The President of the Jewish Community of Lisbon (CIL), David Botelho, has expressed his willingness to work together with the Portuguese Government to help create a nationwide channel for reporting antisemitic acts, within the framework of the European strategy to combat antisemitism and promote Jewish life.
David Botelho did not provide specific figures but said that the community’s website has been receiving “some reports”.
“There are some reports that reach us through our website. We receive Facebook and Instagram posts, and we see signs and discourse of antisemitism and hatred. But as society is not alert to subtle signs, no one is really paying attention. That is why we also want to help educate the security forces and schools about what hate speech and antisemitic discourse are, and about ways to combat antisemitism,” he stated.
David Botelho gave a concrete example that occurred in Lisbon. “There is a monument in Largo de São Domingos commemorating a massacre of Jews that took place around 500 years ago, and graffiti has been sprayed there with phrases used by the Nazis. This is truly worrying—the fact that people feel comfortable, in a public square, writing antisemitic messages,” he pointed out.
The President of the CIL stressed that “anti-Zionism and antisemitism are unacceptable manifestations of intolerance and hatred that require urgent and committed action at a global level”.
David Botelho was speaking to journalists in Lisbon during a ceremony honouring the victims of the attack in Sydney, Australia, which took place during the celebration of the first day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
At the same ceremony, the Israeli Ambassador to Portugal, Oren Rozenblat, condemned all forms of antisemitism and challenged governments to combat attacks against the Jewish people.
“Our hearts are with the families of the victims and with the entire Jewish community in Australia. We Jews feel the wave of antisemitism in Australia, but also in Europe and here in Portugal. Governments need to address this wave of antisemitism,” he urged.
The Israeli ambassador also reaffirmed Israel’s fight against the Palestinian movement Hamas and assured that every effort is being made to recover one of the hostages with links to Portugal.
“Ran Gvili will also return to us. Another objective is to demilitarise Hamas. We have the support of many countries, including the United States, but also countries that are friends of Hamas, such as Turkey and Qatar,” he claimed.
The young police officer Ran Gvili, who holds a Portuguese passport, was one of the 251 hostages captured and taken to Gaza by Hamas during the attack of 7 October 2023. Israeli authorities say they believe that Ran Gvili is dead, but his body has not been recovered.
This Thursday, the CIL lit the fifth candle of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah (Chanukah, in Portuguese, also known as the “Festival of Lights”) at the top of Parque Eduardo VII, in a ceremony that has been held for 15 years in public spaces in Lisbon.
The Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, was also present and assured that there is no place for intolerance in Portugal.
“There is no place in the Portuguese community and society, in our political community, for hatred. There are those who cultivate it, and we need these moments to signal that we should not be afraid, nor should we renounce who we are. Instead, we should open our arms, welcome with love, tolerance and freedom those who are different, who practise a different religion, who come from a different nationality, and combat all forms of hatred—especially the hatred that targets Jews,” the minister said before an audience that included rabbis (leaders of the Jewish community), other representatives of the Jewish people, and members of the Australian community.
