Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina Explained

Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina
Formation:1894
Native Name Lang:es
Map Size:250px
Abbreviation:AMIA
Founding Location:Buenos Aires
Location Country: Argentina
Coordinates:-34.6018°N -58.3994°W
Leader Title:President
Leader Name:Ariel Eichbaum
Leader Title2:Vicepresident 1º
Leader Name2:Ralph Thomas Saieg
Leader Title3:Vicepresident 2º
Leader Name3:Pablo Reisman
Leader Title4:General Secretary
Leader Name4:Mario Luis Sobol -->
Affiliations:Judaism

Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA;) is a Jewish Community Centre located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Established as Jevrá Kedushá in 1894, its mission was conceived to promote the well-being and development of Jewish life in Argentina and to secure the continuity and values of the Jewish community. The association established one of Buenos Aires' first Jewish cemeteries, and later founded the Tsedaká Foundation for charity. Serving the largest Jewish community in Latin America by the 1920s, AMIA inaugurated a new headquarters in Balvanera, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, in 1945; AMIA also became the headquarters of the Federation of Jewish Argentine Communities. It grew to provide and sponsor a variety of formal and informal educational, recreational, and cultural activities, as well as a healthcare cooperative. It became a centre for participation and involvement for people of all ages in Jewish life, and in the community at large.

It has an employment agency service that provides connections between employers with potential employees as well as providing training and resources directed to both Jewish and non-Jewish people, with more than 500,000 applicants in its database.[1]

The AMIA also maintains the largest Jewish cemetery in Latin America, La Tablada Israelite Cemetery, established in 1936.[2]

1994 AMIA bombing

See main article: AMIA bombing. On 18 July 1994 (10th of Av on the Hebrew calendar), a Renault Trafic loaded with 300kg (700lb) of explosives smashed into the AMIA building and detonated, killing 85 people (67 in the building itself and 18 who were on the sidewalk and in a neighbouring building), and injuring over 300.[3] Following the attack, a series of federal and international investigations were launched; though the case remains unresolved, high-ranking members of the government of Iran were indicted, and in 2007, the general assembly of Interpol issued red notices for five Iranian officials.[4] An 8000m2 centre was later commissioned to replace the destroyed AMIA structure, and in May 1999, the new building, a modernist 8-story structure separated from the street by a protective wall, was inaugurated.[5]

Alternative names

Other English-language names for the organization are: Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Society,[6] Argentine Israelite Mutual Aid Association (or Argentine Israelite Mutual Association),[7] [8] Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Association,[9] andJewish Mutual Association of Argentina.[10]

External links

Notes and References

  1. AMIA: Importante reconocimiento al Servicio de Empleo
  2. Web site: Cementerio de Tablada: un lugar único, una responsabilidad de todos. https://web.archive.org/web/20161027055801/http://www.amia.org.ar/index.php/news/default/show/news/735. amia.org.ar. 24 May 2012. 27 October 2016. es.
  3. News: Hallan muerto a Alberto Nisman, el fiscal que denunció a la presidenta de Argentina. 19 January 2015. BBC Mundo. BBC. 19 January 2015. es.
  4. News: Death of a Prosecutor. Filkins, Dexter. 19 July 2015.
  5. News: Inauguran nueva sede de la AMIA. 19 January 2015. clarin.com. Clarin. 22 May 1999. es.
  6. Book: Zaretsky, Natasha . 2008 . https://books.google.com/books?id=SbSySBPlQT4C&q=%22Asociaci%C3%B3n+Mutual+Israelita+Argentina%22&pg=PA231 . Singing for Social Change . Rethinking Jewish-Latin Americans . Jeff . Lesser . Raanan . Rein . . 231 . 9780826344014 . .
  7. Book: Senkman, Leonard . 2008 . https://books.google.com/books?id=7vL4ysV22hAC&q=%22Asociaci%C3%B3n+Mutual+Israelita+Argentina%22&pg=PA134 . Klal Yisrael at the Frontiers . Identities in an Era of Globalization and Multiculturalism: Latin America in the Jewish World . Judit Bokser . Liwerant . Eliezer . Ben-Rafael . Yossi . Gorny . Raanan . Rein . Koninklijke Brill NV . Leiden, The Netherlands . 134 . 978-9004154421 . January 22, 2015 . .
  8. The American Jewish Committee. American Jewish Year Book: The Annual Record of Jewish Civilization. 2003 ed. Retrieved January 22, 2015  - via Google Books.
  9. Faulk, Karen (2013). In the Wake of Neoliberalism: Citizenship and Human Rights in Argentina. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. xv, 14. Retrieved January 22, 2015  - via Google Books.
  10. Ben-Dror, Graciela (2008). The Catholic Church and the Jews: Argentina, 1933–1945. University of Nebraska Press. p. 11. Retrieved January 22, 2015 – via Google Books.