Argentina is a very large country on the southeast of South America, running from the polar south to the tropical north. The population is very European in ancestry, with roughly half being pure-European in background, and another large section being mostly European in background.
It has a large Arab population (9±%), but which is intermarried and assimilated into the country’s larger demographic This is because it is heavily Maronite (Catholic) Lebanese who assimilate well.
Interestingly, Argentina has around 180,000 Jews – the seventh largest Jewish population in the world – and they can be politically active.
This is in Spanish, but it there is an option to have it translated to English.
1) Click Settings Wheel and choose Subtitles/CC.
2) Click to turn on: Spanish (auto-generated) .
3) Click – for a second time – to turn on: Subtitles/CC(1) Spanish (auto-generated) .
4) Click auto-translate.
5) Choose English – THIS CAN BE TRICKY – I suggest using up and down arrows to chose English, and then press Enter.
This can be very touchy, and you may have to play with it, but it works. Once you get the hang of it, you can turn the option on in a few seconds.
This is very interesting. Pedro Brieger, a media force in Latin America – and who, himself, is Jewish – shows up on the YouTube Channel for the Palestine Federation of Chile, for a conversation.
Pedro Brieger is controversial. Many Jews consider him less than friendly to the Likud (right wing) strain of Zionism. That is for you to decide.
Brieger is an academic – He held (and may still hold) a chair in Sociology of the Middle East at the University of Buenos Aires – and also a journalist in Argentina, where he is a noted commentator, as well as an author who has written many books on the Mideast. While, he may not be that well known in America, he is famous among Latin, Jewish, and Arab circles – a major hitter in the formation of public opinion in the Latin World.
I translated (poorly) one of his commentaries which was broadcast on Argentina’s government affiliated Channel 7. If you want, you can click the auto-translate option to see how poorly I did.
Posted on YouTube around 8 years ago
I cannot over-emphasize Brieger’s influence. I have seen a right-wing Zionist websites tear Brieger down, and have communicated with left-wing Jews who love him.
The so-called “extremist” Masada2000 [a very right wing pro-Israeli site, which is now taken down] had listed Pedro Brieger as a self-hating Jew.
Again, that is for you to decide. You might start by reading some of his books, which are available on Amazon (Click Here), albeit in Spanish.
In 2006, Brieger claimed that the Israeli government tried to pressure the Argentine government (against) him and his broadcasting.
Pedro Brieger’s Facebook page: (Click Here).
His official webpage has been discontinued after 2016.
Listen to that tune! It is haunting to the core. The melody was published by Francisco Tárrega in 1896, about the Alhambra in Granada, Spain – the capital of the last Moorish outpost in Spain.
The Alhambra is a World Treasure to this day. Tourists are stunned by its intricacy and beauty – the Arabic calligraphy on its walls is breathtaking.
One is reminded how the last Moorish/Arabic ruler in Granada, Boabdil – that was what the Spanish called him; the Arabs knew him as Muhammad XII of Granada – cried after his defeat, when he looked back on Granada and realized he had to leave the Alhambra. Legend has it that his mother supposedly told him …
“You weep like a woman for what you could not defend like a man?”
Talk about a toxic mother!!!
I do not care if it is politically incorrect to say this, but that mother seriously deserved a slap for that. That was brutal.
The Arabs remember this defeat to this very day, and call it “The Tragedy of Andalusia.”
The conquering Catholic royals, Ferdinand and Isabella, were so enamored of the Moorish architecture that they chose to be buried in Granada, not the expected Christian capital.
There is a tension in Spanish culture – and to a lesser extent in Portuguese culture – between European and Arabian civilization. The Portuguese liberated all their territory by 1249. The Spanish allowed Granada to linger on under Islamic control for another 243 years, until 1492, but only as a vassal state.
Yes, Granada was reduced to vassalage – having to pay tribute to Spain – but it was still there, and so the effect of Arab rule is stronger in Spanish culture.
Sections of the Iberian Peninsula had been under Islamic rule for 781 years (711 to 1492). Such a long duration has cultural, genetic, political, and linguistic consequences.
While the Spanish were happy to be rid of Muslim tyranny – and it was tyranny, do not kid yourselves – they realized that something had been lost as well – and hence the Spanish fascination with Alhambra, and Arabic culture in general.
And so the story of Muslim rule, and the Reconquista to free Spain, lingers on in the Spanish imagination the same way the civil war lingers on in the American. Everyone knows the good guys (Spain/the North) won, but the losing side (the Moors/the Confederacy) have been glamorized out of all reality.
About 8% of the Spanish language is Arabic in origin. Look at these two words to see where the Spanish term differs from other European languages – and know that Spanish has thousands of such Arabic words.
Arabic
Spanish
English
French
Italian
German
‘azraq
azul
blue
bleu
blu
blau
zeit
aciete
oil
huile
olio
Öl
The linguistic effect on Spanish in enormous. On Portuguese, too.
Genetically, the effect is there, though not enormous. The Spanish have between 2% and 10% North African admixture. Though part of that admixture may be due to pre-Islamic, pre-Roman Carthaginian DNA. In 1609, Spain expelled all Muslims from its country, including some who had converted to Catholicism, so whatever Arabic genetic input had occurred during Moorish rule was probably reduced somewhat.
STILL, THE GENETIC EFFECT IS THERE, EVEN IF LIMITED
The Albu(r)querque region of Iberia likely derived its name from the Arabic (the area was occupied by the Moors for centuries) Abu al-Qurq (land of the cork oak; Spanish: pais del alcornoque), which in turn may have been derived from the Latin `albus quercus’ (white oak) as the trunk of the cork oak is white after the outer layer has been exposed. Note that the seal of the Spanish city of Alburquerque bears the design of an oak. (The other main theory is that the name derives from al-burquq, the plum.)
This Arabic influence was brought to the New World – and that does not even include the Moriscos who came with the Conquistadores.
There are echoes of this Arabic influence which carry over to Latin America. Argentina’s gauchos may be, in part, derived from Moriscos who fled the Inquisition to Latin America.
A full treatment would require a very large book, not a post on a website.
January 24, 2024 – Edited: replaced a dead video link.
La Angelita is just Spanish for “The Little Angel,” and is an ironic name for a town which is so heavily Muslim.
The town is about 170 miles slightly northeast of Buenos Aires, on the Pampas, in what would be called a sort-of-subtropical climate, similar to interior South Carolina. It is in the Buenos Aires Province (Not to be confused with the city — sort of similar to New York State vs. New York City).
At one time, La Angelita was 70% Muslim, but is now only 40%.
Argentina’s government has labeled La Angelita an “Authentic Town” – an official designation – because it is a real frontier outpost, nothing fake about it. It has been nicknamed a “Little Syria.”
Source: Clarin
Translated with help of an app
March 11, 2018
In 1910, the first immigrants from Italy and Spain began to arrive first, and from Syria and Lebanon later, to these lands that were donated by Doña María Unzué de Alvear, a wealthy woman, owner of thousands of hectares of land. fertile, perhaps the richest and most valuable for cultivation in Argentina. Newly arrived and gathered in the immense Pampas plains, Europeans, Syrians and Lebanese would begin to work the fields and then receive more immigrants who would travel in search of a prosperous future in the long-awaited America. More came in the 1920s, in the coming years as well, and the largest Muslim Arab colony in the entire country was formed in La Angelita .
In the 1970s, the percentage of Muslims in the town peaked around 70%, but it dropped, and today it is around 40%. Still it is Muslim enough that the town has a loudspeaker which calls the Muslim faithful to prayers.
Posted on YouTube: November 16, 2016
You can set the video to auto-translate to English
The density of the Muslim population in La Angelita is such that the Muslims were able to keep many of their traditions from Syria. However, they do have Christian neighbors, and so the Arabs have assimilated enough to be called “Muslim gauchos.”
And the term is well earned. One could drive through it and it would look like a gaucho outpost. The local farmers even dress like gauchos. Indeed, it almost looks like a town in the rural South of the United States … well, except for the Muslim call to prayers.
Today, the town is majority Christian – of Italian and Spanish extraction, the usual Argentine mix, but everyone seems to get along well.
NOTE: Argentina was founded by Spaniards, and they speak Spanish, but the largest ethnic group may be Italians. Hence, people of mixed Italian-Spanish backgrounds are very, common.
Posted on YouTube: May 13, 2019
The town fair – There is an auto-translate to English option.
However, the town’s population has decreased in the past few decades, for the same reason that rural spaces are losing population throughout the world. Lack of employment. Better opportunities in the cities.
What distinguishes La Angelita is that the Arabs in town have managed to maintain their Muslim faith … which is rather difficult in Argentina … and which makes it a bit of a tourist attraction.
But such visitors might be disappointed. Apart from festivals, the food/Arab restaurant, and the mosque, the Muslims would usually look like … typical Argentina farmers. They speak Spanish, though the Muslims do have classes to teach their children Arabic as a second language.
Source: Clarin
Translated by Google
March 11, 2018
Among Marta Pepe’s [Arabic class] students is Martina, a 15-year-old teenager with deep green eyes, a white complexion and a shy smile; She is the daughter of an Arab father and a Catholic mother converted to Islam. Her parents decided that she herself should choose which religion to follow, it seemed fair to them. And she, along with her brothers, chose Islam: she reads the Koran, takes language classes and fasts in the month of Ramadan.
If the Clarin article (above) speaks of a conversion from Catholicism to Islam, be aware that this does happen, as this next video will attest.
HOWEVER, IN THE OVERALL, ISLAM HAS NEARLY DIED OFF IN ARGENTINA!
September 22, 2015
The imam (above) will talk about growing Islam in Argentina, but admits the truth starting at (0:52) … which is that … Islam has nearly totally collapsed in Argentina. The reality is that, in spite of a few recent converts to Islam, the numbers are embarrassingly low. Most Muslims drift away … marry a Christian … and that is the end of it.
The next article also hints at the reality, though more cautiously.
There is no firm conclusion on the current number of Muslims in Argentina. Estimates range from 50,000 all the way to 900,000. The Center of Higher Islamic Studies places the number at around 450,000. Beyond the actual numbers, there is also a question of whether Islam is growing or decreasing.
My own research indicates that the Muslim authorities often exaggerate their own numbers. Part of the reason for this collapse of Islam is the lack of cultural support for Islam in Argentina. The government does not persecute Muslims, but Argentina has no internal Muslim support structure, so Islam dies on the vine.
Islam thrives in La Angelita because of a strong community, but those young who leave the town will probably drift away. There is little Islamic literature in Spanish, and hence it is easy for a Muslim to convert or marry in to Catholicism.
The Muslim authorities will trot out those local Argentines who have converted to Islam – one wonders how long before these “converts” return to Christianity – but they often ignore those Muslims who have gone in the other direction: converting out of Islam. These former Muslims are kept on membership rolls, though, which distorts the statistics.
The Argentine academics, Pedro Brieger and Enrique Herszkowich, have estimated very low numbers for practicing Muslims in Argentina. In fact, Brieger’s figures are very close to the low figures admitted by the imam in the video (above).
Assuming four people per family, a realistic guess for the Muslim population of Buenos Aires might be around 4,500, far fewer than the number projected by some Muslim officials.
What is interesting is that even though Pedro Brieger and Enrique Herszkowich estimated that low number in 2002, the Muslim imam – in the video (above) – which was posted in 2015 – gives the impression that the number of Muslims in Argentina has not grown.
Since most Muslims in Argentina would be expected to be in metropolitan Buenos Aires, one could estimate that practicing Muslims in Argentina are less than 10,000 – very small for a metropolitan area of 15 million.
Yet, the Muslim officials in Argentina estimate around one million Muslims in the country. What an exaggeration?!
On paper, Argentina may officially be 1-2% Muslim. In reality, the number is much, much lower, and Islam is a paper tiger in Argentina … at this moment.
This pattern is repeated throughout South America. On paper, Islam is growing in South America. Yes, there are converts to Islam. In reality, the attrition rate is enormous – yet, the Muslim authorities never adjust their figures.
SHOULD THE WEST BE WORRIED?!
The historic truth is that Islam was created in violence and can only prosper in violence. Where there is no social, cultural, or political force to impose Islam, it will deteriorate. Islam survives so well in the Mideast because there are violent penalties for apostasy from Islam.
In South America, the culture is Christian. Islam does not know how to resist street preaching apart from killing the messenger. In South America, that option is not available to them. So, Islam will slowly evaporate membership to Christianity over time – to Catholicism, due to social pressure, or to Evangelical Christianity, due to genuine conversion.
Yes, the imams will haul out ten or twenty converts … SO WHAT?! They won’t tell you about the much larger numbers who leave.
HERE IS WHERE THE REAL GROWTH OF RELIGION IS … IN ARGENTINA!
[T]he number of people who identified as evangelical Christians in Argentina increased from 9% in 2008 to 15.3% in 2019.
How many of these new Evangelical Christians came from Muslim backgrounds? Only God knows.
To be blunt, Islam has no answer to Christian street preaching – which is growing in Argentina.
Posted on YouTube: January 12, 2020
Plaza de San Martin, Buenos Aires
The answer to Islam in South America is … Christ!
In South America, Christ is winning, only the politically correct media do not want to admit it. They would prefer to roll out some recently converted Islamic bogeymen.
If Islam in South America terrifies you, then donate to some Christian ministry which operates on the continent.
As for La Angelita … I find it interesting and fascinating that it has maintained its Arab ways … but the town is shrinking and – interesting though the town may be – Islam is not helping it. La Angelita is a tourist trap precisely because it is so unusual. It is not typical.
In plain terms, the townspeople should keep the recipes, keep the music, even learn Arabic as a second language if they want; but La Angelita’s Muslims should leave Islam.
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.
