In June 2019, during a visit by a large delegation from B'nai B'rith International to Portugal, the Portuguese Post Office printed 5,000 postcards and 5,000 stamps with a commemorative postmark and official philatelic value of the Republic of Portugal associated with the local Jewish reality. It was a time when every Portuguese Jew believed in building a better and more productive country, to replace a failed state that confused what is a man and what is a woman. Although socialists, communists, and social democrats were already at that time trafficking favors to destroy everything related to Jewish affairs, there was much hope for the future on the part of the Jewish community.

In 2020, when the entire socialist rabble began their attack, the Jewish community ceased to focus solely on the promotion of religion, culture, and education. The objective also became the defense of Jewish human rights, the investigation of corrupt state officials, and the preparation of an offensive that would demonstrate Jewish strength to the entire population. The future will show what will happen in this regard.

Also in 2020, B'nai B'rith Portugal was established and began its activities. Strategy-defining meetings took place with the presence of the board of B’nai B’rith International based in Washington, B’nai B’rith Jerusalem, and B’nai B’rith of France. The organization celebrated its first strategic partnership of cooperation with the International Observatory of Human Rights and created a network of contacts with forty young Jewish leaders from forty countries to promote Jewish human rights. The Israeli press presented the concept of antisemitism, which the organization adopted, that included physical or verbal manifestations of anti-Judaism, anti-Jewish culture, anti-Jewish success, anti-Israelism, refusal to honor Jewish and Israeli merits, promotion of the image of the material Jew, and deliberate omission of aid by those who are invested in a duty of aid. From the very beginning, the role of B’nai B’rith was to promote tolerance and defend human rights, including the protection of Jewish human rights, which are often denied in a world that persists in associating Jews and the only Jewish state on earth with negative material realities.

In 2021, surprisingly the President of B’nai B’rith Portugal, Gabriela Cantergi, received the prestigious “B’nai B’rith International President’s Award 2021” in Washington. The organization organized a meeting of young Jewish leaders from Europe under the title “Challenges of the Future World,” chaired by the ambassador of Israel in Portugal, Raphael Gamzou, and the President of B’nai B’rith International, Charles Kaufman. B’nai B’rith Portugal also promoted the construction of the Entebbe Room in the Jewish Museum of Oporto to bring the State of Israel closer to Portuguese Jewish youth and show non-Jewish visitors that antisemitic acts of terrorism will never again go unpunished in any country in the world.

In 2022, B’nai B’rith Portugal and the International Observatory of Human Rights offered a tribute of gratitude to Holocaust museums around the world that provide education to youth to better understand the tragedy that occurred during World War II. A similar tribute was bestowed on the B’nai B’rith leadership in Washington and Chicago for their work for Jewish human rights over two centuries. Another meeting took place with Israeli institutions on special interests much like Qatargate that circulate between Latin America, Portugal, Spain, and a bank in Guinea - an international “Palestinian question” that corrupts states and threatens Jewish life and the State of Israel. B’nai B’rith Portugal provided a record of contemporary Jewish history in the country of Dom Afonso Henriques, with facts, dates, names, and protagonists, for permanent recording by the entities responsible for security in the Jewish state.

In 2023, B’nai B’rith Portugal and the International Observatory of Human Rights celebrated an event with representatives of the worldwide Chabad Movement and granted a posthumous tribute of gratitude to Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitch Rebbe (a direct descendant of Rabbi Baruch Portugali), who influenced generations of boys and girls with the importance of education, a solid character, and the strengthening of bonds of friendship. The Rebbe’s legacy continues to inspire both the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds. In the United States, March 22nd, his birthday, is celebrated as the “National Day of Education and Sharing.” Additionally, in a joint initiative with the European Jewish Association and Israel’s ambassador to Portugal, Dor Shapira, the two organizations awarded a tribute of merit to Shimon Peres’ family for their role as guarantors of stability in the State of Israel and in the capacity of the Jewish State to defend Jewish communities around the world with security, information, and material assistance.

In 2024, along with the Israeli embassy in Lisbon, B’nai B’rith denounced in the Jewish press the silence and inaction of the Portuguese political, media, and justice elites in the face of growing antisemitism in the country. This included lists of Israeli companies in newspapers and demonstrations for better housing with posters against “Zionist capital.” At the same time, B’nai B’rith Portugal and the International Observatory of Human Rights launched the book “Human Rights,” composed of texts by forty young Jewish leaders from forty countries. The book launch was chaired by Israel’s ambassador to Lisbon, Dor Shapira, with guests of honor including some of the young writers and Manuela Franco, then the coordinator of the fight against antisemitism in Portugal.

The year was filled with other tributes. A tribute of gratitude was offered to Bishop Manuel Linda of Oporto for being, and for having been for many years, an “ambassador of peace and tolerance” in all spheres of his life, which involved close relations of cooperation and friendship with the Portuguese Jewish community. The Jewish world on all continents was reminded of an act of “Christian kindness” in Oporto in 1982 when, in the absence of an active Jewish community, a nun of the Order of Carmo performed the Kaddish ritual for a deceased Jew whom she had cared for in hospice.

Another tribute was granted to Portuguese police officer Ildefonso Pereira, who in 1979 lost his life while defending Israel’s ambassador in Lisbon, Efrahim Eldar, who was the target of a terrorist attack. Forty-five years later, Ildefonso’s colleagues, as well as the current chain of command of the Public Security Police, were present and spoke at the distinguished ceremony. Commenting on the event for the Jewish and Israeli press, the President of B’nai B’rith Portugal pointed out that “due to the way in which the hatred of Israel and Jews in Portugal is growing, it is only a matter of time before another attack of this kind will be repeated.”

Another tribute, of great symbolism, was granted to the relationship of friendship and cooperation between the first Portuguese king, Dom Afonso Henriques, and Yaish Ben Yahia, who allowed the founding and transformation of a small county into an empire of world renown throughout history. Finally, the Mukhayriq initiative, which has as its founding member the Jewish community of Oporto, was honored. This initiative has gathered Jews and Muslims in the United States around a shared story of friendship, sharing, and common success. Rabbi Mukhayriq was a friend of Muhammad and died in his defense, in the middle of Shabbat. The main speakers, university professors Pedro Bacelar de Vasconcelos and Rui Pereira, spoke about the decisive importance of religions as a moral safeguard of human rights around the world.

In 2025, B’nai B’rith Portugal and the International Observatory of Human Rights presented a book entitled “The Human Rights of Children” at a ceremony presided over by Israel’s ambassador in Lisbon, Oren Rozenblat. Filled with short texts and drawings, the book aims to raise awareness among young people about the need to fulfill and enforce their rights and associated duties. The ambassador highlighted Talmudic passages that place the greatest responsibilities on parents, lest they produce thieves and other offenders.

In addition, Captain Barros Basto was awarded a posthumous tribute as a symbol of patriotism, courage, and pride in his identity. He will forever be remembered as an example of fighting the adversities faced by those who intend to do great work for humanity. A decorated military officer for his acts of bravery in World War I, during which he suffered a gas attack in Flanders, Barros Basto was also a Jewish leader who united world Jewish philanthropy around the Jewish Community of Oporto, which he officially founded in 1923, together with Jews from Central and Eastern Europe, ending four centuries of absence of Jews in the city. He was a Jewish intellectual specializing in military history and Jewish themes. He made long trips, sometimes on horseback, to rescue thousands of Portuguese who descended from Jews to official Judaism. In short, he was a leading example of hard work, faith, culture, and dedication to a higher cause and a more evolved, just, and fraternal world. The main speaker at this event dedicated to the captain was the former Army Chief of Staff, who defined Barros Basto as “an exemplary officer.”

B’nai B’rith Portugal and the International Observatory of Human Rights awarded a tribute to Colette Avital, a remarkable Israeli ambassador to Portugal and the general consul of Israel in New York three decades ago. Following a long political and diplomatic career and the defense of human rights, showing great moral strength and a constant voice of moderation, Avital has become a leading example of dedication to a higher cause common to all humanity, especially for those who wish to see new generations walk side by side toward a more just and equitable world.

B’nai B’rith Portugal and the International Observatory of Human Rights granted a posthumous tribute of gratitude to Yonathan Netanyahu, commander of Sayeret Matkal, an elite unit of the Israeli Defense Forces, for his pivotal role in building a fairer and more equitable world. In 1976, for the first time in two millennia, he proved to humanity that the perpetrators of terrorism and kidnapping against Jewish families would incur a high price, regardless of their geographical location. According to the tribute granted and handed over to a family member of the deceased officer who traveled to Portugal on behalf of the family, “The gratitude due to Yonathan is unlimited, and its merits deserve to be recognized worldwide. The eldest son of one of the greatest Jewish historians of all time gave his life in the most amazing rescue mission that history records, becoming an example for new generations for his faith, culture, courage, patriotism, and total dedication to a higher cause that succeeded in breaking twenty centuries of totally unrestricted and unpunished persecution of the Jews.” During the event, Israel’s ambassador to Lisbon, Oren Rozenblat, reminded everyone that Israel does not let, nor will it let, any Jew fall anywhere in the world, and that justice will always be served against those who attack them.

B’nai B’rith Portugal warned in the international press about the global deterioration of the human rights of Jews, a situation so often forgotten over the centuries and to this day. Gabriela Cantergi recalled that “we live in an age when basic human rights — such as the rights to life, dignity, freedom, fair and equitable treatment, and security — have been denied to Jews in various countries. The myth of Jewish privileges is used to justify persecution, and religious freedom itself has been denied, with communities invaded and spied on, against all laws, and criminal prosecution of moilim and shochetim, while opinion leaders rationalize these practices and make Israel a kind of ‘Jew among nations,’ despised, misrepresented, and isolated.”

In this context, B’nai B’rith Portugal, the Holocaust Museum, the Hispanic Jewish Foundation, and ACOM (Action and Communication on the Middle East) have directly requested the Israeli Minister of Justice to proceed immediately with a proposal to the Knesset to criminalize antisemitism by action and omission, with extraterritorial application, so that it captures within its scope both the lowest perpetrators and well-prepared elites. The proposal has been taken seriously, understood as necessary, and is under review for implementation. The defense of the people and the state of Israel requires great and exceptional measures. Things cannot remain as they are.

There will surely be new developments in 2026, the year in which the geopolitical world will begin to change.