Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina

Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina

Main building of the AMIA
Abbreviation AMIA
Location
President
 Leonardo Jmelnitzky
Vicepresident 1º
 Ralph Thomas Saieg
Vicepresident 2º
 Pablo Reisman
General Secretary
 Mario Luis Sobol
Website www.amia.org.ar

Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) is a Jewish Community Center located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is named (in English) Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Society,[1] Argentine Israelite Mutual (Aid) Association,[2][3] Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Association,[4] and Jewish Mutual Association of Argentina.[5]

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 the Balvanera section of Buenos Aires in 1945. AMIA 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 health care cooperative. It became a center for participation and involvement for people of all ages in Jewish life, and in the community at large.

On July 18, 1994 (the 10th of Av in the Hebrew calendar), a Renault Trafic van loaded with 300 kg worth of explosives smashed into the AMIA, killing 85 people (67 in the building itself and 18 who happened to be on the sidewalk or in a neighboring building), injuring over 300, and destroying the building completely.[6] Following the 1994 AMIA bombing, a series of federal and international investigations were launched, though the case remains unresolved. An 8,000 m² (85,000 ft²) center was later commissioned to replace the destroyed structure, and in May 1999, the new building, a modernist 8-story structure separated from the street by a protective wall, was inaugurated.[7]

Furthermore, it has the biggest job vacancies of Argentina directed to Jewish and non-Jewish people with more than 500,000 applicants in its database.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Zaretsky, Natasha (2008). "Singing for Social Change". In Lesser, Jeff; Rein, Raanan. Rethinking Jewish-Latin Americans. University of New Mexico Press. p. 231 – via Google Books.
  2. ↑ Senkman, Leonard (2008). "Klal Yisrael at the Frontiers". In Liwerant, Judit Bokser; Ben-Rafael, Eliezer; Gorny, Yossi; Rein, Raanan. Identities in an Era of Globalization and Multiculturalism: Latin America in the Jewish World. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. p. 134. Retrieved January 22, 2015 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ The American Jewish Committee. American Jewish Year Book: The Annual Record of Jewish Civilization. 2003 ed. Retrieved January 22, 2015 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ "Hallan muerto a Alberto Nisman, el fiscal que denunció a la presidenta de Argentina". BBC Mundo (in Spanish) (BBC). 19 January 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Inauguran nueva sede de la AMIA". clarin.com (in Spanish) (Clarin). 22 May 1999. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  8. ↑ (Spanish) AMIA: Importante reconocimiento al Servicio de Empleo

External links

Coordinates: 34°36′06.5″S 58°23′58″W / 34.601806°S 58.39944°W