The Portuguese government on Monday appointed jurist and university professor João Taborda da Gama as national coordinator of the European Strategy to Combat Antisemitism and Promote Jewish Life. Gama, married, born on February 18, 1977, in Lisbon Guest assistant at the Lisbon School of Law of the Catholic University of Portugal, where he coordinates the Postgraduate Course in Taxation. He has published several works in the field of Tax Law, Administrative Law and Local Taxation.
The Portuguese government says, in a statement, that it is "committed to combating antisemitism and developing a prevention strategy in the face of growing threats of discrimination against the Jewish community and culture".
The European Commission aims to see Jewish life thriving by 2030 and believes that each country should have a coordinator. A position of this nature requires broad knowledge of Jewish reality and a lot of daily availability, as is the case with coordinators appointed in more developed countries such as Germany, France, Sweden and Italy.
To the Portuguese press, the Jewish Community of Lisbon praised the choice of Taborda da Gama and asked the Portuguese Government to "provide means and resources to the Coordinator so that he can fully carry out the demanding mission entrusted to him". According to the president of the Lisbon Community, David Botelho, "we will do everything to contribute to the success of the mandate that is now beginning".
The Jewish Community of Oporto did not make any public statement on the appointment of Taborda da Gama, as it found it strange that he is far from Jewish reality, with the aggravating factor that he does not live in Oporto and will perform a position of such magnitude without any remuneration and busy as lawyer and with university where he works.
The Government says it is committed to developing a prevention strategy in the face of growing threats of discrimination against the Jewish community and culture. "It's a good sign", says the president of the Jewish Community of Oporto, Gabriel Senderowiz. "We believe that the new coordinator, Jaime Gama's son, is a very competent and honest man and a devout Christian with whom we will certainly have good personal relations. A different question is whether he has the skills and material means to deal with such a complex reality that the government understands nothing about."
Senderowicz explains the coordinator's mission in four essential points:
1. "Fighting against antisemitism is above all to combat the contempt and silencing of Jewish success and great Jewish works, the elimination of more relevant Jewish realities in society, and the discourse that relates Jews to negative realities such as money, tricks and the sale of the homeland. This is the historical antisemitism in Portugal. To fight against antisemitism is not limited to condemning a swastika painted on a wall".
2. "Protecting Jewish communities means getting them free policing through European funds. But for ignorant people, a synagogue is a place of worship like any other, and a Jewish museum is just a museum, without even thinking about why we have security bunkers in our synagogues and museums."
3. "Promoting the Jewish culture is not to lose all time with the Jewish heritage, but rather to promote an alive culture through museums, films, books, painting galleries, Jewish music, school education and so on. In Italy the state encourages tourists and the general public to learn about Jewish culture, and to visit Jewish museums and kosher restaurants. The Jewish quarter of Rome is policed by three men every day of the year."
4. "Holocaust education means welcoming thousands of students from schools across the country to a museum dedicated to the subject, it is not paying occasional tributes to Aristides Sousa Mendes, or going to parliament once a year for a protest vote against the same far right that many associate with Trump or Netanyahu."
The government has already informed the Jewish communities that the new coordinator will soon hold working meetings with both entities.
