Madrid 2nd February 2009

With regard to the attack, sacrilege and five-hour occupation on 30th January of the Maripérez Synagogue in Caracas carried out by an armed group of fifteen people with a very clear ideology, the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain urges the Spanish and Latin American authorities to condemn this act of anti-Semitism. It asks the Venezuelan authorities to protect the peaceful life of its Jewish community and its freedom of worship. It urges the Venezuelan governing party to order its police and armed forces to guard their security and stop anti-Semitic propaganda in the media. It also asks the Spanish and Latin American governments to pressure the Venezuelan government to allow the Jewish community of Venezuela to live in peace as it has done for more than a century. The Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain considers that this act, which took place a few weeks after the expulsion of the Ambassador of Israel, demonstrates quite clearly how militant anti-Semitism is part of a more general anti-Jewish phobia. It also urges society to reflect on this matter so that consciously Humanity will not be caught up again in situations which, although historic, are not so far away in time.