Argentina marks 22nd anniversary of Israeli embassy bombing

Victims’ families, gov't officials, diplomats gathered at former site of Israeli mission in Buenos Aires to mark 1992 terror attack that killed 29.

By JTA
The memorial site of the former Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. [File] (photo credit: REUTERS)
The memorial site of the former Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. [File]
(photo credit: REUTERS)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Victims’ families, government officials and diplomats gathered in Buenos Aires at the former site of the Israeli embassy to mark the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist bombing there.
“The terrorist goes against the Koran, the Torah and the New Testament,” Israel’s ambassador to Buenos Aires, Dorit Shavit, told the gathering on Tuesday. “The State of Israel state speaks out against those that brandish a religious flag with fanaticism.”
The March 17, 1992 attack killed 29 and injured nearly 300. The commemoration was held Tuesday due to Purim celebrations on the actual anniversary date of the bombing.
“Here there was life” is the motto of this year’s commemoration, which also includes an icon marker with the motto “Here there was life” on the Buenos Aires City interactive map at the corner where the embassy was located.
“Today’s world prioritizes the digital field and the technological field, so we decided to incorporate that dimension to our social expression,” Dovrat Zilbertstain, the cultural and press attache of the Israeli embassy, told JTA. “The technology is a new tool to spread a deep social message.”
Also Tuesday, the opposition parties in Argentina organized a public hearing at the National Parliament and requested the repeal of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Argentina and Iran to jointly investigate the 1994 AMIA terrorist attack, which killed 85 and injured hundreds at the Jewish center in Buenos Aires.
The opposition parties uniting for one request is rare, especially with the 2015 presidential campaign nearing.
Six Iranians are wanted by Interpol in connection with the AMIA bombing, including Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi.
In decrying the pact, B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel Mariaschin said in a statement, “It is astounding that even with a mass of evidence pinning both terrorist attacks in Buenos Aires on Iran, Argentina has instead aligned itself with the regime responsible in a dubious attempt to find answers.”


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