30 years ago, on July 18, 1994, the largest terrorist attack in the history of Argentina took place at the AMIA (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina) Jewish center in Buenos Aires. A truck packed with explosives drove into the center, completely destroying it. 85 people were killed and more than 300 were injured. Until the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, this attack was the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust.
Today, 30 years later, the crime has still not been solved. Argentine law enforcement and Israeli intelligence assume that it was carried out by the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, on orders from Tehran.
On the occasion of this important date, the World Jewish Congress, the Latin American Jewish Congress, in cooperation with AMIA and the Argentine authorities, held a series of events aimed at recalling the terrible tragedy and coordinating joint efforts to combat anti-Semitism around the world. Leading politicians, diplomats, scientists, entrepreneurs and leaders of Jewish communities took part in conferences, commemorative ceremonies, meetings and lectures.
The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) also emphasizes the importance of historical memory and the need to thoroughly study the darkest pages of Jewish history – such as what happened in Argentina 30 years ago. Without this, it is impossible to combat modern anti-Semitism and confront the most difficult challenges that the State of Israel and Jewish communities around the world are currently facing. After October 7, 2023, anti-Semitism is once again raising its head – and we have once again become convinced that the existential threat is not illusory and that uniting to confront it is the main task of the Jewish community today.
EAJC President Dr. Michael Mirilashvili said:
“We are talking about a difficult period for our people not only in the State of Israel, but also beyond its borders. In addition to the terrorist attack on Israel, we have witnessed powerful anti-Israeli sentiments from Latin America to the European continent.
It is obvious that any manifestations of hatred and violence against Jews, as well as against any people, should be illegal.
To our great regret, today we understand that not everyone in the world has learned one of the main lessons of the Second World War. Not everyone is aware of what fundamentalist theories and ideologies built on blind hatred can lead to. Not everyone is aware that such phenomena destroy the foundations of the very society in which they flourish. Both 30 years ago in Buenos Aires and on October 7, 2023, we once again witnessed the inhuman cruelty that people obsessed with the hatred of their ideology are capable of.
The Hamas attack on Israel has raised a wave of blatant anti-Semitism around the world. The scale of this chronic disease – hatred of Jews, which is taking on new forms – has once again shocked us.
It turned out that all the enormous work that we are doing, including with our partners from the World Jewish Congress, under the leadership of my long-time friend Ambassador Ronald Lauder, is not enough. But we must not give up. Education, active diplomatic work and dialogue keep us believing that one day we will finally talk about anti-Semitism as another black page in our history.”
