by Oletta Branstiter

Indigenous People’s Day

Congratulations, Denver, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles and dozens of other cities. You’ve jumped onto the politically correct bandwagon and replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day.

Would these city council members have preferred that explorers just stay home? Do they wish Columbus and his entourage had stayed in Spain?

By focusing on the negative narratives of “New World” discoveries, these cities are furthering a narrative that continues a history of prejudice, in more ways than one.

Italian Americans have expressed their opposition to the new designation for the second Monday in October. Referring to Indigenous Peoples Day, president of Federated Italo-Americans of Southern California, Ann Potenza told the L.A. city council, 

“On behalf of the Italian community, we want to celebrate with you. We just don’t want it to be at the expense of Columbus Day.”

Our multicultural sensitivities should not come at the price of other cultural contributions. Abandoning our annual honor of Christopher Columbus attempts to invalidate the advancements of liberty in the West.  It also serves to squash the honorable motives of a courageous and tenacious hero for the Jews. 

In an article published by Breaking Israel News, titled “Was Christopher Columbus A Marrano Jew? His Hebrew Writings Say Yes”, author Tsivya Fox makes a compelling case:

It has long been assumed that Columbus was an Italian explorer from Genoa who set sail for Asia in 1492 to supply the Spanish monarchs with gold and spices. However, the the new theory holds that Columbus’ actual name was Cristóbal Colón, the name signed on his letters.

It is believed that he was from Spain, the child of Domingo de Colon and Suzana de Fonterosa, Jews forced to convert to Christianity, referred to as Marranos, who were makers and sellers of nautical maps. Many Jews at the time feigned conversion to save their lives. They practiced Catholicism in public and Judaism in private.

Several Spanish scholars, including Jose Erugo, Celso Garcia de la Riega, Otero Sanchez and Nicholas Dias Perez, believe that Columbus was actually a Marrano seeking to escape persecution.

Further evidence includes the fact that Columbus’ handwritten letters and diaries were written in Ladino, the “Yiddish” of the day for Spanish Jews. His letters to his son featured the Hebrew letters beit-hay in the top left-hand corner of the pages, an abbreviation meaning “with God’s help.”

In his will, Columbus designated a tithe to go toward the poor and for needy brides, in keeping with Jewish custom. He signed this testament with a triangle of dots and letters similar to inscriptions on gravestones in Spanish Jewish cemeteries.

It is now known that Jewish Conversos (Jews forced to convert to Catholicism) actually funded the voyages of Columbus and not the Spanish monarchy, as previously assumed. 

The now infamous explorer used these Old Testament verses repeatedly throughout his personal documents:

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. Isaiah 65:17

Surely the isles shall wait for Me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Hashem thy God, and for the Holy One of Yisrael, because He hath glorified thee. Isaiah 60:9

Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492

It seems entirely plausible and probable that Christopher Columbus, aka Cristóbal Colón, was a crypto-Jew determined to locate a new land where the brethren in his faith could live in peace and safety.

Why is this history ignored and so easily discarded, as evidenced by replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day? Why don’t we honor Christopher Columbus for his efforts to discover a land where religious freedom could flourish? Sadly, the Jewish people have been relegated to the lowest, most disrespected group in history on principle. 

Could it be that the spurious condemnations of Columbus are promoted because of the historical acceptance of prejudice and oppression of Jews?

Just because the accepted history of the genocidal, native-abusing Christopher Columbus is promoted with zeal, especially on liberal college campuses, doesn’t make it true. The charges of indigenous slavery have been based on the covetous testimony of a liar.

According to the 2010 article “The Truth About Christopher Columbus”, by Tommy De Seno, published by Fox News,

The criticism of Columbus today comes from de Bobadilla. Who was he? The man who wanted Columbus’s job as governor of Hispaniola.

In 1500 the King and Queen sent him to North America to investigate claims that Columbus wasn’t being fair to the European settlers (which means Columbus was protecting the Indians). So de Bobedilla came here, and in just a few short days did his investigation (with no telephones or motorized vehicles to help him), and promptly arrested Columbus and his brothers for Indian mistreatment and sent them back to Spain, sans a trial. Oh and, he also appointed himself governor. 

Accusations of genocide by biological contamination are unfounded since the scientific understanding of microbial germs occurred 40 years after the death of Columbus! According to historians, the infections were mutual, as the natives shared a virulent form of syphilis with the voyagers.

According to Steve Byas, in “Why the Left Hates Christopher Columbus,” as a result of his visits to Latin American islands, Spanish Christians set out to put an end to “human sacrifices and cannibalism practiced by the brutal Aztec empire.”

The truth is, Christopher Columbus was a vital link in the chain of events that resulted in establishing a country that was founded on religious liberty. Because of his culture and faith, an ignorant or malicious bias will persist in vilifying his character and contributions.