The new president of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA), Amos Linetzky, called for “following the tradition of making our voices heard together” and “demanding justice and punishment for those guilty and responsible for the attack” that 28 years ago destroyed the Jewish mutual society, one day before the event for the anniversary of the terrorist attack is held in person in front of the headquarters on Pasteur Street.
With the slogan “We return to Pasteur”, after two years with virtual activities due to the coronavirus pandemic, the AMIA will return this Monday to its traditional act in the Once neighborhood, where Linetzky – who took office last month at the head of the mutual – will be one of the main speakers, along with a survivor and three relatives of the fatal victims of the attack.
In the act there will also be an artistic moment by Javier Calamaro.
“Despite the passage of time and the current impunity in the case, the claim must continue more alive than ever. Twenty-eight years after the worst terrorist attack the country suffered, we will once again be present in front of the place that was attempted to be destroyed, to demonstrate in favor of peace, justice and the defense of life,” Linetzky said in an interview with Télam.
As happens in each act, at 9:53, the exact time that the car bomb exploded against the AMIA headquarters, the sound of the siren will be heard and then the 85 names of the people who were murdered will be read, while their relatives turn on candles in his memory.
Hosted by journalist Gisela Busaniche, the event will have as main speakers the president of AMIA; Anita Weinstein, a survivor of the attack, and three relatives of the fatal victims: Sofía Guterman, Andrea’s mother; Jennifer Dubín, daughter of Norberto; and Marina Degtiar, Cristian’s sister.
“Demanding justice and punishment for those guilty and responsible for the attack is an imperative that we do not renounce and in which we must all be committed”remarked the leader, who called for “following the tradition of making our voices heard together.”
The leadership of the AMIA was received on Friday by President Alberto Fernández at the Government House, in a meeting in which the president ratified his commitment to clarifying the attacks on the headquarters of the Jewish mutual society and the Israeli embassy as well as in the fight against anti-Semitism.
In the last weeks, The AMIA has been carrying out different digital campaigns with the slogan that “the transmission of memory from generation to generation is essential” and to keep alive the request for Justice for the attack.
In the first place, 23 Argentine artists were brought together to perform, together with their children, the song by Víctor Heredia “Love has not been forgotten”, written especially for this anniversary, which can be seen on their social networks.
Also, Almost 80 figures from the world of culture and entertainment were summoned to give a voice to the story of each fatal victim, telling who they were, their dreams and projects.
The artist Nandon also carried out a project in the “Month of memory”, with an intervention made up of 500 posters placed in the streets near Pasteur 633, and a documentary exhibition called “My memory is not for sale” about the creative work carried out , exhibited in the entity’s Art Space.
The Open Class, which AMIA organizes every year for second-year high school students, is another way to reach the new generations, as is the act organized by the Youth, convened for this Sunday at 7:00 p.m. in front of the mutual.
Finally, a website was presented that brings together the photos, names and stories in video format of the 85 people killed in the attack, which can be visited by entering: http://85ausencias.amia.org.ar/
In addition to the act, Linetzky told Télam about his projects as the new head of the AMIA and in that sense he said that “We will work to be able to provide more opportunities, more integration spaces, more concrete responses to each social need that arises”.
The head of the mutual stressed that he is accompanied on the Board of Directors by “a team of very young people” and others “who bring great experience”, and considered that this combination “has great wealth, which we have to capitalize on”.
He also said that his mission will cover social programs, childhood, youth, the elderly, disability, employment, education, culture, volunteering, funerals, rabbinate, art and work in the interior of the country, always “on the basis of dialogue and the search for consensus” to “defend the mission of the organization, the interest of its members and the community and always comply with the mandate of helping others”.
Finally, he stated that AMIA since 1994 “added to its main mission the inalienable objective of seeking justice for the terrorist attack of which it was a direct victim” and explained that denouncing “the prevailing impunity and demanding justice for the 85 fatal victims has been a constitutive, fundamental part of our mission ever since.”
“28 years have passed and it hurts us to have to repeat that for the attack on the AMIA there is not a single person responsible who has been convicted,” concluded the leader.
For its part, the group Memoria Activa will also hold an act on Monday at 9:30 in Plaza Lavalle to commemorate the attack against the AMIA and remember the victims, under the slogan “28 years, the same impunity.”
