Spain Promises
Following-up on the New York Times’ exposé, the American Sephardi Federation launched the Spain Promises campaign and organized an exclusive briefing on the situation in Spain as the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) bureaucratically dismantled the Sephardic citizenship law, betraying Spain’s promise to atone for the horrors of the Inquisition and the Alhambra Decree.
Tens of thousands of Inquisition survivor descendants are now being cynically rejected or even cruelly having their citizenship revoked, after investing years of time and money to comply with Spain’s rigorous application process. The Spanish government’s illegal actions are a fresh insult to historical injury, especially for the Anusim (Crypto-Jews), those who are no longer Jewish on account of the forced conversion and centuries of persecution endured by their ancestors. This is a matter of life and death for Venezuelan Sephardic refugees in Spain, who have already been threatened with deportation. Join the ASF for a timely discussion with those directly involved and please add your name to our #SpainPromises campaign demanding Spain’s government uphold the rule of law by honoring its promises to descendants of Inquisition survivors. An integral partner of and based at New York’s Center for Jewish History, the American Sephardi Federation represents Greater Sephardic voices in Jewish communal and diplomatic affairs as a member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and World Jewish Congress.
The event took place on 5 August and featured:
- Sara Koplik, Ph.D., Director of the Sephardic Heritage Program, Jewish Federation of New Mexico
- Jason Guberman, Executive Director American Sephardi Federation
- Rabbi Dr. Rob Lennick, CEO Jewish Federation of New Mexico
- The Honorable Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-3)
- Genie Milgrom, President of Tarbut Sefarad – Fermoselle, Spain; Outgoing President of Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies
- Jason Silva, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, philosopher, influencer, and futurist
- Professor Emeritus Don Arnulfo Ramirez of Louisiana State University
- Professor Cristina Miriam Ramirez
- Dr. Cesar David Ciriano Vela, Spanish immigration attorney.
Media:
- Sánchez «mina la tolerancia religiosa» (Elmundo)
- Urgen aclaraciones sobre los sefardies (Elmundo)
- Remarks at Broken Promises (Diario Judio)
- Les Séfarades se sentent trahis par l’Espagne (L’Observateur)
- كوبرمان: المغرب شكل ملاذا ليهود السفارديم (Ahdath)
The ASF’s Executive Director Jason Guberman spoke about the campaign at the Jewish Heritage Alliance’s event, “Sefarad – The Untold Story Changed the World Part II” on 22 August:
Today’s topic is especially relevant given the ASF’s #SpainPromises Campaign, highlighting the ongoing controversy over administration of the Law of Return. Unanimously passed in 2015, this was a remarkable gesture by Spain after centuries of attempting to eliminate Jews and extinguish the Jewish spirit, but one which has not been able to overcome the prejudices born of the original Spanish sin, the racist doctrine of limpieza de sangre, the cleanliness of blood, which has justified so much bloodshed from the Reconquista to the Third Reich….today… we [are trying] to understand and undo the enduring affliction of the Inquisition, to bring all Jews together, and reconnect with those descendants of Inquisition survivors whose ancestors so valiantly preserved even the faintest connection to their Sephardic Jewish heritage against unimaginable odds.
Led by Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez, Senator Diane Fienstein, Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Ritchie Torres, and others sent a letter of inquiry to Spain’s Prime Minister, the Honorable Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón.
Members of Congress wrote to Pres. Sanchez in response to the "recent wave of rejections under @spain’s Law of Return. This has made it nearly impossible for the descendants of #Sephardic Jews expelled during the Spanish Inquisition to receive Spanish citizenship." #SpainPromises pic.twitter.com/uX98S4qoEd
— American Sephardi Federation (ASF) (@AmericanSephard) October 7, 2021
On 11 October, Philos Latino, the Hispanic Division of the Philos Project, organized Yo Soy Parte, a protest in solidarity with the ASF’s Spain Promises campaign. See: https://www.jta.org/2021/10/14/ny/new-yorkers-with-sephardic-roots-say-spain-is-breaking-its-promise-of-citizenship