and other major news networks.

'Hate is country-specific'

According to the founder of Fuente Latina, Leah Soibel, only after the story received international press did Argentinian media organizations begin to cover the story.

What López's network uncovered, said Soibel, is an "incredibly dangerous" trend that exists in the context of fatal antisemitic attacks within the Jewish communities of Latin America. Referring to the anniversary of the March 17, 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that killed 29 people and injured more than 250, Soibel told JNS that "the scars are still real and fresh, and no one has been brought to justice."

"The proliferation of hate speech in Spanish is very real and needs to quickly be addressed," she said. "We know too well that what is published on these sites inevitably leads to someone acting on it."

Soibel commended López for his interest, which intrigued many, as López is not Jewish and even Jewish professionals were not aware of the "tightly knit network that expands to Spanish media in America" that he has exposed.

Uncovering the antisemitic "dark web," said Soibel, is vitally important in what she views as an "information gap" that has occurred during the pandemic, as journalists are not working from their normal production studios, and extremist outlets have sought to fill that void.

Once his study was disseminated in the media, López reported receiving death threats by the extremists that he exposed, with his picture circulating and being called a "Zionist pig."

He has also spoken out against inadequate responses by tech giants. "Facebook and Google don't have the adequate personnel to work on hate speech as compared to [those companies in] the United States," said López, whose efforts to flag content as racist and antisemitic proved unsuccessful on social-media websites.

His long-term goal is to educate social-media platforms such as Facebook that they must approach hate speech differently – not grouping all Spanish-speaking countries together, but understanding that hate speech is a separate phenomenon occurring in countries with different histories and cultures supporting it.

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"Facebook needs to recognize that Holocaust denial, while it is a serious European and American issue, is not the No. 1 form of verbal antisemitism in Latin America," said Soibel. "Each country has its own form of expressing hate. Hate groups are cultural; there is no one linguistic standard. Rather, hate is country-specific, and Facebook should assign a representative for each country to deal with such challenges."

López added that he hopes his study will help to uncover "one more piece in the puzzle that clears the confusion between freedom of expression and  hate crimes," as well as empower Jewish organizations to fight hate and collect enough evidence to "take these groups to court and generate a ruling."

"Hate is not simply stopped," he said. "Hate must be taken to court."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Since March, 140 Brazilian Jews have arrived in Israel.

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This week's online aliyah fair for Brazilian Jews was the first in history to take place online, rather than in either Sao Paolo or Rio de Janeiro, where previous events for the Brazilian Jewish community have been held. However, the virtual event allowed thousands of participants from throughout Brazil to learn about possibilities for a new life in Israel, from housing and employment to information about health care and help for children starting school.

According to the Jewish Agency, 2,400 people took part in the event and the information presented there reached some 7,000.

The Jewish community in Brazil currently numbers some 93,000 in about 14 main locations, with Sao Paolo home to the largest community, followed by Rio.

The ongoing coronavirus crisis in Latin America in general and Brazil in particular – where even President Jair Bolsonaro has contracted the virus – has led to an increased number of Jews in those countries sending out feelers about aliyah. In June, the Jewish Agency opened filed for 632 Jews in Latin American, 116% more than the 293 files it opened for residents of Latin American countries in June 2019.

Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog said "Particularly at this challenging time for the world, it's moving to see Jews' growing interest in making aliyah, and even more to see those who have made aliyah during coronavirus. They come to Israel out of a strong sense of belonging and a desire to contribute to the country, and are not giving up on their dream of building thier future here."

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The Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency,  which operates under the auspices of the country's foreign ministry, is set to open the mission on Dec. 15, but the facility will not have diplomatic status.

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The mission will launch its operation with a visit from a group of senior Brazilian lawmakers, headed by Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro and an avid Israel supporter.

"The good relations between Israel and Brazil will be underscored by the upcoming visit of a delegation from the foreign affairs committee of the Brazilian congress, which is headed by Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of the president [Jair Bolsonaro]," Modi Ephraim, head of the the Latin America Division at the Foreign Ministry, said in a statement.

Honduras, another Latin American country, is reportedly engaged in "advanced talks" to move its embassy in Israel from Rishon Lezion, a city south of Tel Aviv, to Jerusalem, another Foreign Ministry official said.

The talks are said to be nearing their final stages, with an official cited by the newspaper as saying that the move could come as early as the next few weeks.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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