JOURNALfor the STUDYof ANTISEMITISM

2011] ANTISEMITISM IN BRAZIL 165
Dakot program takes Hasbara 3 professionals for a short talk (therefore the
program name) with university students about the campaign against Israel
in the media. Both programs aim at helping the young people develop an
effective response to the challenges they face in their university lives by
providing students with facts and strategies to counter false allegations
against Israel.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Our country may not exhibit violent antisemitism, but Jewish community
leaders are worried when the Jewish authorities show them that what is
actually happening is not so nice. Because of this, the work of the Jewish
leadership is to show the problems to the government authorities, the politicians,
and to its own community. It is very important to prepare Brazilians
to criticize and condemn racism, and how to respond to a demagogueinspired
dissemination of hatred against Jews.
In this context, it is essential for Israel to enhance its communication
channels with the diaspora and to better balance its focus to places like
Brazil. A first step in that direction was taken with the reopening of the
Israel consulate in Sao Paulo.
One part of the strategy in facing this situation is to stress the fact that
Israel is a democratic country with essential contributions in fields like life
sciences, technology, business, arts and many others. The Jewish Federation
works permanently to build good will for Israel. As an example, in every
Jewish holiday the public finds interviews and explanations about the
meaning of each Jewish celebration. And when necessary, especially when
Israel receives strong criticism, the leadership tries to provide a consensual
answer.
The Jewish leadership has a universal approach against bigotry, and
not a parochial one. In this way, we battle antisemitism together with allies
of other groups with whom we worked before, combating racism and other
forms of discrimination. We don’t think that we can eliminate or obliterate
antisemitism. We try to manage it through the democratic and legal ways
and mechanisms.
As policy advisor Stuart Eizenstat has said about the issue of the new
antisemitism: “It is important to keep all of this in context and not overreact.”
There are very few antisemitic acts in Brazil, but community leaders
must be prepared to react and specially be proactive in supporting Israel.
This is also highly relevant for Jewish identity in times where the funda-
3. Hasbara, from the Hebrew verb lehasbir, explain. Can be used to mean
“diplomacy, explanations and information in favor of Israel.”