The Dominican Republic said on Monday night that it was adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Jew-hatred. The news was first reported by JNS.
“Antisemitism is not a problem that concerns only the Jewish people. It is a threat to democratic coexistence and to the rights and freedoms of us all,” Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said at the opening of the Combat Antisemitism Movement’s sixth-annual Latin American Forum Against Antisemitism in Santo Domingo.
“This fight must be guided by universal principles, not by temporary political circumstances,” Abinader said.
He announced that the country would allocate 50 million pesos, nearly $3 million, toward the construction of a new building for the Jewish Museum of Sosúa, a town on the northern coast with a rich Jewish history.
“Promotion of the IHRA definition is a core element of CAM’s outreach and engagement across Latin America, and we were extremely proud to see this work come to fruition,” Shay Salamon, executive director of Latin American affairs at Combat Antisemitism Movement, told JNS. “We hope more countries in the region will follow suit.”
“What you have witnessed tonight is a government standing up for what is right,” said Yehuda Kaploun, a rabbi and the U.S. State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism.
“It is my privilege to represent the president and the secretary of state to tell everybody that America stands ready to support our friends in this effort to bring a new Latin America with religious liberty and freedom for everybody,” he said.
Evan Bernstein, CEO of B’nai B’rith International, told JNS that “we commend the Dominican Republic for adopting the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.”
“A common language and definition help us recognize antisemitism clearly and consistently—an essential first step toward identifying it, educating against it and ultimately combating it wherever it appears,” he told JNS. “This announcement is particularly welcome, as B’nai B’rith has staff and volunteers active across Latin America.”
The Dominican Republic became the seventh Latin American state to adopt the IHRA definition.
“When much of the world closed its doors to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, the Dominican Republic opened its doors and offered refuge,” Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism, told JNS after the announcement. “Today, by embracing IHRA, the Dominican Republic continues that tradition of standing with the Jewish people and against antisemitism.”
“We deeply appreciate the Dominican Republic’s enduring friendship and steadfast commitment,” Rez told JNS.
Argentina holds the sole IHRA full member status in Latin America. Five other Latin American countries have previously adopted the IHRA definition: Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama and Uruguay.
The Latin American and Caribbean Parliament, a consultative assembly made up of national parliamentarians that represents 23 countries, has also adopted the definition.
“Latin America is in the middle of a very transformative time, rejecting a socialist path in favor of prosperity and freedom,” said Kaploun, who urged Latin American countries earlier in the day to withdraw from the International Criminal Court.
The IHRA definition provides guidance for recognizing when criticism crosses the line into Jew-hatred by applying double standards, denying the Jewish people’s right to self-determination or using classic antisemitic tropes.
Estimates vary of the number of Jews living in the Dominican Republic from 100 to 3,000. The country holds a unique place in Jewish history as the first sovereign country that offered to accept mass Jewish immigration prior to and during the Holocaust.
It was the only country in the 1940s that offered asylum to a significant number of Jewish refugees. It said that it would accept up to 100,000. The great majority never made it.
The country’s agriculture industry has deep Jewish ties, with kibbutzniks in then British Mandatory Palestine brought on to help the Dominican town of Sosúa. The country’s biggest producer of milk and cheese was founded by Holocaust refugees.
There are only two synagogues in the country—neither with a permanent rabbi. A Jewish cemetery, charity and mikveh still operate there, along with several Jewish organizations.
“Almost nine decades ago, many countries knew what was happening. Nearly all of them found an excuse to look the other way,” Salamon told those in attendance on Monday. “But the Dominican Republic chose to open its doors, and today, almost nine decades later, it welcomes us once again.”
“This time, we did not come seeking refuge,” Salamon said. “We came seeking allies, and we found them.”
A source told JNS that the United States is working closely with the government of Argentina to bring more Latin American countries into the IHRA fold and that progress is expected to be made public soon.
Globally, 46 national governments have adopted the definition, along with dozens of U.S. states and more than 1,000 global entities. Just last year, 67 entities worldwide adopted the IHRA definition, a 97.1% increase from the 34 adoptions recorded the previous year, according to the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
“At a time of rising antisemitism worldwide, moral clarity must be followed by action,” stated Gideon Sa’ar, Israeli foreign minister, of the decision. “I call on all countries that have not yet adopted the definition to do so without delay.”
