2005-January |
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Prominent
Jews and Latinos have been quietly dialoguing on a quarterly basis—hoping
that by coming to understand each other better, their communities will be able
to build an alliance for the future. When
the American Jewish Committee
organized the Jewish-Latino Dialogue, Sheriff
Bill Kolender was invited to join along with San Diego Police Chief David
Bejarino—a Jew and a Latino. Similarly,
the dialogue’s chairman, Marty
Block, was paired with Maria Nieto Senour, his colleague on the San Diego
Community College’s board of trustees. City School Superintendent Alan
Bersin was matched with County School Superintendent Rudy Castruita.
Congresswoman Susan Davis, as an elected official, was paired with San Diego
City Councilman Ralph Inzunza Jr. The
parallelism was not rigid. Other dialoguers include such members of the Jewish
community as Murray Galinson, chairman of the California State Colleges board
of trustees,
and such Latino community leaders as Enrique Morones, former president
of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and David Vallolodid, former president of
the Chicano Federation. Fay
Crevoshay, owner of Angel Media and Public Relations, serves a bridging
function, being a Jew who grew up in Mexico City.
She said there are some important issues potentially dividing the two
communities—conflicting political ambitions among them. If
the dialogue is successful, she said, someone like Assemblyman Juan Vargas
(D-San Diego) could run against U.S. Rep. Bob
Filner (D-San Diego) and no matter what the result, the two communities
would remain united on general issues. Block
said Jews recognize that Latinos are the emerging majority in California who
increasingly will win and control numerous elective offices throughout
California. If the rights of Jews and other minorities are to be protected, it
behooves the Jewish community to acquaint the Latino community with its local
and international concerns.
Vallalodid
said Latinos look at the Jewish community as one that has been successful in
the political and financial arenas—a community that can help Latinos realize
their aspirations. Among
the issues prompting dialogue was the recent Mel Gibson movie,
The Passion of the Christ, which many Jews feared would cause a renewal of
“deicide” charges against the Jewish people generally.
Morones said he didn’t think the movie was anti-Semitic, but rather a
portrayal of how much suffering Jesus had to endure to atone for mankind’s
sins. “In
this part of the world, you are in the eye of the transformation of world
Catholicism,” Rosen said in San Diego last month. “First of all, you are
in the eye of the transformation of American Catholicism, which is the largest
religious denomination in America, which is increasingly becoming Hispanic and
Latino…. |