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Nazi and nasty Buenos Aires Herald - Buenos Aires,Argentina This newspaper should have commented editorially at once on Sunday's disgraceful incidents marring the celebration of the 61st anniversary of Israel but we ... See all stories on this topic ENGLISH VERSION Nazi and nasty   Michael Soltys HERALD STAFF VERSIÓN ESPAÑOL  Repugnazis Este diario debería haber editorializado inmediatamente sobre los vergonzosos incidentes del domingo que empañaron la celebración del 61er aniversario de la creación del estado de Israel, pero quisimos dejar que se aplacaran las cosas para aclarar mejor ese atropello: sin embargo, ha ocurrido lo contrario, al producirse ayer más arrestos, el descubrimiento de un alijo de armas de fuego y una pista que podría conducir incluso hasta el presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez. Lea más   This newspaper should have commented editorially at once on Sunday’s disgraceful incidents marring the celebration of the 61st anniversary of Israel but we wanted to let the dust settle in order to clarify the outrage better — instead the plot has thickened with more arrests yesterday, the discovery of a firearm cache and a trail possibly stretching as far as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. In any case it is not necessary to ascertain whether Sunday’s assailants should be most accurately labelled as Revolutionary Action Front (FAR), Quebracho, Teresa Rodríguez or whatever before condemning anti-Semitism. The handful of leftist goons protesting “Israeli genocide” on Sunday define themselves as anti-Zionist but the extremely thin line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism (if indeed it exists at all) is far more often crossed than not and it certainly was this time. And if they sincerely believe that the Palestinians are not being given a fair deal, a democratic society affords them plenty of channels for expressing that opinion other than chains, sticks and masks (paranoia about swine flu?) — indeed it could reasonably be argued that some of the letters to the editor on this subject in this newspaper push freedom of speech to the limit. Perhaps the legislative branch of government can be excused in the midst of an election campaign but a much firmer response is needed from both the executive and judicial branches. At least some of those involved in Sunday’s violence are linked to the “Zionist rat” incidents against Jewish businesses a few months ago — the courts must keep them detained rather than free them for a third outrage. Justice Minister Aníbal Fernández has tried to make the right noises (even if Jewish community leaders have expressed concern over the thin policing on the day for a predictably tricky event) but why has he not been joined by the rest of the government? Above all, both the presidential and national image are at stake in the world, not least in the United States (even with a President Barack Hussein Obama urging a Palestinian state on Israel). President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who has pressed so hard for a full investigation of the 1992 and 1994 terrorist massacres here, only last week gave the warmest of welcomes to a Chávez who has just pulled his ambassador out of Tel Aviv — does she want to go down the same road as Juan Domingo Perón who is remembered today far more for the haven he extended to Nazi war criminals than heading one of the first governments in the world to recognize the state of Israel?