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Publico, one of the most important newspapers in Portugal, published a cover story that harshly criticized the Jewish community in Porto. Following the article, Adv. Itay Mor, president of the Zionist movement “Over the Rainbow Portugal”, published an opinion column in Publico about the great contribution of the Jewish community to Portugal, the growth of the community in numbers, and the antisemitic motivation that may appear in such articles.
Read Adv. Itay Mor’s column:
Nationality Law: Do you really want to talk about numbers?
The Portuguese Jewish community grew by around 57,000 people, descendants of Sephardic Jews, between 2015 and 2021. There are around another 80,000 on the waiting list.
A series of figures have been in the news involving the Nationality Law and the growing Jewish community in Portugal, a community of Sephardim, descendants of Jews expelled from the country hundreds of years ago, in what is now seen as a huge injustice, which has been to be repaired, even with a long delay.
In my view, there are far more interesting figures and facts to discuss. From the start, the numbers pointed out a few days ago by the Ministry of Justice: the Portuguese Jewish community grew by about 57,000 people, descendants of Sephardic Jews, between 2015 and 2021. There are about another 80,000 on the waiting list. These numbers refer to a set of years, which actually translates to about 10,000 people a year. Putting the numbers in this perspective, they are not that high, especially taking into account the number of Sephardic Jews with connections to Portugal and who still do not have this legitimate connection.
The motivation for the arrival of Sephardic Jews is not related to investment. It is about something much bigger than that. There is a clear emotional connection to a country that they feel is theirs, as it was of their ancestors, but there is also a cultural connection and to the community where they belong.
Investment and financial opportunities turn out to be results and, in fact, the contribution that this community has already made to the Portuguese economy is undeniable. The community has played an important role in areas such as technology, real estate, tourism and services and it is estimated that the investment in the last seven years has been around six billion euros and has resulted in the creation of 10 thousand jobs.
Often, when money is associated with a Jewish community and suspicion is attempted, there is an anti-Semitic motivation. Incidentally, there are many other cases related, for example, with “golden visas ”, which are practically not highlighted. Portugal has shown, from north to south, to be a tolerant and respectful country towards those who arrive with good intentions. I hope this continues.
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