the jewish community of cuba: between continuity and extinction

128 Margalit BejaranoLegation.Fidel Castro's initial sympathytowards Israel and the Jewish peoplehas been explained bysome scholars as stemmingfrom his?political backgroundconsolidated in an anti-Nazi and anti-Francoatmosphere,in his close personallinks with Ricardo Subirana y Lobo?Cuba's Ambassador to Israel, in the image of Israel as a small country surrounded by enemies and guided by a socialist leadership,as wellas in Castro's desire to maintainpolitical independencevis-a-vis theSoviet Union.47Cuba's resistance to strong political pressures to terminate diplomatic relations with Israel after the Six-DayWarchangedwith Castro's sudden announcementbreaking relations with Israel at theConference of Non-AlignedNations in Algiersin September1973. Sincethen Cuba has become one of the most vociferous attackers of Israelboth in its local media and in the international arena. In 1975 it wasone of the sponsors of the U.N. General Assembly'sresolution equatingZionism with racism.48 Animportant consequence of Cuba's international positiontowards Zionism was the closure in 1978 of the UnionSionista de Cuba, which had continued to function in Havana. Thebuilding was givenCuba.to the PLO and converted into the Union Arabe deOfficiallyCuba maintains a clear distinction between Zionism andJudaism; while the former is attacked dailyin the mass media, antisemitism is strictly forbidden by law.49 Nevertheless, some publications carrya clear tinge of antisemitism, stemming from Soviet or Arabsources. Attacks against Israel were particularly strong during the government of MenachemBegin, depictedin Cuban cartoons as "a dogwearinga collar with a swastika."50 Otherexamples may be found inbooks such as that of Abu Mazzen, The Truth on Secret Relations Betxveen Nazism and Zionism.51 In his studyon "Cuban Jews during 30Years of Revolution," Moises Asis qualifiesthe antisemitic deviationsas exceptionsto the Cuban rule "not to confuse information or propaganda againstIsrael with negativehints againstthe Jewish People,itsreligion, culture or history."52Asis' view should not be taken as lipservice to the authorities;neither the Jewish communitynor individual Jews had been victims ofdiscrimination. DavidKopilowwrote that "It is difficult to avoiddrawingthe conclusion that the official anti-Zionist stand of the government on international questionshas translated into a callousness andhostility towards the Cuban-Jewish communitythat can be called antiSemitic,"53 but he does not offer evidence to substantiate his conclusion.This author is convinced that neither official nor social antiSemitism exists in Cuba, and that the government makes a cleardistinction between its policytowards Israel, based on politicalconsiderations, and its attitude towards the Jewish community.Thelatter is a combination of several factors:ideological principlesThis content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.72.230 on Sun, 2 Dec 2012 04:14:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions