A community of 230 Orthodox Jews from several countries Thursday
began leaving the Guatemalan Indian village where they have lived for
six years after claims and counterclaims of discrimination and threats. Most members of the small Jewish community are from the United States, Israel, Britain and Russia, and around 40 are Guatemalan. Approximately half are children.
The Lev Tahor members were asked to leave San Juan La Laguna after meetings with elders of the Mayan community.
The elders accused the Jews of shunning the villagers and imposing their religion and customs.
'Self-defence'
Over the last several days they were seen packing their
belongings on lorries in preparations for the departure from the
village, about 150km (90 miles) west of the capital Guatemala City.
"We are a people of peace and in order to avoid an incident
we've already begun to leave," Lev Tahor member Misael Santos told the
AFP news agency.
"We have a right to be there, but they threatened us with lynching if we don't leave," he added.
Lev Tahor members, who practise an austere form of Judaism, also
complained that they received threats that water and electricity would
be cut if they stayed on.
Meanwhile, the village elders said the Jewish members "wanted
to impose their religion" and were undermining the Catholic faith that
was predominant in San Juan La Laguna.
"We act in self-defence and to respect our rights as
indigenous people. The (Guatemalan) constitution protects us because we
need to conserve and preserve our culture," Miguel Vasquez, a spokesman
for the elders council, said.
The Lev Tahor said it hoped to settle elsewhere in Guatemala. Many of the Jewish group members had been living in the
village for six years but some had arrived earlier this year from Canada
after a row with the authorities.
Source: BBC, Reuters
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