SPME was recently contacted by Alexander Grobman, Professor Emeritus from the National Agricultural University in Lima with the following letter.
We have read with considerable interest your December 24 message concerning the organization of a serious defense activity on behalf of Israel and its academic institutions in particular. We wish to be counted as active members of your group in coordination with you in order to achieve common objectives.
We constitute a small group OF ACTIVISTS in Peru at the Center for Political and Historical Studies of Israel and the Middle East (CEPHIMO). We have been active since founding CEPHIMO in 2006 in promoting meetings, conferences in Peruvian Universities, contacting government officers, and sending messages through internet which reach more than 10,000 persons in Spanish speaking
Latin America, USA, israel and other countries. We conduct a daily published Newsletter, now 64 years old, probably the only continuous daily Jewish publication outside of Israel, which reaches our community subscribers by hand delivery. We operate under sponsorship of our local B’nai B’rith branch in Peru.
Several of our members are academics. I myself am an Emeritus Professor of our National Agricultural University at La Molina, Lima, Peru. Dr. Nisso Alcabes, is a retired Professor from ESAN UNiversity in Lima, a Business Graduate School, and he edits the Bulletin. We follow a strong nationalistic line in the defense of Israel, and are connected to the Likud movement in Israel. We are in strong contact with Israel and receive informative materials from the Israeli Embassy and are in contact with Israeli and American Think Tanks. The leader of our Jewish Community Dr. Schydlowsky is a former Professor at Boston University.
We are also worried about the penetration of Iran in Latin America through the opening provided by the Chavez and Morales governments in Venezuela and Bolivia. We recently conducted a series of conferences and presentations in Peruvian YV, Press and with various civic groups, especilly the evangelical movement in Peru on this subject.
I also represent the Jewis Community in the Interfaith Dialogue in Peru.
With warmest regards,
Alexander Grobman, PhD
Peter Haas, SPME President and Professor and Chair of Religious Studies at Case Western Reserve University commented, “We were delighted to have heard from this group in Peru. We look forward to a establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with them
as we move forward combatting antisemitism and antiisraelism. Having colleagues and friends in Latin America is very important.”
“It is very important for SPME connect to Schloars from Latin America – specially also in view of the growing anti-Semitism and connections between Latin America and Iran,” observed Dr. Ruth Contreras, SPME’s Secretary and Coordinator of European Chapters, who spent much of her life in Colombia and has strong ties to Latin America.
SPME Board Member, Philip Carl Salzman of McGill University reacted to the outreach by saying, ” I am delighted to hear of the work of the Center for Political and Historical Studies of Israel and the Middle East (CEPHIMO). Latin America is an important and sensitive area needing a strong presence to defend the existence of Israel and to counter the malicious influence of the extreme Chavez and Morales regimes. “
Leila Beck of UCLA and a member of the SPME Board of Directors added, “SPME’s anticipated cooperation with our Peruvian colleagues underscores the common threat throughout the world to academia in anti-Semitism and
anti-Israelism.”
