From: harelb@math.cornell.edu (misc.activism.progressive co-moderator)
Subject: Jews and Nicaragua: Another Chapter in Reagan's Propaganda War
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: misc.activism.progressive on UseNet ; ACTIV-L@UMCVMB
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 17:02:27 GMT

Jews and Nicaragua: Another Chapter in Reagan's Propaganda War


[From: Turning the Tide (see below)]:

Other charges too have been levelled against the Sandinistas in the
propaganda war. President Reagan, with a representative of the
Anti-defamation League of B'nai Brith (ADL) at his side, accused the
Sandinistas of anti-Semitism on July 20, 1983 -- somehow overlooking a
cable four days earlier from the US Embassy in Managua stating that it
could find "no verifiable ground" to accuse the Sandinistas of
anti-Semitism and that "the evidence fails to demonstrate that the
Sandinistas have followed a policy of anti-Semitism or have
persecuted Jews solely because of their religion." [84].

The charges have been reiterated since, but are denied by human rights
activists who are highly critical of the Sandinistas in Managua, by a
delegation headed by a Rabbi who had been a leader in the struggle
against the anti-Semitism and terror of the Argentine neo-Nazis, and
by a Panamanian Rabbi (a former Minister of the government who had
been honored by the Latin American Jewish Congress) after a visit to
Nicaragua. The Jewish Student Press Service reports that the ADL had
"approached Presidental advisers with the idea of a deal" in an effort
to "gain clout with the Reagan White House," accepted by the
Administration who saw a way "to get the Jewish community to join the
bandwagon" in the campaign to enlist public support for its Central
American policies; the report cites officials in leading Jewish
organizations, who denied the charges of anti-Semitism. [85]

Meanwhile, the White House, the media and the ADL, while generally
suppressing the cable from the Ambassador that reached Reagan four
days before the July 20 accusation, also have yet to report the
homilies of their favorite, [right-wing] Nicaraguan Archbishop Obando
y Bravo, who declaims that:

    the leaders of Israel... mistreated [the prophets], beat them,
    killed them. Finally as supreme proof of his love, God sent his
    Divine Son; but they...also killed him, crucifying him.
    [...]
    The Jews killed the prophets and finally the son of God...  Such
    idolatry calls forth the sky's vengeance." [86].

[84] AP, Boston Globe, Sept. 21, 1983.

[85] Rabbi Morton Rosenthal of ADL, letter, NYT, Sept. 27, 1983,
responding to an op-ed of Sept. 13 by Ilana DeBare; Walter Ruby,
_Jerusalem Post_, Aug. 21, 1984, _Genesis 2_, Sept. 1984; Americas
Watch, _Human Rights in Nicaragua_; Ignacio Klich, _Le Monde
diplomatique_ (Dec. 1983); Stan Steinreich, Jewish Student Press
Service, _Genesis 2_ (sept./Oct. 1983). For Rabbi Rosenthal's
reiteration of the ADL charges, see _Jewish Post_, Sept. 5, 1984; _Le
Monde diplomatique_, June 1984.

[86] _Human Rights in Nicaragua_.

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From _Turning the Tide. U.S. Intervention in Central America and the
Struggle for Peace_ By Noam Chomsky, 1985, South End Press, Boston.

South End Press, 300 Raritan Center Parkway, Edison, NJ 08818 For a
free catalog: 1-800-533-8478; send the 1-line message GET SOUTH END
ACTIV-L to LISTSERV@MIZZOU1.BITNET for titles from South End Press.

******************************************************************
Part 2
******************************************************************

[From: Washington's War
on Nicaragua (see below)]:

   One of the charges slapped on Nicaragua was anti-Semitism although
   it was discredited by many sources, including U.S. Ambassador Tony
   Quainton who cabled Washington in July 1983: "the evidence fails to
   demonstrate that the Sandinistas have followed a policy of
   anti-Semitism or have persecuted Jews because of their religion."
   Undeterred by the evidence, the administration pretended that
   Somoza associates who happened to be Jewish sough exile because of
   anti-Semitism [124]

   Edgar Chamorro recalled a meeting with three CIA officers in the
   spring of 1983 to discuss ways of promoting the contras inside the
   United States. One propaganda idea was to target American Jews by
   portraying the Sandinistas as anti-Semitic. According to Chamorro,
   the CIA officers "Said that the media was controlled by Jews, and
   if we could show that Jews were being persecuted it would help a
   lot" [125]

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[124] See, for example, Jane Hunter, _Israeli Foreign Policy_
(Boston, South End Press, 1987), pp. 169-78; Franz Schneiderman,
"bending Swords Into Plowshares: An Investigation of the Tensions
between Israel and Nicaragua," Council on Hemispheric Affairs,
November 26, 1985.

[125] Jeff McConnell, Boston Globe, January 18, 1987.

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Washington's War on Nicaragua, by Holly Sklar (page 243)
1988, South End Press, Boston

South End Press, 300 Raritan Center Parkway, Edison, NJ 08818 For a
free catalog: 1-800-533-8478; send the 1-line message GET SOUTH END
ACTIV-L to LISTSERV@MIZZOU1.BITNET for titles from South End Press.

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            =============================================
            T h e   " N i c a r a g u a   L i b r a r y "
            =============================================

*
* =========
* Nicaragua
* =========
*
  WHO-WERE CONTRAS    Contras' origins; make-up; practices - documented
  FSLN     H-RIGHTS  Documented HRs comparison w/Somoza,Guat,ES,others
  FSLN     MISKITOS  Sandinista treatment of Miskitos;Charges & Realit
  FSLN     NICAJEWS  Debunks charges of Sandinista 'Anti-Semitism'
*
  OXFAM84  NICARAG   Oxfam America's 1984 report on Nicaragua, in full
  FSLN     ACHIEVE   Documented: achievements of the Nica. revolution
*
  NICA-84  ELECTION  Documented: Fair under Sandinistas; US subversion
  FAIRNESS NICA-USA  Flwup:`Is Nicaragua More Democratic than the US?'
  NICRAGUA ELECTION  Study in US subversion of '90 Nicaraguan election

NOTE:

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