Update on Toiras Jesed community in San Juan La Laguna, Sololá, Guatemala.

Update: June 20th 2016 Guatemalan mayor indicted for expelling Jewish sect.

Update:  August 29th 2014

Matthew 10:23 "When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next..."

Contrary to what I described in my post below as positive developments caused by the intervention of the Human Rights Ombudsman, Al Jazeera America,  CBC News, The Star and the National Post are all reporting today that the situation in San Juan La Laguna, Sololá, Guatemala continues to be increasingly stressful for the Jewish community, with some reports stating that members of the Lev Tahor community have actually begun leaving for the capital. According to The Star,

"The edict to leave was delivered Wednesday after Lev Tahor and the Council of Indigenous Elders, representing the majority Christian population, were unable to negotiate a solution to their clash of civilizations."

No mention was made of Toiras Jesed in the reports and this is confusing since sources on the ground have said that the two communities were separate entities and that Lev Tahor was not located in San Juan La Laguna. Previous reports have given the impression that it was the Toiras Jesed community that had been under attack and had been given the expulsion order. Perhaps both communities have now decided that the area is not suitable and that their prospects may be better in the capital.

"The move was denounced by another prominent Jewish leader in Guatemala. Rabbi Shalom Pelman, who leads the Chabad Lubavitch congregation in Guatemala's capital city, said it is the type of activity that brings to mind the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany.

“This is not typical in the world I live in. Even in Iran, Jews are not expelled,” he told the Star in a telephone interview." SOURCE

Rabbi Pelman, a 15-year resident of Guatemala, said he has never before heard of such an edict being applied in the country.

“Even if they are the most problematic group . . . the expelling of a religious group or ethnic group from one place to another is not acceptable,” he said. “That's why we have laws, we have judges, we have police. They are the ones qualified to deal with problematic issues.”

He is calling on the Guatemalan government and the international community to come to the defence of Lev Tahor.

“It's less than 70 years since the Holocaust. If that can happen again it's a wake up call for the international community to see what we're doing wrong and how we can fix it sooner rather than later.” SOURCE

END OF UPDATE

See updated post on the situation with Toiras Jesed in San Juan La Laguna, Sololá, Guatemala. The Human Rights Ombudsman has intervened and the process of mediation has begun. The expulsion order by the Mayor has been revoked by the Council of Elders and a meeting between Toiras Jesed and the municipality has been scheduled for today. See the original strongly worded and inspiring communication in Spanish from the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman  or read my translation [second item on page]. B'ezrat Hashem, human kindness will prevail.