This weekend B’nai B’rith International will convene its annual policy conference in Montevideo, Uruguay—the first international B’nai B’rith event ever held in Latin America.
From Dec. 3-5, high-profile speakers, B’nai B’rith members and leaders will speak out on and learn about issues like efforts to delegitimize Israel, global anti-Semitism, protecting seniors worldwide and the unique dangers of Iran’s infiltration into Latin America.
Vice-Prime Minister of Israel Moshe Yaalon will speak about the international challenges facing the Jewish state. Former Chilean President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, the second president of the restored democracy in Chile who served from 1994 to 2000, will address the meeting. During his administration Chile entered into South American free-trade organization MERCOSUR and the country saw robust economic growth.
Emilio Cardenas, former Argentinean ambassador to the United Nations, will focus on how Latin American policies relate to the United States and Europe. Additionally, Hannah Rosenthal, U.S. State Department special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, will discuss global anti-Semitism with a special focus on Latin America.
“Hosting our international policy conference here in Montevideo provides a unique opportunity to learn about Latin American Jewry first-hand from top-notch speakers and educators,” said B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs. “We look forward to garnering insight on today’s most pressing issues straight from the source.”
Today’s Jewish community in Montevideo is vibrant and fervently Zionist, with youth groups, sports clubs, a kosher bakery, Hebrew schools, about a dozen synagogues and more.
Jews have lived in Uruguay since the 1600s, but the major influx occurred in the 20th century. Sephardic Jews arrived in the early 1900s, followed by Polish, Russian and other Eastern European immigrants. Central European Jews came in the 1930s. Following World War II, Holocaust survivors traveled to the South American country by boat.
“The diversity of the Jewish community in Montevideo is reflective of the diversity and internationality of our membership worldwide,” said B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin, also speaking from Montevideo. “With members in more than 50 countries, and a participant list from many of those, this gathering is sure to provide a unique perspective to all attendees.”
Other speakers at the conference include Danny Brom, clinical psychologist and founding director of the Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma of Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem; Julian Schvindlerman, political analyst and expert on Vatican policy toward the Jewish state; and Jorge Grunberg, one of the leading international experts on economic growth and its impact on education in Latin America.
Sessions will be held in both Spanish and English.