Under President Raoul Castro, synagogues in Cuba do not require security and there is no anti-Semitism, according to the vice president of one of the largest of Cuba’s scattered Jewish communities, David Prinstein.
In an interview with Agencia Judia de Noticias, Prinstein claimed, “There is no type of anti-Semitic expression against Jews and synagogues” in the country.
Cuba, he said, is the only country “with a synagogue that has its doors constantly open. There is “no kind of security at all, no kind of guards,” he told the news outlet.
Most of Cuba’s 25,000 Jews fled to Miami when Fidel Castro came to power and raised his Communist government. The iron fist began to loosen in the 1990s, however, and today religious communities are again able to practice their faiths, albeit with government eyes watching closely.
Interfaith dialogue is now the rule of the day for Jews in Cuba, he said.
“We are part of a Cuban interreligious platform where we hold continuous meetings tackling topics in common and positive for all parties. This has made possible an excellent relationship with all other religious denominations,” he said. Likewise, the government’s relationship with its Jews is, he said, “excellent.”
In fact, Prinstein said everything is “excellent.”
Cuba’s 1,500 Jews can choose between the island nation’s three synagogues and two cemeteries. The government, said Prinstein, has a “very open relationship, very sincere and above all respectful.”
