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It is interesting to see how the
Cuban Jewish community expresses itself on the Elian issue,
as opposed to how many Cuban Americans view the same incident.
During the controversy the Cuban government held huge
rallies in front of the United States interests section,
the unofficial "embassy" housed in a large building directly
on the Malecon and rented from the Swiss government. In
the early weeks first Dr. José Miller Fredman, the president
of the Patronato, and shortly thereafter Alberto Zilberstein
Toruncha, the president of the Adath Israel Orthodox congregation
in old Havana, spoke at the public rallies. Both emphasized
that Elian should be reunited with his father. Both stressed
the desirability of Elian's return to Cuba. Miller in
particular went beyond the minimalist position--that Elian's
father should be the one to decide where the family should
live--to suggest that Cuba could provide a more wholesome
and less violent atmosphere for his upbringing. This position
went beyond even that taken by the Catholic Church in
Cuba, which argued that Elian should be reunited with
his father, and that his father should then make all further
decisions.
That both Miller and Zilberstein
were asked to speak is but one indication of the close,
mutually beneficial working relationship between the government
and the Jewish community. Despite the strongly anti-Israel
position that the Cuban government adopted in the aftermath
of the Six Day War, and despite the break in Cuban-Israeli
diplomatic relations shortly before the Yom Kippur War,
the government has always gone out of its way to be friendly
to the Jewish community. This sympathetic approach is
even more remarkable in light of the government's policy
of discouraging religious affiliation and activity. Until
the 4th Cuban Communist Party Conference of 1991, religious
believers were prohibited from becoming members of the
Party; obviously in a one-party state such as Cuba the
path to the most desirable positions was through the Communist
party only. Nevertheless, the government allowed the Jewish
community to keep five synagogues functioning in Havana,
even after the community had shrunk to perhaps 10% of
its former size. It offered to rent sections of two of
the synagogues, and attempted to assist the Jewish community
in numerous other ways. More recently el Lider Maximo
himself visited the Patronato during Hanukkah of 1998.
After sitting through several dances and songs, and an
introduction by Dr. Miller, Castro spoke at length with
those gathered together. In an informal manner typical
of his speaking style on such occasions, Fidel asked the
group to explain certain facts about Hanukkah to him,
and then carried on an animated dialogue with them. There
was no question that the president charmed the audience.
There seemed little question that Fidel had a warm spot
for Cuba's Jews and they could not help but respond.
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There has been much speculation exactly why Castro seems
to have adopted such a strongly pro-Jewish policy. Some
suggest that in the aftermath of World War II Castro came
to believe that the moral worth of any government could
be determined by how it treated the Jews. Others have
suggested that Castro adopted and maintained such a sympathetic
policy as one way of showing that despite his alliance
with the Soviet Union he remained an independent force
and could take positions dramatically different from his
Russian sponsors. Others have argued that he may believe
that he is descended from Marranos on his father's side
of the family, or from a Turkish Jewish immigrant on his
mother's side. Whatever the reason, no one has suggested
that the Castro government was ever antisemitic, and virtually
no one has attempted to argue that they ever adopted an
anti-Jewish position. Nevertheless, the anti-Israel position
consistently taken by the Cuban government has upset many
Jews. While this policy has been softened in recent years,
it has not been entirely done away with.
The question of Cuba's policy toward
Israel was addressed by a delegation from the American
Jewish Congress, led by president Jack Rosen, which met
with President Castro during a six-hour dinner held at
the presidential palace in July 1998. Members of the delegation
expressed their disappointment that Cuba was the only
country in the Western Hemisphere to vote against rescinding
the United Nations "Zionism is Racism" resolution. President
Castro responded that he had no knowledge of the vote.
Speaker Ricardo Alarcón, the Cuban representative at the
United Nations who actually cast the vote, was present
at the dinner. Not surprisingly, Alarcón did not offer
to field the question. Other Cuban officials informally
told Rosen that the vote was to be expected considering
the fact that the State of Israel votes against Cuba on
virtually every matter.
Now that Elian is back in Cuba
the issue is no longer active. Nonetheless the residual
impact of the case will continue to reverberate for months
and possibly years. For the Cuban Americans--particularly
those with more hard line positions--it will be a time
of reflection and reevaluation. They have repeatedly expressed
frustration that most of their fellow Americans did not
understand (in their view) or sympathize (according to
a less charitable interpretation) with their position.
Many Americans saw them as shrill, hysterical, and fanatical-characteristics
that helped neither them nor their cause. Few disagree
that President Castro is a dictator and that the government
of Cuba has unjustly confiscated businesses and generated
mass migrations from Cuba, but it seems a great leap from
that to the position that a group of relatives who had
previously met the child only once should receive priority
over Elian's own father. They picked the wrong cause and
they fought the propaganda war in the wrong way.
(continued
on page three)
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