Anti-semitism

When I was in high school during the 1960s, I became very concerned about the role of the Catholic Church in the face of the Holocaust. Though the play “The Deputy” might have overstated the case, I believed that the Church and failed to be a prophetic voice – sometimes for the sake of preserving its “rights.” There were courageous voices like the bishops of Holland. Even though Fr. Titus Brandsma and Saint Edith Stein were among those arrested and killed after the Dutch bishops spoke up in 1942, I saw these as witnesses to truth and justice.

Later in the 1960s I came across the book by Gordon Zahn, In Solitary Witness, which told the story of Franz Jägerstätter, the Austrian peasant who refused to serve in Hitler’s army. It was a great joy when I heard that Franz was beatified last year.

I was edified when I read of the members of the White Rose, mostly young Lutherans and Catholics from Bavaria, who sent out thousands of leaflets opposing Hitler and were executed fro their efforts. The film, Sophie Scholl, is a small tribute to one of the leaders.

And then, when I read Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, the story of the Reformed Church pastor, André Trocmé, and the efforts of the French village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, to rescue Jews in France, I found an example of committed Christians, risking their lives to save others.

Thus I find anti-Semitism an abomination.

Therefore, I am very disturbed at the statements of the director of Radio Globo, a radio station supporting the Resistance. He later apologized for his statements on the Holocaust, but that is far too little.

There have also been reports that President Zelaya made anti-Jewish quotes, but – as far as I can ascertain – his remarks were against what he thought was support of Israelis of the attacks on the Brazilian embassy. It is sad that critiques of Israel and Israelis are so often interpreted as being anti-Semitic.

In a letter Zelaya noted that his cabinet included several prominent Jewish members. In addition, Jaime Rosenthal, editor of El Tiempo, a prominent member of the small Honduran Jewish community, and a very rich member of the Honduran elite, has recently written an article against the coup.

But there is danger of another anti-Semitism. Many of the rich who have supported the coup are descendants of Palestinian and other Middle Eastern Christians, many of whom fled the Ottoman empire in the early twentieth century. They have become a major power base in the country, not only economically and politically, but also in terms of control of most of the major newspapers. Many here call them “turcos,” Turks, even though they are not. Some here consider them not to have assimilated into the Honduran society but to have constituted themselves into an elite. My fear is that an anti-Arab anti-Semitism might arise and I have heard some rather forceful criticism of the “turcos” who are called not real Hondurans.

These are just a few of the divisions that are become ever more entrenched in Honduras.

Therefore, no matter how the current crisis is resolved a real effort will have to be made in Honduras to create an environment of reconciliation. But it must be a reconciliation that does not sweep under the rug the real injustices and the incredible inequality in the country.

Love must be based in truth, as Pope Benedict XVI, notes in his latest encyclical. “Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality.” (¶ 4) Thus the truth of structural injustice must be addressed to bring about a new Honduras.