The cultural trade went both ways. Apparently, the Arabs in Lebanon and Syria picked up a love of Yerba Mate – a South American Herbal Tea – from those Arabs who moved to South America. Word got back to the Mideast and the rest in history.
Yerba Mate grows in the subtropical jungles of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, however it has become loved all over the continent – and apparently in the Mideast, as well.
Posted on YouTube: March 20, 2016
The video can be auto-translated into English
The video above is from the Syrian-Lebanese Club of Buenos Aires. If you speak Spanish, or know how to use a translation app, then visit their website. They have one club in Saavedra, in the northern section of Buenos Aires, and another in the suburb of Recoleta.
Unlike Chile, where the Palestinians predominate, in Argentina, Syrians and Lebanese predominate. This makes for a more muted response to the Mideast situation. The Maronite Christians, in particular, are very Westernized, and – given their history – are suspicious of Muslims, as they have been persecuted by Muslims.
It is estimated that 9-10% of the population of Argentina is Arabic in ancestry – though a lot of that may be diluted by intermarriage. What is clear is that 90% of those Arab-Argentines are Christian, and that official figures for Muslims may be seriously exaggerated.
Also moderating the tone of the debate is the Jewish community in Argentina which is quite substantial – 180,000, and it used to be a whole lot larger. Argentina has the sixth largest population of Jews outside of Israel.
Posted on YouTube: June 6, 2018
(Clearly, this guy is not Jewish,
but – like me – he finds stuff like this fascinating.
If one counts extended relatives of Jews or those who are Jewish by father only – and not officially Jewish – then the numbers are much larger.
The Jews have had a substantial effect on Argentine history. So one will not see the strong pro-Palestinianism that one sees in Chile, where Palestinians outnumber the Jews 30 to 1.
