Paris, 3 June 2024
Dr Shimon Samuels, Emeritus Director for International Relations of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, has sent congratulations to Claudia Sheinbaum, the first woman in history to become President of Mexico.
He noted: “Our connection is the Colegio de Mexico, where I was a three-year scholar for the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the mid-‘70s, while you researched ‘Advanced Sustainable Development’ there more recently.
“Of my three daughters, one is herself a scientist, the second – born in Mexico – is now in hi-tech, while the third lives in a kibbutz.
“My late wife, Dr Graciela Vaserman Samuels, was a visiting Professor in Literature at the Universidad Iberoamericana. She represented Israel at the first ever ‘United Nations Conference on Women and Gender Equality’ held in 1975 Mexico. She was shocked at the antisemitic atmosphere at the conference.
“In the year 2000, she was asked by Federico Mayor, former Director-General of UNESCO, to hold the conference ‘Women in the 3rd Millennium’. Then for the next 20+ years she worked at UNESCO combating hate and discrimination.
“Madam President, you would have been good friends. Her vision was to match the Christian Trinity with that of Judaism: ‘People, Book, Land’.
“Your grandparents, from Lithuania and Bulgaria, were saved from the Holocaust, finding refuge in Mexico.
“We understand that you believe in a secular State. Nevertheless, former President Vincente Fox has called you ‘a Bulgarian Jew’. In a Presidential debate, your opponent reproached you for wearing religious images, without being Catholic... ‘as you are of Jewish descent’. Other media have highlighted your ‘Ashkenazi Judaism’.
“Madam President, one after another, the two most recent Prime Ministers of France have proudly expressed their Jewish origins. Each have worked with us to combat antisemitism in all its forms.
“Madam President, we hope that the outset of your administration will address a programme against all forms of hatred and, in particular, against mounting antisemitism, through the adoption by Mexico of the Latin American IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) Definition.
“We also suggest an eventual visit to Israel, where you will be greeted by the vibrant Israeli-Mexican community.
“We wish you success in the challenges ahead, and that your Judaism is not a problem, but a blessing.”
Dr Shimon Samuels
Emeritus Director for International Relations
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NOTE: Many thanks to all who have recalled my birthday
and look forward to my forthcoming book “Outstretched Arm and Clenched Fist / Friends and Enemies”