Impartial ‘Despite’ Being Jewish: El País Quietly Removes Antisemitic Slur

By: Masha Gabriel January 7, 2026

Photo by Esther Vargas (Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0)

El País, one of the most influential Spanish newspapers, quietly deleted a grotesquely antisemitic statement from reporting about Judge Alvin Hellerstein, the veteran federal judge presiding over the legal case against deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in New York (“A 92-Year-Old Judge Appointed by Clinton Will Handle Maduro’s Trial in New York”).

The Jan. 4 article originally stated that the accomplished judge “has made efforts to maintain an impartial stance despite being a well-known member of the Jewish community.”

CAMERA Español was alerted to this formulation by a user on X and immediately contacted editors at El País, while also launching a social media campaign drawing attention to the problematic wording.

Following these efforts and growing public criticism online, editors removed the hateful language. The revised paragraph now states simply that Hellerstein “has made efforts to maintain an impartial stance,” omitting any mention of his religious or communal background.

The quiet removal of the bigotry did little to quell social media outrage, and international media outlets reported on the scandal. As of this writing, El País has not publicly apologized. Haaretz reported today:

Speaking to Haaretz on Wednesday, El País’ foreign desk chief Guillermo Altares said the outlet is “deeply sorry for its mistake” and that the characterization of Hellerstein was done without malice, amid a slew of news stories revolving around the capture of Maduro and his subsequent placement in U.S. custody in New York. 

Indeed, the grave incident raises deeply troubling questions as to how the vile antisemitic barb managed to pass through El País’ editorial filters.

Yet this shocking case is hardly an anomaly in the Spanish media landscape. It recalls a 2018 report from Spain’s publicly-funded RTVE which concluded about Jerusalem’s Light Trail: “Despite the supposed coexistence, Jews are the majority.” Using the same qualifying “despite,” the suggestion is that Jewish presence inherently precludes coexistence. 

Such language is not innocent. The clear implication is that Jewish identity precludes positive outcomes — impartiality or coexistence. These formulations point to a deeply entrenched, almost reflexive antisemitism in certain Spanish media circles. Under antisemitic suspicion, it makes no difference what a Jew does. By dint of identity alone, anything or anyone Jewish is suspect.

Is there any other group subjected to such abhorrent treatment?

See CAMERA Español for the Spanish version of this article. This article was updated at 3:30 pm ET.

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