This is an Arab Restaurant in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires, one of Buenos Aires’ better neighbordhoods.
The restaurant’s name Al-Shark comes from Al Sharq which is Arabic for “the East.” It does not mean the man eating fish, shark, which in Spanish is tiburón.
Mario Kirlis is technically an Argentine, but has a wide fan base all over South America, and not just among the Arab community.
This was a show of him on Uruguayan TV
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZXEXSglfVQ
Fadwa, directora de la escuela de danzas árabes ‘Nur al Ámar’ (Montevideo Uruguay) en los estudios del canal 5 junto a la gran orquesta árabe de Mario Kirlis:
:: Mario Kirlis en Laud
:: Gaston Chaade en Qanun
:: Matias Hazrum en Derbake
:: Pablo Ventura en Massar y DaffEs una improvisacion del tema Aziza que la orquesta interpreta para el programa “Igualito” en Canal 5 conducido por Omar Gutierrez, previo a la muestra anual de alumnas y show arabes en Sala Zitarrosa el pasado lunes 23 de Noviembre.
Fadwa, director of the school of Arabic dance: ‘Nur al Ámar’ (Montevideo Uruguay) in the studios of channel 5 along with the grand orchestra of Mario Kilis:
:: Mario Kirlis on Lute
:: Gaston Chaade en Kanun (Arabic Zither)
:: Matias Hazrum pn Derbake (Arabic Drum)
:: Pablo Ventura on Massar y Daff (I have no idea)It is an improvisation of the Aziza theme that the orquestra interprets for the program “Igualito” on Canal 5, directed by Omar Gutierrez, prior to the annual Arab exhibition, in Zitarrosa Hall, of students and show on Monday 23 November [2009].
What is interesting is how mainstream this is in South America.
If you really want to get a sense of how far Arabic culture has penetrated South America, then look at this Dabke line in what looks to be Buenos Aires.
This was Argentina’s Bicentennial Day in 2010.
Yet, they deemed it appropriate to have ethnic Arabic Dabke dancing for the festivities. Notice the blond at (0:14), possibly a German-Argentine.
Posted on YouTube: May 24, 2010
Clearly, not all these people are Arabic; but it shows how far Arabic culture has penetrated into Argentine life.
May 8, 2017: Edited – Had to change video. The original dabke video was taken down, but it was not hard to replace with another video, which again shows how common dabke is in Argentina. The poster of the video is Argentine.
January 16, 2025: Edited – Added date to video. Changed from page to post format.
Some facts on this page will have some interesting stuff to consider.
Hopefully, this should dispel a lot of myths.
While recent Saudi and Iranian inroads into Latin American are troublesome, they are grossly exaggerated.
Grossly.
THIS IS WHAT THE MEDIA SHOWS YOU:
Posted on YouTube: December 30, 2009
Dubbed in English: Islamic propaganda.
A few malcontents embracing Islam.
THIS IS WHAT THE MEDIA DOES NOT SHOW YOU:
Posted on YouTube: October 14, 2009
Evangelicals are having a massive revival in Chile.
Look at the difference in numbers. A few malcontents vs a giant statidum.
Chile and Brazil are having massive revivals.
Over 95% of all Arabs in Latin America are Christian. In many countries that figures rises to 99% of all Arabs.
Catholicism may be weakening, but it is being replaced by Pentecostal Christianity and, to a much smaller extent, Orthodox Christianty.
If the West panics now, we will over react.
The are only three countries with a significant population of Muslims.
Argentina, Guyana, and Suriname.
Argentina:
Most of Argentina’s Muslims are non-practicing. Officially there are around 400-700,000 Muslims. In reality, only 40,000 are practicing. Argentina has 3 Million CHRISTIAN Arab-Argentines, however. They tend to be moderate concerning the Mideast. With a country of overall population of 45 million; Less than 1/1000th of Argentina is practicing Muslim.
Argentina (45 million overall) is 8-10% Arab in ethnicity, but 90% of those Arabs are Christians. The Muslims are not significant.
ETHNICALLY
Argentina (roughly)
Spanish ~ 50%
Italian ~ 62%
Arab 8-10%
Germans 6-9%
Irish 1-1/2%
British 1%
Croats 1/2%
Smaller amounts of other Europeans: Swedes, Poles, Greeks.
Many are intermarried so the numbers add up to higher than 100%
AND, YES, THERE ARE MORE ITALIANS IN ARGENTINA THAN SPANISH.
But the Spanish got there ahead of the Italians, and so Argentina speaks Spanish. However, Buenos Aires speaks Spanish with an Italian accent. Culturally Argentina is just as Italian as it is Spanish. Lots of Italian food and music.
In reality, Argentina is about 63% Catholic, 19% unaffiliated, 15% Evangelical, 1% Jewish, and 1% Muslim, but most of those Muslims are non-practicing. The true Muslim figures are much lower. 90% of the Arabs in Argentina are Christian.
Guyana, and Suriname:
Guyana and Suriname are 7% and 14% Muslim respectively. But these countries have extraordinarily small populations. The number of Muslims between them is around 200,000 at most. Many of these Muslims are not Arabs, but Indonesians bought over during the colonial era. Most Arabs in these countries are Christian.
But what about Palestinians in South America?
Palestinians are notable in Chile, Honduras, and El Salvador. Almost all of them are Christians.
El Salvador has had an election where both candidates were Palestinian. One was Evangelical, and the other of Catholic background.
So before you think the Caliphate is coming, stand back.
In reality, Islam is weaker in Latin America than in the United States. It is just louder in Latin America.
May 10, 2017 – Edited: Updated some figures, and added a link.
May 3, 2021 – Edited: Updated some figures.
June 16, 2022 – Edited: Changed styling, fixed dead links.
June 20, 2022 – Edited: Updated some population numbers, fixed errors.
November 22, 2024 – Added categories. Converted page to post.