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Chilean mayor under fire for saying being Jewish is a ‘supremacist conception’
(JTA) — The mayor of a Chilean municipality is under fire for calling Judaism a “supremacist” religion and comparing it to Nazism.
Daniel Jadue, the mayor of Recoleta, outside of the capital of Santiago, made the comments last week while attending an event centered on Chilean journalist Pablo Jofré Leal’s book, “Zionism: The ideology That Exterminates.” His comments were recorded on video, which he shared on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
“Being Jewish starts from a conception that has to do with the supremacist conception of being part of a chosen people, so, if you are already part of a chosen people you do not believe in the equality of all human beings before anything, right?” he said. “Well, here we are faced with an ideology that I believe is the most Nazi thing I have seen in my life.”
Jadue, who is of Palestinian descent and is a Marxist politician and self-declared communist, also said it was a “contradiction” to be both Jewish and a leftist, though he also said he had “many friends” who are leftist Jews.
In an opinion piece written in a local publication, Carmen Hertz, a Chilean communist Party politician and human rights lawyer, and Miguel Lawner, a prominent architect who worked for Salvador Allende’s leftist Popular Unity government until Allende’s 1973 assassination and the coup d’état by Augusto Pinochet, criticized Jadue’s comments and called it “inconceivable” that Judaism and leftism are incompatible. The authors, who are both of Jewish descent, demanded that he apologize for his comments.
“You will understand that it is paradoxical, extraordinarily contradictory and aggravating for us to hear the words uttered by our comrade Daniel Jadue, stating that he considers it a contradiction to be Jewish and hold left-wing ideas,” Hertz and Lawner wrote.
They also pointed out that Jadue had recently signed a declaration by Chileans of Palestinian and Jewish origin condemning the war in Gaza. (Chile is home to the largest Palestinian community outside of the Middle East.)
“I respect Carmen and Miguel, but they are wrong,” Jadue responded in a post on X. “At the presentation of the book I commented on the type of discussion I have had with left-wing Jewish friends. The allusion to the Nazis is not to them but to the ideology that the book breaks down.”
He added, “I regret this false controversy and I do not accept the cancellation that is sought through a right-wing media, widely replicated, while thousands of innocents continue to be murdered by Israel in the midst of a genocidal occupation!”
Jadue has been accused of making antisemitic remarks in the past. In 2021, his high school yearbook page was unearthed, in which classmates wrote that the best gift they could give him was “a Jew to target.” Other notes in the yearbook described him as an “antisemite” and said he was destined to become “Chief of the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization], to clean the city of Jews.” He has also referred to the country’s Jewish community as the “Zionist community,” and has said “I get along very well with Jews… I have some problems with Zionists.”
In response to the yearbook affair and a demand from the Chilean Chamber of Deputies at the time that he deny the allegations of antisemitism, Jadue posted “Get Serious” on Twitter and portrayed the controversy as a distraction ginned up by right-wing politicians.
On Tuesday, Jadue drew a parallel between Israel and Nazi Germany, posting a clip in which someone tears down a poster of Adolf Hitler to reveal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his place, giving a Nazi salute. The text accompanying the post read, “Never again!”
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The post Chilean mayor under fire for saying being Jewish is a ‘supremacist conception’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.