The World Jewish Congress-North America (WJC-NA) has co-hosted a conference in San Antonio, Texas about closer cooperation between Latinos and Jews. Convened with the group Bridges and Pathways of San Antonio Rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg and the Netanya College, it also featured the participation of Bnai Brith, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU). The gathering was the brainchild of former US Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros and Rabbi Scheinberg.
Latino American leaders in politics, business, and education discussed together with Jewish leaders how to cooperate on areas of mutual concern such as discrimination against minorities, the absorption of immigrants, the advancement in education for minority youth and foreign policy. Israel’s achievements in these fields – especially in integrating millions of immigrant into society – were featured prominently in the discussions.
WJC-NA Chairwoman Evelyn Sommer recounted the historical closeness between Latin America and Israel, recalling South American countries’ support for the fledgling Jewish state in 1948. Sommer said it had been Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Moshe Tov, who had instituted the Spanish language as one of the official languages in use at the UN. Cisneros underscored the need for the two groups to form solid bases for cooperation to help advance the concerns of all. If both communities are to be empowered, then Latino and Jewish experts in each field of mutual concern must get together to work on concrete projects, such as youth exchanges and mentoring programs for students. Israel’s Netanya College could provide the blueprints for these kinds of models of Israeli success, and American Jewish groups could help increase visits to Israel by Latino American leaders and young people.
Former speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich (Republican) stressed the importance of on-going American support for Israel and the important role that Latino Americans play as an increasingly important electorate. Latino American elected officials were vocal in their support and have been solidly behind Israel, he noted. Congresswoman Ileana Ros Lehtinen (Republican) sent a video message to the participants in which she emphasized how the support for Israel was crucial to the security and interests of the United States as well as the Middle East, particularly in times of turmoil in the region.
Elie Friedman of the Netanya Collge presented a poll on behalf of the FFEU noting this support for Israel in the Latino community. A poll was presented by Leah Soibel, the head of Israel Projects’ Spanish media program, which served as key topic of discussion. Soibel noted the urgency in working with the Spanish-speaking community as key in US-Israel relations, especially among the young. The Latino community is a lot closer to American Jews in our cities than we think, and their views on Jews and the Middle East will have an increasing impact on American diplomacy. The TIP research shows that much more information is needed in the Latino American community about Israel that will help spread understanding about the facts about Israel rather than the bias that may be portrayed by the media.
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Enthusiasm for continuing to meet and to begin working on the common projects was expressed by all who attended. Evelyn Sommer volunteered to partner in an educational project that has proved successful in the improvement in the educational achievements of Israeli immigrant children. Betty Ehrenberg, executive director of WJC-North America who presented on the partnerships between Latino and Jewish religious leadership, said that WJC-NA would continue to be deeply involved in these activities in the areas of diplomacy, young leadership and inter-faith relations.
