BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — On July 18, 1994, at 9:53 a.m. local time here, a car bomb destroyed the city’s AMIA Jewish center, killing 85 people and injuring more than 300.
The 25th anniversary of the bombing is Thursday, and commemorations are planned throughout Argentina to pay tribute to the victims of the attack whose perpetrators have still not been brought to justice.
Argentina and Israel have long blamed Iran and implicated several former Iranian officials and Hezbollah in the attack, in addition to the March 17, 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 and injured more than 200.
Here are many of the tributes that will take place (or have already taken place recently) across Argentina and the world:
- Marchers commemorate the attack on the anniversary in front of the rebuilt AMIA building every year after a public siren call. This year at 9:53 a.m., the sirens of every Buenos Aires ambulance, police car and fire department building will also sound. Speakers at the ceremony will include Sofia Guterman, mother of Andrea, one of the victims, and AMIA President Ariel Eichelbaum.
- Commemoration ceremonies will be held Thursday in several cities: Bariloche, Concepción del Uruguay, Villa Clara, Concordia, Córdoba, Corrientes, General Roca, Tandil, Mar del Plata, Bahía Blanca, Rivera, Moisés Ville, Posadas, Rosario, Sáenz Peña, Santa Fe, Santiago Del Estero and Villa Clara.
- On the afternoon of July 18, Argentine President Mauricio Macri will introduce a book made up of 25 essays by global leaders, including President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on terrorism and terrorist impunity.
- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Buenos Aires for less than 24 hours, where he will participate in a Western Hemisphere anti-terrorism summit on July 19. Along the way he will visit the rebuilt AMIA building to pay tribute to the victims.
- By the end of the month, over 20 Argentine embassies around the world will have held commemorations through a joint initiative of the Latin American Jewish Congress — the regional branch of the World Jewish Congress — and Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- DAIA, Argentina’s Jewish political umbrella, has launched a campaign #25añosAMIADAIA with videos by leaders and celebrities on YouTube.
- Argentina’s Ministry of Education published a set of online resources for teachers and students about the attack.
- Last month, the United Nations held a special and unprecedented conference with victims of terrorist attacks while commemorating the AMIA bombing.
- On July 10, the composition “Requiem/Kadish. Love is Stronger Than Death” was performed at the Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires. Another concert, on July 11, was held for victims under the auspices of DAIA, which is now housed again at the smaller rebuilt AMIA building at the Kirchner Cultural Center in the city.
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