Mexican Teachers Get Their Antisemitism On

Mexico, we have a problem.

Not just one but two teachers with a Nazi issue.

Teacher #1: Irene García Méndez of CESSA University

A teacher has been fired from a Mexico City university after she was seen mocking Holocaust victims during a virtual Zoom class, CESSA (Center for Advanced Studies of San Ángel) University confirmed on Thursday.

“Pay attention: what’s the difference between a pizza and a Jew?” asked Irene García Méndez on Tuesday during a portion of the class set aside for making jokes, according to a transcript by the El Universal newspaper.

Receiving no response from her students, she continued, “That pizza doesn’t scream when they put it in the oven.”

“No?” Méndez, laughing, asked her students, who remained quiet.

One female student replied, “Your joke is too tasteless.”

“It’s strong,” Méndez said.

“I’m telling you, as a Jew, I find your joke too tasteless,” the student said, “I am going to withdraw from your class.”

“I know doll,” Méndez rejoined as the student signed off. “We can all tell jokes. I understand your displeasure.”

Defending her comments after the girl had left the course, Méndez continued, “I understand your displeasure perfectly, but we can understand that there are different characteristics and different ways to help and we were taking it in a nice way, it is not necessary to go to these degrees.”

Adina Chelminsky, a Jewish-Mexican podcaster and entrepreneur who shared footage of Méndez’s comments on Twitter, said the incident brought her to tears.

“We Jews are used to antisemitism in all its forms,” she tweeted Thursday. “But there are scenes that make our skin crawl because they are so commonplace. This video made me cry with rage and anger (and sadness). Because it is not a joke.”

On Thursday, CESSA University announced that Méndez had been dismissed, and said her remarks “should be regarded as her personal views and do not reflect our institutional values.”

Teacher #2: Ana Luisa Nevárez of Tecnológico de Monterrey

Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “Mexican Wave.”

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