The Simon Wiesthenthal Center has condemned the recent raid on a Caracas Jewish school, reported here via the Aleksander Boyd of the Vcrisis.com blog.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center condemned the government authorities break in at the Jewish school and the Hebraica Jewish Community Center in Caracas, on November 29. Allegedly, the judicial procedure was ordered to take place as part of the investigation into the assassination of Prosecutor Danilo Anderson.

"We are surprised at this antisemitic action, which seems more like a pogrom than a legal procedure under the rule of law,' said Dr. Shimon Samuels, Director for International Liaison of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Sergio Widder, Latin American Representative in a letter to the Minister of Interior and Justice of Venezuela, Jesse Chac撑 Escamillo.

"Furthermore, the fact that the procedure took place while the pupils were arriving at the school, exposed them to a situation which violates any international convention on children's rights, which could have been avoided. We share Venezuela's concern regarding the murder of a National Prosecutor, but do not see the connection with a Jewish school where the principle of civil rights for all citizens was violated," they added.

"By breaking into these Jewish institutions, it was insinuated that the entire Jewish community of Venezuela was associated with this crime and suggests the collective responsibility in which every Jew is endangered.'

The Center urged the Minister "to condemn this attack and to order an immediate investigation so that those responsible for this antisemitic incident are punished.'

In a related letter to Eduardo Duhalde, President of the MERCOSUR (South American Common Market), Samuels and Widder demanded that "Venezuela's membership as an associate member of the MERCOSUR be suspended until this antisemitic attack is fully investigated and justice is done."

The Center also expressed solidarity and support to Daniel Slimak, the President of the Venezuelan Jewish Community.

Ed Lasky  12 6 04