Last night, your’s truly went to a phenomenal cultural event at the Center for Jewish History. In light of the recent posts concerning Spain on Blogmocracy, this event was particularly comforting.

Dor Chadash, an American Jewish-Israeli friendship society planned a night which celebrated Sephardic (Spanish) Jews and their history, and also examined present-day Jewish-Spanish relations. I had no idea what to expect, but was very pleasantly surprised.

Firstly, there was Shelomo Alfassa, who spoke about the history of Jews in Spain.

Mr. Alfassa pulled no punches, and spoke openly and frankly about the Spanish expulsion of Jewry and the Inquisition, but he also spoke about the Almohad Empire under Islam, and how there was an Inquisition of Jews (and Catholics) even prior to the Inquisition and Expulsion of 1492. He made a handout of the history of Jews in Spain, and showed truthfully how at times life was better for Jews under Christian rule, and at times it was better under Islamic rule, but that life under Ferdinand and Isabella, while horrific for Spanish Jews, was better than under the Islamic Almohads, who actually said “convert or die,” rather than “convert, leave, or die.” (which was what Ferdinand and Isabella said) In short, Alfassa was an accurate historian, and not an apologist for anyone. He ended his talk by saying that General Franco saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, in part because it was rumored that he himself came from Converso (Jews who converted but stayed Jewish in secret) blood, and he thanked Spain for saving so many Jews.

Then there was the highlight of the evening, and the reason I feel much more optimistic about Spain than I did before. Fernando Villalonga, Consul General of Spain (to NYC) spoke. And my, did he speak!

Mr. Villalonga spoke about how Spaniards literally are unaware of their past with Jews, and rather than being antisemitic, they are simply ignorant, and force-fed the pap that is the leftist European media. He said that he didn’t even understand what a Jew was until he worked at the consulate in Buenos Aires, and then he did reading and understood more about Spanish history. But then Villalonga went on, and expressed remorse that the Spanish Jews left, saying that Spain never recovered culturally from this expulsion, and that there was a gap in the country for centuries afterwards. He said that Spain needs to improve its education system, in order to properly teach its youngsters about the history with Jews, and their past culture. Mr. Villalonga said that part of the unknown history is that there is a huge Magen David (Star of David – a Jewish symbol) outside the Valencia Church – and no one knows about this or pays attention.

He said that Spanish people often use the word “Shabbat” to describe cleaning their homes on Saturday – not understanding what the term means. He also said that so many people have last names with Jewish origins, and just are unaware of their past.

He said that the antisemitic Spanish media is most leftist in the same way as the typically leftist European media, which fails to adequately distinguish between “Jew” and “Israel,” and which of course blames the Mideast conflict on Israel. He essentially said that the antisemitism in Spain today is essentially due to ignorance combined with a typically Euro-leftist media, more than it is based upon an age-old Spanish hatred of Jews.

But then there was question and answer, and during the Q&A, Mr. Villalonga said that he does not agree with multi-culturalism, and Spain has a problem with Islamic immigrants who are not integrating. He said that Spain is only a few years away from turning into France, where 60,000 cars were torched last year, and that a smarter immigration policy, as well as policy of integrating the Islamic minority, is required. He said that women’s rights cannot be compromised, and he firmly said that Spain needs to stand up for Western values and heritage. I literally applauded him several times during his talk. Mr. Villalonga was no post-modern typical European. He said things that few, save for Geert Wilders and maybe a handful of others, are willing to say. He then said that he wished more Jews moved to Spain, and there is a law in Spain that says Sephardic Jews only have to live in Spain for one year before they are granted citizenship. As a Sephardic Jew myself, I am shocked about this!

It should be noted that my friend asked about universal jurisdiction. Specifically, there has been a push in Europe, which the Zapatero administration has been a part of, to pull in IDF officers anywhere in the world into court on ‘war crimes.’ Mr. Villalonga told my friend that he was against universal jurisdiction, which Spain enacted into law after the whole Pinochet bruhaha. Source.

Then there was the cultural presentation. There was a Ladino (which is the Judeo-Latin language) band, who sang five songs. One of the songs, written hundreds of years ago, was written by a member of the Sephardic diaspora who sang with longing on the dream of Jews to return to Spain. Yes, Spain!

Afterwards, there was a flamenco dancer, who actually explained the origins of flamenco dancing as related in part to Jewish dancing!

Overall, this evening was a huge success, and I only look forward to more such events in the future. I think this was much-needed, in light of the horrible diplomatic incidents going on recently between Israel and Spain. Hopefully this post will educate others in a helpful manner!