Jews have been involved in Argentine soccer since its inception, participating as players, administrators, fans, and spectators. This involvement is particularly notable in relation to the local Atlanta Athletic soccer club. For the first generation of immigrants, joining this club provided a pathway to becoming Argentine. For the subsequent generation, it served as a means of preserving their ethnic Jewish identity. Today, it has become a family tradition for third-generation Jewish Argentines to support Atlanta. The soccer club has also created one of the few environments where Jews and non-Jews—affiliated and non-affiliated Jews, as well as Zionists and non-Zionists—can interact. This presentation will explore how Jewish Argentines have actively shaped local culture to serve their needs and aspirations. While we will acknowledge the significance of anti-Semitic incidents that occur in Argentine stadiums, our focus will be on soccer as a space for dialogue among Jewish Argentines.

Dr. Raanan Rein is the Elías Sourasky Professor of Latin American and Spanish history at Tel Aviv University. Former Vice President of the University and former President of the Latin American Studies Association (LAJSA), Dr. Rein is currently a Visiting Scholar at Brandeis University. Rein is the author of numerous books, including Jewish Self Defense in South America: Facing Anti-Semitism with a Club in Hand, Routledge, 2022; and Fútbol, Jews, and the Making of Argentina, Stanford University Press, 2015.