Author: Latin Arabia

Kiddies Root for Palestinian Sports Club

Latin Arabia CD Palestino, Palestinians, Sports , , 0 Comment
Kiddies Root for Palestinian Sports Club


Posted on YouTube: September 14, 2017

Here in America, kids adopt the colors of the New York Yankees, or the Dallas Cowboys, their sports heroes.

In Chile, they adopt the colors of Club Deportive Palestino (Palestinian Sports Club) or as the Chileans abbreviate it, CD Palestino. Notice the black, green, white, and red jerseys (the Euros say kit) of CD Palestino, it is the same colors found on the Palestinian flag.

The kids are rooting:

TINO, TINO, PALESTINO!

CD Palestino was originally formed in 1920 in Osorno, Chile. By the 1950s, it had become a professional soccer team. Originally, it took its players from members of the Palestinian-Chilean community; though in time, it opened up its ranks to others.

Its home turf, now, is a municipal stadium in Metro Santiago [Chile’s capital] called La Cisterna, which seats about 12,000. That may not sound like a lot to American ears, but Chile has roughly 1/20th the population of the United States, so proportionally the team is equivalent to an American sports franchise.

This is not some minor squad. In 2015, CD Palestino made it to the playoffs of South America’s Copa Liberatadores (Liberators’ Cup), a major transnational soccer tournament in Latin America.

Over the decades a whole subculture has evolved around this team.


Posted by Latin Arabia on YouTube: August 4, 2012

Because the Palestinian-Chilean community is hostile to Israel, the team has become embroiled in Mideast politics, which is kind of odd if you think about it, being 8,000 miles away from the Mideast.

The Chilean team has a strong following among the local Palestinians in the Mideast territories. Moreover, members of CD Palestino have visited the territories, with some playing on Palestinian teams as well.


(An archive) posted by AP on YouTube: December 23, 2016

Right now, the team is trying to bring soil from Palestine in order cover their field – as a symbol that Palestine is in their hearts. I kid you not. (See video below)


Posted on YouTube: December 13, 2017

There was an Arab version of the above video, but it was taken down, after I linked to it.

So instead, I will link to this Arab video which is about CD Palestino. The Palestinians love this team. I do not speak Arabic, but the video gives some history. It mentions that the team was founded in 1920. It mentions the jersey controversy where the team replaced the number 1 with a map of Palestine, erasing all of Israel. Clearly, this team is politicized; and in doing so, has won the affections of the Arab world, while earning the displeasure of the Jewish community.


Posted on YouTube: January 21, 2014

As anyone can see, CD Palestino is a politically charged team.

The Palestinians of Chile are roughly 99% Christian, and very prosperous; but they are highly radicalized against Israel. They have used their power to influence the rest of Chile. Hence, you see non-Arab children above shouting, “Tino, Tino, Palestino!”

Right now, as part of their campaign to bring the soil of Palestine to their playing field (the Euros call it pitch), they have this webpage up.

Screenshot: In English – Our Field, Our Land – Or you can go to the English version of the page (Click Here)

“Our Field. Our Land.”

Apparently, the Palestinians in Chile do not recognize Israel at all. As noted here on Latin Arabia (Click Here), the team once wore a jersey (kit) that erased Israel, and claimed all of Palestine on a map on the back of their jersey. They were fined, and told to stop wearing the Jersey.

But they still sell the offending jersey. (Click Here). The map on the back claims all of Palestine. Nothing is left for Israel.

The question should arise: Why would a 99% Christian community field a team which has a mosque prominently displayed on their sports site?

What is clear is that in the past few years, the fame of CD Palestino has spread across the planet, so much so that they now have an English language version of their website. Among those who hate Israel, wearing a CD Palestino jersey (kit) has become a bit of a political statement.

As CD Palestino boasts they have become: (Más Que Un Club) More than a club!.

That is a real understatement.

The Palestinian-Chilean Community is highly radicalized against Israel, and their soccer team is a lightning rod for this. This is almost unknown in the USA; but, whether you disagree or agree with their anti-Zionism, this is a very politically important soccer team.

September 1, 2020 – Had to replace a dead video, clean up links, and made some edits.
May 26, 2024 – Had to correct a date underneath a video.

Way of Salvation – Arab Evangelicals

Latin Arabia Religion , 0 Comment
Way of Salvation – Arab Evangelicals


Posted on YouTube: September 14, 2017, (In Spanish) – Note: Same person as below.

An update on an Arab Evangelical Church in Venezuela – or at least with a Arab-Latin clergy.

Click Here to to see their messages in Arabic: (Click Here)

To see their church site, click: Iglesia Camino Salvacion (The Way of Salvation)

We mentioned them before on an earlier post: (Click Here)

Now, again, most likely a good portion of these people come from a Christian background, Maronite Catholic or Syrian Orthodox, before becoming Evangelical. However, many of the Maronites or Syrian Orthodox have been in Latin America for generations, and so have forgotten Arabic.

Yet, this church has given messages in Arabic as well as Spanish, which may indicate that they reach out to recent Muslim arrivals as well.


Posted on YouTube: October 31, 2015, (In Arabic) – Note: Same person, Sara Zakhour, as above.

Again, as noted, any Muslims coming to South America would face this. In the Muslim world, the Ummah, Christianity is suppressed, and the Muslims do not have well-developed social skills to resist evangelism. They just threaten or kill the preachers. In South America, this would not be an option, so there would be a continual bleed off of Muslims from any Muslim community to the Christian church – most likely to the Evangelicals, since they take evangelism more seriously than Catholics.

This is why I suggest, from time to time, that the Palestinians in the West Bank be paid to move to South America. They would convert in a generation or two.

Further note: This church obviously has female pastors, which indicates that they are in the Pentecostal framework. Strict Baptists do not have female clergy. But this only shows how radically Arab-Latins have assimilated, moving from an Arab patriarchal background to a very egalitarian Westernized view over the generations.

DOTD – 017 – Salsa Viva y Tango Vivo

Latin Arabia Arabic Dance , 0 Comment
DOTD – 017 – Salsa Viva y Tango Vivo


NOTICE: THE ARAB MUSIC
Salsa Lives and Tango I Live Dance School
Published on YouTube: February 12, 2015

Salsa Viva y Tango Vivo (Salsa and Tango Live):
The school is in Santiago de Cali, Colombia.

Their website is here: (Click Here)

28 November 2017 – had to replace with a newer video. Did some editing of text. Date had to be reset to 28 November, 2017, when the change was made.

A Demographer’s Nightmare

Latin Arabia History, Lebanese, Maronites , , 0 Comment

There is a demographic issue when accounting for the Arabs in Latin America. For an example: Look at this inconsistency for Colombia (image below).

Screenshots of Wikipedia.

Wikipedia estimated about 800,000 – 3.2 million Lebanese Colombians, out of approximately 50 million people in Colombia. Take a moment to let that enormous spread in estimated numbers sink in.

Now look at the second image. Notice that the Arab diaspora in Columbia is listed at 1.5 million.

Did you notice the contradiction? Lebanese-Colombians could be as high as 3.2 million, but another chart lists only 1.5 million Arab-Colombians.

How can there be more Lebanese-Columbians than Arab-Columbians, when the Lebanese are a subset of Arabs?

This is what makes checking the demographics of Arabs in the Western Hemisphere so hard. As is so often stated, the problem is that many Lebanese refuse to call themselves Arabs.

The number of Arabs in South America is much higher than official figures cite.

Similar inconsistencies crop up in Argentina and the United States. In Australia, the Lebanese do not even have to list their ancestry as Arab, but can cite Syriac (which is a language group, not necessarily Syrian) instead.

I suspect elsewhere as well.

The demographic contradictions stem from the reluctance of Lebanese Christians to identify as Arabs.

Lebanese Christians were horribly persecuted by the Muslims. In the nineteenth century, the French had to intervene in Lebanon to prevent a genocide of Christians by the Muslims. Many Lebanese Christians prefer to call themselves Phoenicians, by virtue of their ancient Phoenician past. Some will get rather indignant if you call them Arabs.

This has led to the odd situation where Lebanese are often considered completely different than Arabs.

Yet, upon arrival in any country, Lebanese Christians speak Arabic, eat Arabic food, and listen to Arabic music. The international community considers them Arabs.

Most of the Lebanese who immigrated to the West were from the Christian community. Muslims were less likely to leave. And, given that Maronite Christianity is affiliated with Roman Catholicism – the dominant religion in Latin America – Lebanese Maronites could seamlessly blend into Catholic communities in one generation. The first generation of kids would be indistinguishable from other Latins.

Complicating the matter, Lebanese Christians, primarily the Maronite Christians, have a portion of European DNA, as a result of their ancestors having intermarried with Europeans Crusaders. In plain terms, they are sometimes slightly whiter than other Arabs, and can often pass for Europeans. In Latin America, whites are often the elite, and Maronites would have had that advantage.

Muslims did immigrate to Latin America, but in smaller numbers, and often decades later, long after the Maronites blended in.

Mixing things up further, Muslim Lebanese certainly consider themselves to be Arabs. So ironically the Muslim-Lebanese would classify themselves as Arabs – in contravention to the Christians – primarily the Maronite Christians – who consider themselves to be Phoenician, not Arabic.

Historically, the Lebanese Christians, who refuse to identify as Arabs, were also determined to blend in, assimilate, and intermarry rather rapidly. So if they are under-reported, it is because they assimilated so well. The Lebanese Christians are a large almost invisible community.

The migration of Lebanese Christians to the Americas was rather large, and the result is that glaring inconsistencies in demographics can occur. Hence the number of Arabs in any country in the Western Hemisphere is grossly under-reported.

Thankfully, this is not a problem for anyone, but demographers.

Take for example: Julio César Turbay. He was the 25th president of Colombia, and was half-Lebanese. The product of assimilation and intermarriage.

This curiosity has to be noted.

February 3, 2018 – Edited: Grammatical error.
July 17, 2020 – Edited: Added image. Added and edited text.

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