October 8, 2024, 7:50 AM
October 8, 2024, 7:50 AM
With Théo Conscience, RFI correspondent in Buenos Aires
Darío prays with his rabbi, Joel, in the middle of the compact crowd gathered on Estado de Israel Street in Buenos Aires.
“It is a prayer that Jewish men pray every day, especially today, so that our memory of October 7 does not remain silent,” he explains to RFI.
Like Joel and Darío, several thousand people came to pay tribute to the victims of October 7. The Argentine Jewish community, the largest in Latin America with some 300,000 members, also keeps the painful memory of the two attacks that cost the lives of 114 people in Buenos Aires in the 1990s.
Argentina suffered two attacks against the Jewish community, in 1992 against the headquarters of the Israeli embassy, which caused 29 deaths, and in 1994 against the AMIA Jewish mutual building, the worst in Argentine history, which left another 85 dead.
“We cannot let things like this continue to happen or happen again, so coming here is essential, it is supporting Israel and saying: never again,” explains Ariel. With an Israeli flag on his shoulders, he thanks Javier Milei for his unconditional support for the Jewish State. The Argentine president declared Hamas a terrorist organization in mid-July and indicated his desire to move his country’s embassy to Jerusalem.
A siren sounds over the speakers and the ceremony begins. The relatives of the seven Argentine hostages still held by Hamas take the stage and light candles while the crowd religiously observes a minute of silence.
“Bring them home now,” Argentine President Javier Milei published this Monday on his X account, in a message written in English and Hebrew.
Earlier, in the central Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, dozens of pro-Palestinian supporters demanded an end to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
