JOURNALfor the STUDYof ANTISEMITISM

Antisemitism in Brazil
Alberto Milkewitz*
Brazil, a nation with 190 million people, has grown in the last years to be
an emerging global leader with influence and participation in key global
issues. This article presents the current state of antisemitic affairs in that
country.
Key Words: Jews, Antisemitism, Brazil
Sao Paulo is one of the three largest cities in the world, and the most
populated of Brazil and South America. It is home to a very active Jewish
community, comprising more than 60,000 people; the total size of the Jewish
community in Brazil is estimated at 110,000. The country is a democracy,
an open and free society with a stable currency, and is making a quiet
and peaceful transition from the government of Luiz Inácio (Lula) da Silva
to his successor, Mrs. Dilma Rousseff, who is from the same party, the
Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT)—the Workers Party.
During the last eight years of Lula’s tenure, the Brazilian government
looked for a place in the Security Council of the UN. Lula was very vocal
in pursuing a special place for Brazil in the international community arena.
In that regard, he tried to show that Brazil became a serious partner in the
discussion of international security issues—pointing out that Brazil helped
Haiti and pursued a special role when the Portuguese-speaking African
countries needed help. Lula’s foreign policy looked for an international role
through placing dialogue as a top strategy to manage critical issues and
disputes. That was the case in regard to Iran and to Venezuela. At the same
time, to establish a balance with the Jewish community, Lula was first to
sign for the creation of the UN International Holocaust Day. Lula is not
considered an antisemite, but his party and their allies of the government
coalition have adopted a permanently critical position against Israel. That is
consistent with the traditional Brazilian anti-Israel vote in UN forums and
committees. Itamaraty, the Brazilian Chancellery, systematically maintains
a critical attitude to the Jewish state, even before President Lula’s tenure.
In the past, the 1930s were a decade where the Integralists, the Brazilian
fascists, generated in Brazil a climate of anti-Jewish hostility by creating
the metaphor of the Jew who threatens Brazil and “equating Jews with
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