Not Just Chilestinians, but many leftists in Argentina are protesting against Israeli actions during this Gaza War.
Points to remember:
1) Unlike Chile – or most of Latin America, for that matter – Argentina has had a large and influential Jewish community.
2) Most Arabs in Argentina are Syrian- or Lebanese-Christians. Palestinian Arabs among them are a minority. Most Arab-Argentines are Christian.
3) Argentina is on the other side of the world, so it is late autumn there.
4) Unlike Chile, Palestinians are not very influential in Chile. However, leftists are influential. Hence, they are protesting against Israel, but for different reasons that the Chilestinos. For the Chilestinos, it is a matter of heritage and family. Not so for most Argentines.
Update: May 21, 2021 – The Chilestinians and leftists have come out to protest against Israel. Particularly in Chile, the Chilestinians can affect the agenda of the country.
In South America, only Columbia and Brazil supported Israel.
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But one has to remember that Brazil has a large Evangelical Christian Community. While Columbia’s Evangelicals are now only 13% of the population, they are growing rapidly in influence and numbers.
(Original report – May 13, 2021)
From what I see on the internet, most of the sources in South America are showing their usual concern, but not really taking sides. While South America is not usually as pro-Israel as the United States is, there is not a lot of criticism against Israel from official sources either … except Venezuela.
Even in Chile – where there is a powerful Palestinian community – the government is not openly hostile to Israel, though it allows private citizens, politicians, or networks to be critical of Israel. Yet, even in Chile, the war in the Mideast is not given the attention that it is here in the USA. If it is even front page news, it is in a bottom paragraph.
It is amazing how a Google search of news in Spanish can bring up American (CNN/Spanish), British (BBC/Spanish), German (Deutsche Welle/DW/Spanish), and Spanish (European) sources. So the Latins get a standard feed of news, just like Americans.
Yes, they have CNN in Chile: CNN – CHILE.
Posted on YouTube; May 12, 2021
You can get a captioned translation.
The video below is from El Tiempo (The Times) in Colombia. It seems to be somewhat neutral, just explaining the facts.
Posted on YouTube; May 12, 2021
It has to be remembered, however, TeleSur (TV South), which is centered in Venezuela, is biased against Israel. Venezuela has Iranian connections.
Posted on YouTube; May 12, 2021
You can get a captioned translation.
Venezuela has had this anti-Israel bias since the time of Hugo Chavez.
This is interesting: A Israeli-Jewish woman from Uruguay is talking to Venezuelan news below:
This is from a state run TV station. VTV (Venezolana de Televisión).
Posted on YouTube; May 12, 2021
VTV – a state run Venezuelan station.
You can get a captioned translation.
STILL HOWEVER
The Palestinians in South America are furious.
Chilestinians (Palestinian-Chileans) have asked the Chilean government to sanction Chile.
In a public statement, the Chilean Palestinian Inter-Parliamentary Group condemned the attacks against the Palestinian population.
The Chilean-Palestinian Inter-Parliamentary Group called on the Government “to take immediate sanctioning measures in the face of violations of International Law by the Israeli Occupying Power and above all, in the face of the brutal violation of International Humanitarian Law.”
Below you can read the public statement:
Given the acts of violence that are taking place in Occupied Palestine, such as
Deputies of the Republic of Chile, we see ourselves in the need to declare the following:
1. We condemn and reject in the strongest possible way the unjustified and excessive use of force by the Israeli Government, its police and army, who have carried out an unnecessary and brutal bloodshed.
2. As the Chilean Palestinian Committee, we have denounced more than a dozen times the Apartheid and the Persecution of which the Palestinians are victims, the same that has endorsed Human Rights Watch in its most recent report on the Palestinian issue.
3. What is happening right now in the neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, are a vivid sample that the Occupation has not ceased and very much … On the contrary, it continues to expand, violating the most minimal rights of the Palestinian People.
4. Faced with this devastating scenario, we find ourselves obliged to demand that the Government of Chile to take immediate sanctioning measures for violations of International Law by the Israeli Occupying Power and above all, in the face of the brutal violation of International Humanitarian Law. It is unpresentable that in full World Pandemic the occupying power not only refuse to vaccinate millions of Palestinians who according to the same Geneva Convention must be under their safeguard, but in this context they operate with total impunity to commit the two crimes against humanity denounced by Human Rights Watch.
5. As Parliamentarians and Parliamentarians we will not be passive accomplices of what happens in Palestine, that is why we speak out loudly to demand an end to impunity with which the Israeli Government has acted for many years.
I seriously doubt that the Chilean government will do anything.
There are Jews in South America, but they do not have the influence they have in America. However, Brazil is very Evangelical, and pro-Israel.
I believe this is from a Jewish News Agency who released a video with a Spanish title.
Posted on YouTube; May 13, 2021
Pro-Palestinian groups condemn Israel for stopping ambulances to help Palestinian victims. But this video (above) is troubling. Palestinians actually attacked a Jewish (Mogen David) ambulance.
To see where public opinion is going, one has to go to Twitter or Facebook, and even there, there are sock puppets manipulating the public response.
May 21, 2021 – Edited: Added an update. Made corrections
Palestinian Christians started arriving in Chile in the 19th Century. In 1938, they founded Club Palestino, with a charter from the British mandate. Today, Club Palestino is one of the more prestigious clubs in Chile.
They are called Chilestinos (almost all are Christian), and have risen to become elites in Chile. The equivalent term in English would be Chilestinians – which is a portmanteau of Chile and Palestine.
The Chilestinos take a pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
This is a Chilestinian version of Palestinian history. Yes, it is in Spanish, but there is an option to auto-translate it to English.
Posted on YouTube: December 2, 2020.
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.
The Palestinians in Chile are not a mere curiousity. Chile is a first world country, and the Palestinians are elites. They shape the foreign policy and course of Chile.
The version of history they present will not be agreeable to those who are friendly to Israel. Indeed, many pro-Israel and Jewish groups have expressed concern about the Palestinians in Chile.
