BUENOS AIRES — Two Buenos Aires synagogues last week received bomb threats in the wake of violent anti-Semitic attacks at a public street celebration.

The bomb threats on the Amaijai and New Israeli Community synagogues, both located in the highly Jewish neighbourhood of Belgrano, proved to be false alarms.

The threats came after a violent anti-Semitic demonstration erupted in downtown Buenos Aires during a public celebration of Israel’s 61st anniversary.

Late in the afternoon on May 17, shortly after Jewish families and their non-Jewish neighbours began Independence Day celebrations at a “Buenos Aires Celebrates” event, a group of some 20 people came out of a subway depot with anti-Semitic banners and signs and fighting broke out.

According to the organizers, a number of Jews were beaten and required medical attention, the news agency AFP reported.

“In the middle of the cultural festival, the group attacked with complete impunity,” Aldo Donzis, the DAIA Jewish local political umbrella institution president, told JTA. “Five police officers who were standing in a corner took a long time before acting. Two people from the public were hurt as well as a policeman. Many of the aggressors ran away, but five of them were caught by the policemen and others from the public who chased them.”

DAIA officials said the group will take legal action against the five aggressors.

“It was really a very violent act,” said Donzis.

The Israeli festival, held a block away from the central Plaza de Mayo, is part of a series of events “celebrating Buenos Aires’ diversity and the pluralism that builds our identity,” Claudio Avruj, the head of the city’s Institutional Relations General Direction office, told JTA. A Greek festival was held in March and a Russian celebration is planned for June.

The demonstration lasted a few minutes and the celebration – which included Israeli music, poetry, crafts and dance – continued as scheduled.

“People stayed and redoubled the will to celebrate,” said Avruj

In related developments, Argentine investigators discovered arms, bombs and flags with political insignia at a site where suspects in an anti-Semitic attack held meetings.

Located in Florencio Varela, in the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires, the centre was headquarters for the Front for Revolutionary Action, a group related to the five people arrested after the violent anti-Semitic attacks at the public celebration to mark the 61st anniversary of Israel’s founding. The flags also bore the face of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has been deeply critical of Israel in recent months.

The suspects – four men and a woman – were questioned and remanded to jail. A federal prosecutor rejected releasing the suspects on bond until completion of the investigation.

During the hearing, a group of the suspects’ supporters, part of the Front for Revolutionary Action “piquetero” movement, demonstrated for their release in front of the court building.