Avi Weiss on the AMIA Bombing Cover-Up

The Tikvah Podcast

Tikvah

Judaism, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.6 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2019

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On July 18, 1994, a car-bomb struck the headquarters of AMIA—the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association, the largest Jewish community center and social-service agency in Buenos Aires—killing 85 people and wounding 300 more. It was the worst single attack on Diaspora Jews since the Holocaust.

A quarter-century later, the perpetrators of this terror attack have still not been brought to justice. And in this month’s Mosaic essay, the renowned Jewish activist Rabbi Avi Weiss tells the story of the shameful cover-up of the AMIA bombing.

As soon as he heard about the attack, Rabbi Weiss packed his bags and traveled to Argentina to be present with the suffering Jewish community there. But he soon found himself confronting the then-president of Argentina, Carlos Menem, and attending a cabinet meeting where it became clear to Rabbi Weiss that the Menem government was not serious about catching and punishing the perpetrators of this horrific crime.

In this week’s podcast, Rabbi Weiss joins Tikvah’s Jonathan Silver to discuss his essay. He recounts his initial trip to Argentina and surreal meeting with President Menem, reflects on his many journeys back to Argentina in the years since the bombing, and offers his thoughts on the complicated role of the Jewish activist who operates outside the corridors of power demanding justice for his people.

Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble, as well as the original Broadway cast recording of Fiddler on the Roof and “Above the Ocean” by Evan MacDonald.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	On July 18, 1994, a car bomb struck the headquarters of Amia, the Argentine-Israelite Mutual Association,
0:15.0	the largest Jewish community center and social service agency in Buenos Aires.
0:20.0	The bombing killed 85 people and wounded hundreds
0:22.9	more. It was the worst single attack on diaspora Jews since the Shoah. A quarter century later,
0:29.3	the perpetrators of this terror attack have still not been brought to justice. And in this month's
0:33.8	Mosaic essay, Jewish activist Rabbi Avi Weiss tells the story of the shameful cover-up
0:39.4	of the Amia bombing. As soon as he heard about the attack, Rabbi Weiss packed his bags and
0:44.1	traveled to Argentina to be present with the suffering Jewish community there. But he soon found
0:49.1	himself confronting then-president of Argentina Carlos Menom and attending a cabinet meeting where it became clear to
0:55.1	Rabbi Weiss that the Menom government was not going to seriously pursue the perpetrators of this crime,
1:00.5	this crime against Jews who were singled out only for their being Jewish.
1:04.9	Welcome to the Tikva podcast. I'm your host, Jonathan Silver. Rabbi Avi Weiss is my guest this week,
1:10.7	and discussing his mosaic essay,
1:12.7	we reflect on his initial trip to Argentina, the surreal meetings he had with President Menem,
1:18.1	his trips back since that time, and the dilemmas of Jewish power in the diaspora.
1:23.5	If you enjoy this conversation, you can subscribe to the Tikva podcast on iTunes, Stitcher,
1:28.1	Google Play, and Spotify. I hope you leave us a five-star review to help us grow this community of
1:33.4	ideas. I welcome your feedback on this or any of our other podcast episodes at podcast at
1:39.2	tikfafund.org. And of course, if you want to learn more about our work, you can visit our website,
1:45.5	tikfafund.org, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
1:47.9	Here now is my conversation with Rabbi Avi Weiss.
1:52.3	Rabbi Avi Weiss, welcome to the Tikva podcast.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tikvah, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Tikvah and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.