Israel denounces anti-Semitic trope at Spanish Carnival

Organizers say they wanted to pay 'homage to the Jewish people' and apologized if someone was offended; parade included women wearing costumes depicting Holocaust victims carrying Israeli flags, SS uniforms

Associated Press|
Israel's ambassador to Spain denounced a Carnival parade performance that featured men and women dressed up like Jewish Holocaust victims and Nazi soldiers.
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  • Rodica Radian-Gordon said in a tweet Wednesday that the performance was "a detestable banalization of the Holocaust," an "affront to the victims" and "an intolerable manifestation of anti-Semitism."
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    יריד בספרד אשר היה בו מצעד אנטישמי
    יריד בספרד אשר היה בו מצעד אנטישמי
    Participants of the Carnival parade dressed as SS officers
    The offensive costumes were worn Monday at a Carnival in Campo de Criptana, a central Spanish town of 13,000.
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    (Photo: Screenshot )
    Several women wore costumes depicting concentration camp victims carrying Israeli flags and men wearing replicas of SS oficers' uniforms.
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    יריד בספרד אשר היה בו מצעד אנטישמי
    יריד בספרד אשר היה בו מצעד אנטישמי
    Participants dressed up as Holocaust victims carrying Israeli flags
    They paraded and danced to loud dance music emitted from a float that carried two towers that resembled smokestacks.
    Spain's minister of foreign affairs, Arancha Gonzalez Laya, also said on Twitter that she was "horrified by the performance."
    After contacting the organizers, she said they have apologized to the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain.
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    יריד בספרד אשר היה בו מצעד אנטישמי
    יריד בספרד אשר היה בו מצעד אנטישמי
    A float at the parade with two chimney stacks
    The trope, known as Asociacion Cultural El Chaparral, has apologized and said it won't be repeating its performance.
    Carlos Jimanez, a representative of the group, told Radio Sefarad on Thursday that the intention was to pay "homage to the Jewish people," but that he "would not choose this subject again."
    The parade was part of yearly Carnival celebrations around Spain.
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    מחופשים ליהודים חרקים בקרנבל
    מחופשים ליהודים חרקים בקרנבל
    A Carnival parade in Belgium representing Jews as ants
    (Photo: EPA)
    Cultural, civic and school groups often make homemade costumes and devise theme-based routines as part of local festivities.
    Earlier this week, a Carnival in Belgium faced criticism after stereotypical depictions of Jews for the second year in a row.
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