User:Eitan.schwartz/sandbox/Isaac Querub

Isaac Querub (born February 29, 1956) is a Spanish Jewish leader, having served as both President of the Federation of Spanish Jewish Communities (Federación de Comunidades Judías de España) and President of the Jewish Community of Madrid. He is former executive of Glencore and is currently active as either a board member or partner of several corporations.

Family history, early life and education
Querub's family immigrated to Morocco in the 15th century during the expulsion of Jews from Spain following the Alhambra Decree of 1492. . Querub is a descendant of the Spanish Jewish author and thinker Rabbi Joseph Caro(source?). Querub was born in Tangier, Morocco in 1956. His family moved to Spain in 1966 and settled in Madrid, where he attended high school at the Liceo Francés.

In 1980 he graduated from Instituto Católico de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ICADE)/Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Madrid, with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and a Master’s degree in Law.

Career
Querub joined the multinational commodities trading firm Glencore in 1981 (then March Rich & Co) in Madrid. He was CEO of Glencore España S.A. from 1989-2003. At the time, the Glencore Madrid office was responsible for the company's Spain and Africa business, which focused on oil, metals, and minerals trading. Querub developed a close relationship with company founder Marc Rich that continued after Rich left the company in 1994. Querub left Glencore in 2003.

His other corporate affiliations are as follows:
 * Asturiana de Zinc SA - Board Member (1996)
 * Andria Inversiones Inmobiliarias
 * EMED
 * Highfield
 * Bluequest
 * Moka
 * Unimot Express Sp z.o.o.
 * Incogas SA
 * Iberiapremium SGPS
 * Consejos y Estrategias Técnicas y Empresariales SL

Jewish Leadership
The Federation of Spanish Jewish Communities, President (2011-2020)

Querub was elected President of the Federación de Comunidades Judías de España (FCJE) on April 10, 2011. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper La Razón (Madrid) in September 2011, Querub proclaimed that "the image of Jews in Spain is still a distorted one." During his tenure as President, Querub worked closely with the Spanish government to change this image and improve Jewish perception within Spanish culture. He led the FCJE in helping to achieve the following accomplishments and milestones:


 * 1) In June 2014, Spanish Parliament passed a law allowing the descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain by the Alhambra Decree of 1492 to reclaim Spanish citizenship. Querub was involved in the analysis of the law and argued for its adoption before the King of Spain and the Ministry of Justice.
 * 2) In January 2015, the Jewish Holocaust was officially added as required teaching in the Spanish curriculum. This initiative was the result of collaboration between Congress' Grupo Popular and the FCJE.
 * 3) The FCJE presented legislation to the the Spanish government to expand protection against anti-Semitic crimes and genocide denial. In March 2015, Congress approved the legislation and modified the penal code to explicitly include anti-Semitism as a punishable crime.
 * 4) In November 2013, Querub formally requested the Catholic church to return the Santa Maria la Blanca Museum in Toledo, Spain to the Spanish Jewish community as a symbolic gesture of interfaith relations. The building was previously a synagogue belonging to the Jews of Toledo until it was converted to a church in the early 15th century. . Upon the conclusion of Querub's term as President of the FCJE in May 2020, the building still belonged to the Catholic church.

Jewish Community of Madrid, President (1996-2001)

In 1997, Querub reached an agreement with President of the Community of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz Gallardon, for greater levels of cooperation with the Jewish community, as well granting all inhabitants of Madrid the right to a Spanish and Jewish education with free tuition.

Additional Jewish involvement
 * Member of Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University
 * President of Yad Vashem in Spain (1997-2016)
 * Patron of the Baruch Spinoza Foundation
 * Patron of the Shimon Peres Center for Peace in Spain

Querub is a frequent contributor to the Spanish newspaper El País, covering an array of topics related to Jewish life.

Other notable achievements

 * In 2007 he received the Princess of Asturias Award on behalf of Yad Vashem, along with Avner Shalev
 * In 2012 he was awarded the Moroccan Ouissam Alaouite Order (source?)