Even with all romanticism around Holocaust, and an intense presence of the Left in cultural life, the issues of antisemitism and Zionism had to wait for Hamas’ offensive on October 7th, last year, to draw real attention in Brazil. During this short period of time, an attentive Brazilian gentile will have realized that the politicization of Judaism is particularly intense in USA, and that, wherever there be a noisy anti-Zionist activist, that’s probably a left-wing Ashkenazi jew – and not, say, an Arab. There is a huge Arab presence in Brazil, but it is not very relevant for pressuring for Palestine. On the other side, in USA there is a huge Ashkenazi Jewish presence, and it is at that country that students can draw people into camping for Palestine.

The explanation is simple: not every Arab country is an enemy of Israel, and Brazilian people of Arab ancestry are not claimed by national states on the other side of the globe. Brazilian Jews, however – specially Ashkenazi Jews, who invented the Zionist movement – have on the other side of the globe a national state which rests its legitimacy on claiming to be theis only safe space in this world filled with antisemitism.

Even though Jews have a propensity of keeping certain cultural unity in diaspora, Brazil gives them the freedom to be a just an individual person, reducing the group pressure over a Jew.

Read more by Bruna Frascolla

https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/06/09/jews-and..