Representatives of the Delegation of Argentine Israeli Associations (DAIA) will arrive next week in Neuquén capital in a show of repudiation of “anti-Semitic expressions” made in the Assembly of the National University of Comahue which took place last March.
The visit will be led by the 1st vice president of the institution, Marcos Cohen, together with the special representative for the fight against anti-Semitism and before the IHRA, Fabiana LoguzzoRabbi Alejandro Avruj and members of the local DAIA branch.
As reported in a statement, the delegation will arrive in the city to hold a meeting with the rector of the house of higher studies, Beatriz Gentil.e, one of the signatories of the statement questioned by the DAIA and which was signed by the Higher Council of the university.
In that text, the rejection was proposed to the “genocidal actions of the Zionist government of Israel against the Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank“, and requested “the immediate interruption of the attacks on the Palestinian population, the withdrawal of the occupying troops and the breaking of political, economic, cultural and military relations with Israel.”
From the leadership of the entity that represents the Jewish community in the country, they highlighted that, at the time, that statement was repudiated and, also, an immediate meeting was requested with the rector, whom they accused to delay the response “two months” and deny “any Judeophobic content in said document.”
It was through a letter signed by the president of the Neuquén Hebrew Center, Vaniria Mela; the vice president of the local DAIA, Carlos Maravankin and with the support of the Viedma, Bariloche, Gral. Roca and Cipolletti subsidiaries, in which alsos the university was informed that intervention would be given to the DAIA
central “to evaluate the actions that correspond in law.”
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The DAIA also informed the Undersecretary of National University Policies, Alejandro Álvarez, who, in response, expressed “his concern and indicated, in a letter addressed to the authorities of the University of Comahue, that ‘claims that there is an extermination plan by the Government of Israel based on supposed ‘official statements’ and without clear foundations to support it, can only be understood as anti-Semitic expressions that promote racial hatred”among other concepts.
The undersecretary – cited by the institution in its statement this Tuesday – urged the academic community to “review the declaration and, within the framework of the free debate of ideas, be able to delve deeper into the current conflict in the Middle East, with academic rigor, intellectual honesty and the equanimous vision that the conflict deserves.
Regarding the closure, they reported that the representation of the Argentine Jewish community “is holding meetings with all university deans in order to eradicate the growing anti-Semitism in houses of higher education. In this sense, the UBA carried out the ‘Dialogue for coexistence’ panel that brought together the Islamic Center of the Argentine Republic (CIRA), the Argentine Episcopal Conference (CEA), the Alliance of the Churches of Argentina (ACIERA) and to the Delegation of Associations
Argentine Israelites (DAIA) »
The official delegation will arrive in the provincial capital on June 10 and will include during its stay in the city a press conference at the Centro Hebraica de Neuquen (Alderete 1700, corner Río Atuel) from 2:00 p.m.
