CAM Hosts Panel on Cities-Oriented Approach to Fighting Antisemitism at Latin American Forum in Argentina

Last week, the Latin American Forum for Combating Antisemitism — co-hosted by the World Jewish Congress (WJC), Latin American Jewish Congress (CJL), and Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in partnership with the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), Latino Coalition for Israel (LCI), and Hatzad Hasheni — was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The distinguished gathering brought together top government officials, antisemitism experts, and Jewish community leaders — with U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, Organization of American States (OAS) Commissioner to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Fernando Lottenberg, and Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan among them — to discuss contemporary manifestations of Jew-hatred in the Latin America region and effective measures to counter the phenomenon.

CAM was honored to host an engaging and informative panel discussion titled “Local Responsibility in Generating Safe and Tolerant Cities.”

Participants included former President of the Republic of Guatemala Jimmy Morales; Proyecto Shoá Director Kalanit Leffler; AKIM-Fundación Judaica Executive Director Susana Piotrowsky; Philos Latino Director Jesse Rojo; and B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission of Panama President Daniel Shamah.

CAM Director of Hispanic Outreach Shay Salamon moderated the conversation, which focused on the cities-oriented approach to fighting antisemitism. Last year, CAM hosted the first-ever Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism, a virtual event, and it is planning to hold similar conferences, in-person, in Athens, Greece, and Montevideo, Uruguay, later this year.

In his remarks, former President Morales — who was responsible for the historic move of the Guatemalan embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018 — said, “To create safe and peaceful nations, the best recipe is to do the right thing, even if others don’t like it. Going with the flow is only for weak or dead fish. Strong fish follow the course they are meant to take, no matter where the current goes.”

The panel discussion was broadcast live on CAM en Español’s social media pages and reached nearly 300,000 viewers.

A full recording of the panel discussion (in Spanish) can be viewed here: