Author: Latin Arabia

The Arab in Lima. Closer Than You Think.

Latin Arabia Cuisine, History , 0 Comment

Used the Google Translation Engine because my Spanish is so so.

The Arab in Lima [Peru]. Closer than you think

Conocidos por nuestros abuelos llanamente como “los turcos”, la herencia cultural árabe y las olas de inmigrantes que llegaron al Perú trajeron consigo costumbres y usos que han calado profundamente en nuestra identidad cultural, como bien lo recuerda el sociólogo e historiador Nelson Manrique en entrevista con Perú21.

Desde la arquitectura colonial hasta los más queridos platos de nuestra “mistura gastronómica”, la III Cumbre de Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno de América del Sur y los Países Árabes nos da una excusa para revisar una vez más el legado de la cultura del Medio Oriente en suelo peruano.

Known by our grandparents simply as “Turks”, the Arab cultural heritage, and the waves of immigrants who arrived in Peru brought with them customs and practices that have penetrated deeply into our cultural identity, as recalled by the sociologist and historian Nelson Manrique in interview with Perú21.

From colonial architecture to the most beloved dishes from our “Mistura gastronomic [fair]“, the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government of South American and Arab Countries gives us an excuse to once again review the legacy of the culture of the Middle East on Peruvian soil.

The webpage – with a video that would not embed, due to script problems – had a short discussion about Arab heritage in Peru in light of the 2012 Arab-Latin summit which was held in Peru in October, 2012.

Lebanese in Mexico are setting up Historic Archives

Latin Arabia History, Lebanese 0 Comment


The video was posted on YouTube on Sept 26, 2012, by Archivo Libanés

There is a recent drive to set up an archive concerning the Lebanese of Mexico. This should be quite interesting.

Anywhere between 1 and 5 million Mexicans have some degree of Lebanese ancestry. Almost all are Christians. They started arriving in the 19th century.

Among some of the more famous are the actress Salma Hayek and the tycoon Carlos Slim.

King Fahd Mosque on HispanTV

Latin Arabia HispanTV, Muslim, Opinion, Propaganda, TV , 0 Comment


HispanTV’s report on the King Fahd Mosque in Buenos Aires

The report notes that this is the place where a fusion of Islam and Latin America meet.

Iran has opened up a major televison propaganda network in the Spanish language called HispanTV. While the USA was ignoring South America, Saudi Arabia, and Iran were not.

Until the King Fahd Mosque opened, Islam was dying out in Argentina. It hovered officially between 1% and 2%, but in reality, an Argentine Acadmenic, Pedro Brieger, had shown that practicing Muslims in Argentina had whittled down to a small, and declining, number. Almost all Argentine Muslims had been non-practicing.

Source: Muslims in Argetina – Pedro Brieger

The number of Muslims in Argentina is decreasing, and this is due to several factors. Firstly, in families of Muslim origin, customs are being lost, from the Arabic language to food and drink. Secondly, there is relatively little reading material on Islam available in Spanish. There is a growing tendency toward mixed marriages in which children lose all references to Islam, and there are too few study centres for disseminating Islam. This may, however, change in the future with the construction of the new Islamic Cultural Center King Fahd, financed by the Saudi government, which includes a school and a mosque with a minaret in the heart of Buenos Aires.

But this successful effort at assimilating the Muslim immigrant came to an end around 2000.

In 1995, President Carlos Menem donated land in downton Buenos Aires so that the Saudis could build the King Fahd Mosque. Islam was given a chance to recharge itself.

Centuries of Christianizing efforts in Latin America were undone in one stroke. By 2011, the Saudi financed mosque had pressured Argentina’s Public TV to grant them an hour of public TV program time to prosyletize – weekly on Sunday mornings.

Worse yet, the time slot for the program was taken from a Christian-run secular TV show hosted by Christian Arab-Argentines, who were furious that a Muslim minority, who did not represent Argentine-Arabs, had stolen their time.

The damage is in its early stages, and it can be undone; but an attempt to undo the damage has to be made. No attempt seems forthcoming.

This is a disaster in slow motion.

We Americans have to show an interest in South America.

Danza Árabe – Argentina

Latin Arabia Belly Dance, Other 0 Comment


Posted by Maricel Di Mauro originally on November 2nd

Notice that the poster of the YouTube video is an Argentine whose name indicates an Italian ancestry – Italians are very common in Argentina.

Again, Arab culture is mainstream in Argentina. Be careful though. Don’t confuse Arab with Muslim. 90% of Argentine Arabs are Christian. In other South American countries, the Christian percentage is usually even higher.

What this does show is the ubiquity of the subculture all over South America.

Page 140 of 157
1 … 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 … 157