As the 30th anniversary of the AMIA bombing approached, I knew I had to go to Buenos Aires myself this year.

This journey is first and foremost dedicated to honoring the victims of the bombing. On July 18, 1994, the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), the Argentinian Jewish federation in Buenos Aires, became the target of a devastating suicide car bomb attack carried out by a terrorist proxy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This tragic event remains the deadliest attack in Argentina’s history, taking 85 lives and injuring over 300.

A suicide bombing on July 18, 1994 interrupted the Jewish community's centennial celebrations at the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people, injuring over 300 and destorying the building. Five years later, AMIA’s new building (the exterior of which is pictured here) was inaugurated in the same place where the old one had stood. Yonatan Tsige/Ohio State University

We must never forget that these were real people, not just numbers, and included Jewish and non-Jewish victims. Each victim had a life, a family, dreams — things we often take for granted. They were robbed of everything because of senseless hatred for who they were.

Carried out by Hezbollah, one of Iran’s many terrorist proxies, this bloody attack was rightfully condemned as a crime against humanity by the Argentinian Supreme Court of Justice. 

However, this wasn’t just an attack on a building, it was an assault on Argentina and its Jewish community. The vibrant Argentine Jewish community, one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, endured the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

Until today.

As we all know, Hamas, another Iranian regime-backed terrorist group, committed unspeakable atrocities against Israel on Oct. 7, murdering around 1,200 people. The Oct. 7 massacre now surpasses the AMIA bombing for the title of the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

Same backer. Same target. Different decade. 

This is further proof that Iran, the world’s leading state-sponsor and exporter of terrorism, antisemitism and Holocaust denial, has continued to spread its influence through violence and intimidation, destabilizing entire regions and targeting Jews. Today it might be masked as anti-Zionism, when in truth it is and always has been blatant antisemitism.

My own family knows this very well. My wife was born and raised in Tehran, as were her parents and their family going back as far as anyone knew. My wife came to the U.S. as a political refugee nearly 30 years ago after the Islamic Revolution completely disrupted life in Iran for the Jewish community as well as women, ethnic and religious minorities. As a Jew, she was forced into exile by the hate and extremism enforced by the regime. And yet, despite this dislocation, she remains proud of her Persian heritage and advocates fiercely for the rights of women and other minorities in her home country. 

Her story reminds me that our journey this week is not solely about commemorating the past. It is also about confronting the challenges of the present and future, including the persistent threats of antisemitism, hate and terrorism that continue to plague our world, our synagogues, our community centers and our campuses. This isn’t just a personal pilgrimage, but a call to action.

As we all know, this fight against terrorism and antisemitism isn’t limited to any one single country. Just a few weeks ago, pro-Palestinian activists clashed with Jewish people outside a synagogue in West Los Angeles. In Russia, over 15 security personnel and civilians were killed in attacks on synagogues and churches. In the Parisian suburb of Courbevoie, a 12-year-old Jewish girl was gang raped by three boys ages 12 and 13 who spewed antisemitic remarks as they carried out the attack. There are countless other stories like these.

The AMIA bombing was not an isolated incident; it was part of a broader pattern of Iranian regime-backed antisemitism. 

The Oct. 7 attack was not an isolated incident; it is part of a broader pattern of Iranian regime-backed antisemitism.

It is no coincidence that ADL recorded an average of 60 antisemitic incidents per day in the United States between Oct.7 and the end of 2023 — more incidents than in any year on record since we starting to track this data in 1979. Before Israel’s ground incursion into Gaza, from Oct. 7-27, we documented a 538% increase in antisemitic incidents in the U.S. compared to the same period in 2022. This spike is not a matter of chance: Oct. 7 triggered antisemitism around the world.

By standing together in Argentina as one global Jewish community, we send a clear message: we will not be intimidated by those who use terror and hate to silence us. We will continue to hold accountable those who perpetrate and support such acts of violence. Just as we refuse to let the memory of the AMIA victims fade, we will do the same for those who were murdered on the latest, deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

However, let’s be clear: We’re not just coming together to mourn, but to mobilize in support of Israel and global Jewish security and against the ever-present threats posed by Iran. It’s the least we can do to honor those we lost at AMIA. We owe them that much.

Joining my friends and colleagues at the 30th anniversary of the AMIA bombing is a chance to hold their memories close and to demonstrate that the Jewish people live, now and forever.

Jonathan Greenblatt is CEO of the Anti-Defamation League.