A LITTLE BIT O¨SOUL...... The world and the people in it never cease to amaze me! The respected psychologist, Jan Ericsson once said, ¨A person is not paranoid for simply believing the world is out to get them. Because it is! ¨ He also stated that, ¨Perception is reality”. An article was recently published on this page highlighting the lighter side of Jewish life in Buenos Aires, and having some fun with the fact that Buenos Aires is home to a Kosher McDonald´s. The piece was read by more than 100 people, and shared nearly 50 times. For that, we are happy and we say, Toda Raba (Thank you!) However, not all readers of the piece were equally happy. It appears that a competitor felt that since she had a similarly themed piece on her so-called Jewish Tourism website that we had plagiarized her article and actually invoiced us for use of it, threatening legal actions! This person also left a comment on the page (since removed) more than somewhat sarcastically ¨congratulating us¨ for our publication reaching more people, and receiving more LIKES and SHARES than the piece on her website. A rush of very caustic emails was received from her and to one of my associates where I publish as buenos-aires-experience accusing us not only of plagiarism but containing statements that we hide behind religion and use religion as an excuse for wrong doing. She went on to question whether we were Argentino and insinuating that Argentines were less than ethical – shame on ‘’her name’’ and ‘’her website’’. Taking the path of least resistance, the piece was brought down without an admission of guilt, it had ran its life and served its purpose anyway, yet she persisted in her abhorrent and ill placed threats, racial and prejudicial remarks. I asked my esteemed colleague, Michael Garcia of Buenos Aires Stay buenosairesstay to re-write and replace the article on their website and I hereby publish Michel’s article here for your perusal. buenosairesstay/buenos-aires-sightseeing-tours-blog/jewish-tours-buenos-aires/jewish-life-culture-golden-arches-tours-buenos-aires/ I commented to her in an email that I found it ironic that she would conduct herself in such a manner, having obviously seen the Facebook page with all of its posts against anti-Semitism and prejudice in general. Yet, she still made her slanderous, racial, and inflammatory remarks. This woman is a business competitor, but really that´s secondary. She states that she is a writer and an operator of Jewish tourism. When asked if she is Jewish, she did not respond, which to me is a response in itself! While there are many fine and respected non-Jewish, ¨Jewish tour¨ operators in Buenos Aires, she is the only one who has had a problem with this page, or my associates, who are admittedly engaged, openly in a commercial venture, but who equally and openly show our support for the (global) Jewish community. I find her comments and position reprehensible, particularly in light of the other content on this page. We have essentially told her to ¨bugger off¨ and if she has anything further to say, let it be said between the lawyers. We´ll not stoop to wars of words baselessly with someone who is so openly prejudiced, false and of ill nefesh and ruach. (Spirit and soul). However, we did wish her well in her endeavors! I had to publish this in light of what happened in Poland. BUT, I also wanted it to be made clear that this is NOT the typical attitude one finds in Buenos Aires, or in Argentina overall toward Jewish people and Judaism. I have found very little open anti-Semitism. Mostly, from Non-Jewish persons, I have encountered well expressed curiosity, on occasions an ill formed question, and sometimes even a lack of knowledge about Judaism that could be construed in another culture or country as prejudice. had it not been for the lack of exposure to Judaism here. It may not surprise you that we have discovered that this woman is an expatriated ¨writer¨ from Atlanta, Georgia who may well bring with her some old baggage toward the Jewish community. She is not from Argentina, nor do her attitudes or actions reflect those of Argentinos toward Judaism or Jewish culture. To the contrary, she is someone just trying to make a buck ¨playing¨ the Jewish community, but having no moral, culturally, or spiritually vested interest in it, nor in our mission to bridge the cultures here in Argentina or support the efforts of the Jewish Community to do so. I´ve not encountered any direct anti-Semitism in the wonderfully inclusive Argentina, however, albeit, it does exist – particularly via Atlanta Georgia where my anti-Argentine and apparently anti-Jewish colleague comes from.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 16:34:16 +0000
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