Archive | 2019/01/29

Fearing for Jewish community, Israel silent on Venezuela unrest

Jan29
Fearing for Jewish community, Israel silent on Venezuela unrest

Itamar Eichner

Some 6,000 Jews still living in the Latin American country might find themselves in uncharted waters after President Maduro, accused of fostering anti-Semitism due to Iran ties, breaks off diplomatic relations with US.

Israeli officials have decided to keep mum on the unrest in Venezuela due to fears it might harm the Jewish community in the Latin American country after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro broke off diplomatic ties with the United States. Maduro’s government has been accused of fostering anti-Semitism and extreme anti-Israeli views due to Venezuela’s expanding relations with Iran.

Maduro ordered American diplomats to leave the country within 72 hours, after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president during a rally on Wednesday. Guaido’s call for elections in the country quickly won the backing of the Trump administration, and was later followed by similar statements from Canada and a slew of right-leaning Latin American governments, including Venezuela’s neighbors Brazil and Colombia.

Riots in Venezuela (Photo: AFP)

Venezuela’s 20,000 Jewish population has dropped by more than 50 percent over the past decade—with most emigrating to the United States, Mexico or Israel—due to concerns over rising anti-Semitism as well as economic and political unrest in the oil-rich state.

An attack on a synagogue in Caracas, 2009 (Photo: AP)

Today, some 5,000-6,000 Jews still live in Venezuela, the majority of whom reside in the capital Caracas. The community preserves the traditional Jewish lifestyle, attending synagogues, Jewish schools and community centers.

The Jewish Agency and other Jewish organizations say they are ready to assist Venezuela’s Jews, while Jerusalem is monitoring developments in case the situation deteriorates.

A protest against anti-Semitism in Venezuela (Photo: AP)

At a rally in the east of Caracas that drew hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, Guaido accused Maduro of usurping power. He promised to create a transitional government that would help the country escape its hyperinflationary economic collapse.

“I swear to assume all the powers of the presidency to secure an end to the usurpation,” 35-year-old Guaido told an exuberant crowd.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido at a rally in Caracas (Photo: EPA)

Guaido’s declaration takes Venezuela into uncharted territory, with the possibility of the opposition now running a parallel government recognized abroad as legitimate, but without control over state functions.

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GOOGLE PLAY’S TRENDING GAME – CREATED BY HEZBOLLAH

Jan29
GOOGLE PLAY’S TRENDING GAME – CREATED BY HEZBOLLAH

STAV NAMER

The game was downloaded by over ten thousand users, and received positive reviews.

Iraqi Shi’ite Muslim men from the Iranian-backed group Kataib Hezbollah wave the party’s flags as they walk along a street painted in the colours of the Israeli flag during a parade marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Baghdad. (photo credit: THAIER AL-SUDANI/REUTERS)

Terror organizations worldwide use different media platforms to further spread their ideology. Sometimes, institutional bodies such as Facebook, Google and Apple manage to prevent that, but according to a report published by Forbes magazine, Hezbollah managed to upload a mobile game to Google’s Play Store. 

According to Forbes, a developer said the mobile game also has a PC version.

The game looks like any other First Person Shooter game, and the game’s setting happens near Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, located near Damascus. According to Muslim tradition, the mosque contains the grave of Zaynab, Muhammad’s granddaughter. The player is tasked with defending the site from radical Muslim groups accusing the believers of heresy.

The game was downloaded by over 10,000 users, and received positive reviews. Players who experienced the game reported that the game conveys the feeling of fighting ISIS members.

“The game is an electronic book documenting the feeling of fighting off radical Muslim groups,” one of the game developers revealed to Forbes. Under the same developer, who asked to remained anonymous, there is another game called “The Coming Morning,” designated for any age group, in which players takes the form of children tasked with bombing Israeli tanks and soldiers.

Google is an American company, and Hezbollah is considered a terror organization by the government of the United States. According to Google, this is the first time Hezbollah managed to upload a game to their platform. Following the report published, both games were removed from Google’s Play Store.

Translated from Maariv by Alon Einhorn.

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