Graffiti during Mexican protests against Claudia Sheinbaum’s government calls out ‘Jewish whore’

JTA – Mexico’s Jewish community has condemned antisemitic graffiti apparently directed toward the country’s Jewish president during an anti-government protest on Saturday, 15 November. 

The graffiti painted on the door of the Supreme Court building said “puta Judia” or “Jewish whore”, in what has been widely interpreted as a reference to Claudia Sheinbaum. It included a crossed-out Star of David. 

The graffiti was painted during a youth-led protest that was responding to rising violence, crime and corruption, particularly by drug cartels. Dozens of people were reportedly arrested and injured in Saturday’s protests. 

“The Jewish community of Mexico strongly condemns the antisemitic remarks and expressions” during the march, the community said on Sunday. “Antisemitism is a form of discrimination according to our Constitution, and must be rejected clearly and unequivocally.” 

Sheinbaum, elected last year, is Mexico’s first Jewish president. She hasn’t made her Jewish identity a part of her public persona, and isn’t a regular participant in the country’s tight-knit Jewish communities. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also condemned the graffiti. “Israel strongly condemns the antisemitic and sexist slurs directed at Mexico’s President @Claudiashein,” he tweeted while sharing a picture from the protests. “There’s no place for such attacks in political discourse. All forms of antisemitism, in any context, must be rejected unequivocally.” 

Some of Sheinbaum’s detractors have previously invoked her Jewish background, including former President Vicente Fox, who called her a “Bulgarian Jew” in an apparent attempt to minimise her candidacy. He apologised, but made a similar comment after Sheinbaum briefly donned a rosary with a crucifix after being given one during a campaign stop. “Jewish and foreign at the same time,” Fox tweeted. Sheinbaum produced her birth certificate multiple times to dispel rumours that she was born in Bulgaria.