Jump first, ask questions later

At the end of last year, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was accused of making anti-Semitic comments. The usual suspects immediately claimed that the man was a menace. The truth, however, may be a little different. US Jewish newspaper, The Forward, reports:

"The Venezuelan Jewish community leadership and several major American Jewish groups are accusing the Simon Wiesenthal Center of rushing to judgment by charging Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chavez, with making anti-Semitic remarks.

"Officials of the leading organization of Venezuelan Jewry were preparing a letter this week to the centre, complaining that it had misinterpreted Chavez's words and had failed to consult with them before attacking the Venezuelan president.

"'You have interfered in the political status, in the security, and in the well-being of our community. You have acted on your own, without consulting us, on issues that you don't know or understand,' states a draft of the letter obtained by the Forward. Copies of the letter are also to be sent to the heads of the World Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee, among other Jewish groups.

"'We believe the president was not talking about Jews and that the Jewish world must learn to work together,' said Fred Pressner, president of the Confederation of Jewish Associations of Venezuela."

No doubt, US Jews will claim that their Venezuelan brothers and sisters need a few lessons in Zionist baiting.