The Arab Community in Bolivia

Latin Arabia Islam, Muslim, Opinion, Other, Politics 0 Comment
The Arab Community in Bolivia

santa-cruz-bolivia

Check out this interesting website concerning the Arab community in Bolivia:

https://comunidadarabebolivia.com/ (dead link)
which translates to Arab Community Bolivia or, as English grammar would have it: Bolivian Arab Community.

The website is affiliated with the Club la Unión Árabe de Santa Cruz (The Arab Union Club), in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia.

Since 2013, the Arabs of Bolivia have been trying to form an ethnic organization around their Arab ancestry, with an emphasis on a Youth Organization.

BUT FIRST, LET’S SEE HOW BOLIVIAN ARABS DESCRIBE THEIR HISTORY

Source: https://comunidadarabebolivia.com/cultura/ (dead)
(translated by Google, with some minor corrections by me)

ARAB IMMIGRATION TO BOLIVIA

The vast majority of the Arab immigrant population arrived at the beginning of the 20th century, from what are now the nations of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, followed by some Iraqi, Egyptian, Moroccan and Jordanian families; It could be said that about 80% were of Orthodox or Catholic Christian faith, while only 20% were Muslim. This, while contradicting the demographic distribution of the Arab world, has a reason: Arab ethnic-religious minorities were systematically persecuted and oppressed by the Ottoman Empire, which controlled almost the entire Middle East at that time, until World War I.

It is interesting to note that this Bolivian Arab site admits that the reason that Christian Arabs immigrated to South America was that they were being persecuted by Ottoman Turkish (Muslim) Authorities.

They seem to be in denial, blaming it all on the Turks. Yes, the Ottoman Turks discriminated against Christians; but Islamic governments discriminated against Christians before and after the Ottoman Turkish Empire ruled. The persecution was a Muslim, not just a Turkish, practice.

As noted, the demographic patterns of immigration were similar to that of other Latin American countries … heavily leaning towards Christian, even though the Arab world is majority Muslim.

According to Wikipedia, the first imam did not arrive in Bolivia until 1974, with the first mosque being built in 1994 … in Santa Cruz.

Why 1974?

Remember that OPEC launched its first Oil Embargo to protest Israel’s victory in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Source: OPEC enacts oil embargo
History.com
History.com Editors
February 9, 2010

The Arab-dominated Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announces a decision to cut oil exports to the United States and other nations that provided military aid to Israel in the Yom Kippur War of October 1973.

…

Eventually, the price of oil quadrupled, causing a major energy crisis in the United States and Europe that included price gouging, gas shortages, and rationing.

The world was thrown into a crisis, and the Arab oil states got filthy rich. They could not do this today, given America’s oil production from fracking.

By 1974, Arab Muslims felt empowered, and I suspect they sent an imam to Bolivia with the idea of introducing Islam to a country that was almost Muslim-free except for a few isolated individuals.

Source: Fox News: Bolivia Becoming a Hotbed of Islamic Extremism, Report Concludes (2009)

One Muslim leader named in the OSC report is Mahmud Amer Abusharar, founder of the Centro Islamico Boliviano (CIB) in Santa Cruz. Abusharar emigrated from the Palestinian territories in 1974 and claims to have built Bolivia’s first mosque in 1994 so that he would not lose touch with his religion.

My note: Wikipedia reports that imam Abusharar died in 2011.

Now, Santa Cruz has an Islamic Center and a mosque. And La Paz – one of Bolivia’s two capitals, the other being Sucre – has a mosque since 2004. Quite an achievement for a Muslim community that all but did not exist before 1974. The worries about foreign intrigues are well founded.

According to the Bolivian website, there are 70,000 Bolivians of Arab descent.

Source: https://comunidadarabebolivia.com/cultura/ (dead)
(translated by Google, with some minor corrections by me)

[W]e can estimate with a reasonable error that there are approximately 70,000 Arab descendants living in Bolivia.

Yet, for all of this, Bolivia still has very few Muslims today (around 2,000), which is not that much out of a Bolivian population of approximately 12 million. Roughly 1 in 6,000.

Nor is it much out of the 70,000 Arab-Bolivians (only about 3% of Arab-Bolivians). It is safe to assume that the Muslim presence was far, far less in the 1970’s, as there seemed to be no Muslim institutions in Bolivia at all prior to that time.

Most of the Muslims who did immigrate to Bolivia, prior to the 1970’s, either converted or their children did. The Arab community in Bolivia was – and still is – almost totally Christian.

Source: https://comunidadarabebolivia.com/cultura/ (dead)
(translated by Google, with some minor corrections by me)

Regarding religion, although the majority [of the Arab immigrants] were Orthodox or Catholic Christians, plus a few Muslims, practically all would end up converting to Roman Apostolic Catholicism sooner or later, in the absence of other centers of Christian sects in Bolivia, at that time.

Below is a picture of the Islamic Center built in Santa Cruz (Click). It was founded in 1986, and I suspect it has some connection to Club la Unión Árabe de Santa Cruz which seems to have built the website.


Santa Cruz – Islamic Center
The image was taken in 2014.

It seems that the Islamic Center was probably subsidized by Islamic interests. Had it not been subsidized, I suspect Islam would have never risen above the presence of a few isolated individuals and visiting businessmen. According to Wikipedia, most of those associated with the Bolivian Islamic Center are immigrants. From that, we can assume that apart from the Islamic Center, any new Arab immigrants to Bolivia would have repeated the past example of conversion to Christianity.

Putting it all together, it follows that the Islamic Center was set up to subsidize an infusion of Islam into Bolivia, possibly extremist Islam.

We can infer that while Arabs are a glorious presence in Bolivia, Islam is an unnatural intrusion, subsidized by outside interests.

But let’s break from that, and finish up with standard Arab Bolivians, who are almost always Christian.

Chile’s ArabTV talked with some Arab Bolivians.


About Arab-Bolivians, but broadcast on Chile’s ArabTV.
posted on YouTube: September 8, 2020

This is in Spanish, but it there is an option to have it translated to English.

January 18, 2025 – Edited: Noted that some links are now dead. Added some citations.

Arab Music in Latin America

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Arab Music in Latin America


Posted on YouTube: December 5, 2019

Arab culture in Latin America has produced a wealth of music. The most well-known musician was Mario Kirlis, an Argentine composer, band leader whose fame has spread world-wide. Oddly, though an admirer of Arab music, Mario Kirlis was not himself of Arab ancestry, but rather the son of Greek immigrants to Argentina.

He is probably most famous for what is called bellydance music. Yet, a lot of his tunes are much more than that.

I want you to listen to the tune Awal Suhur (morning meal before the daytime fast of Ramadan), on the top video.

Just close your eyes. This music is truly beautiful, above and apart from the women who might dance to it.

Source: Stars of Bellydance
TRANSLATED BY GOOGLE

Mario Kirlis was the [chief] exponent of Arabic music in Latin America. His music is heard in Chile, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, the United States, Mexico, countries that he had already visited and had had an excellent reception from the public.

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, he is the son of Nicolás Kirlis, a Greek violinist who was one of the first exponents of Arabic music in Argentina. At the age of 7 he began to study piano, harmony, counterpoint and composition.

He carried out in-depth research on Arabic music, with musicians who emigrated from the Middle East and arrived in Argentina.
…

He was famous and had performed all over Latin America and the Arab world. He had even performed in China.


Mario Kirlis: Lat Jaf
Posted on YouTube: December 5, 2019

Of course, there is a lot more Latin Arab music in South America than just Mario Kirlis, but as he was world famous, and a maestro, I figured that I should give you the best.

February 14, 2024 – Corrected an ambiguity. Kirlis passed away in 2023.

Cumbia Palestina

Latin Arabia Music, Palestinians, Politics 0 Comment
Cumbia Palestina


Posted on YouTube: December 15. 2020

Cumbia is a popular form of music throughout Latin America.

This video is clearly political, by the Orkestra Popular San Bomba (Holy Music Popular Orchestra).

Orkestra Popular literally means Popular Orchesta, but in actuality would mean something like Pop Music or Street Music.

Bomba literally means bomb, but has so many meanings that it is impossible to translate apart from context. In this context, it probably means music. Bomba is a type of MUSIC.

San means holy.

The group’s name is clearly farcical and idiomatic.

This is the group’s Facebook Page (here).

Again, one must remember that in Latin America there is no equivalent of AIPAC, so the Palestinian viewpoint is more mainstream. The chief exception is Brazil, which has a very large pro-Israel Evangelical community. But this video comes from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Arabs Are Still Seeking Refuge in Argentina

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Arabs Are Still Seeking Refuge in Argentina


Posted on YouTube: December 16, 2020

The video is in Arabic, but what is clear is that Arabs still seek to go to South America (this video concerns Argentina).

The difference with the past is that former Arab immigrants to South America tended to be Christian. Now, they tend to be Muslim.

In the past, when the Catholic Church was stronger, the occasional Muslim immigrant would not have been much of a problem, as there was social pressure to convert. Those Muslims who went to South America in the past ended up either converting or intermarrying – with the result that their children were baptized Catholic.

Today, in some countries – such as Chile and Brazil – the Evangelical Christian community is so powerful and growing that the function of conversion would be handled by Evangelicals. The effect would be the same: The children of Muslims would become Christian.

So Muslim immigrants would not pose much of a danger to South American culture … provided that there is NOT too many of them.

My own opinion is that South America could easily handle a pulse immigration of Arabs if the numbers are kept within reason – that is to say, kept under 1% of the population, and not allowed to concentrate in Islamic barrios. One would want to avoid creating heavily Arabized banlieues [neighborhoods] as is seen in France. Such concentrations prevent assimilation.

While the situation in France is worrisome, one must remember that France is about 8% Muslim, while I am suggesting that Muslims be kept only around 1% in any Latin American country, and not be allowed to concentrate in neighborhoods. If the immigrants are spread out, the children of Muslim immigrants would quickly assimilate. This has been the case in Latin America. Arabs are Latinized quickly.

Now, Argentina is “officially” roughly 1% Muslim already, but the numbers are exaggerated. In reality, very few are practicing Muslims. So a decent number of Arabs could be allowed in, as long as the stress is placed on assimilation.


(The video is set to the right time.) This imam admits that the official figure
of half a million Muslims in Argentina is ridiculous.
Argentina assimilates/converts Muslims very well.
Posted on YouTube: September 22, 2015

Source: (Video above)

From the late 19th century and early 20th century, there should be about half a million Muslims in Argentina. But now there is not even five to seven thousand Muslims who call themselves Muslim.

WOW! DID YOU HEAR THAT? LATIN AMERICA CONVERTS MUSLIMS.

So, despite the official figures, in reality, Islam in Argentina all but died out. That is how successful Argentine assimilation was. Yes, there are looney converts to Islam, but they are insignificant. While Argentina claims a half-million Muslims, 99% of them either converted to Christianity or are totally non-practicing Muslims.

If you want to see who really is making converts in Argentina, look to Evangelical Christians. Evangelicals are now 15% of the population and growing rapidly.

In fact, in Argentina, as is shown in a 2015 survey (see page 16), at that time, there were 2,200 converts to Protestant Christianity from Islam. That imam is in for a shock. He won’t make too many converts, but a lot of Muslims may become Evangelical.

Islam has no answer to street preaching.

Rather and instead, any newer Muslim immigrants to Argentina would be assisted by a lot of Christian-Arab-Latinos who have been in South America for generations, and who have assimilated successfully.

The story of Graciela [also known as Grace] Spinelli is typical.

DFI Film Review: Beirut Buenos Aires Beirut

When she was 15 watching TV and asking about the Muslim call for prayer, Argentinian Graciela discovered her Arab, Lebanese and Muslim roots.

Years later, she decides to return to Lebanon in search of her great grandfather’s family tree, reconnecting with her lost ancestors and a land she ignores but still belongs to.

[My note: After the trip to Lebanon, Graciela returned to Argentina, and became an actress and producer in Latin movies, sometimes under the name of Grace.]

Of course, Graciela’s family tree also included some Italian, Spanish, and Irish, to the point where she had no idea that her great-grandfather had been a Lebanese Muslim. Below is a documentary (a shortened version) of her discovery.


A shortened version of a documentary about a Catholic Argentine woman
was shocked to find out that one of her ancestors was a Muslim.

Graciela Spinelli’s family was all too typical. Her great-grandfather, a Lebanese Muslim, married a Catholic Argentine woman. So Graciela Spinelli’s great-grandmother had the children baptized Catholic, behind her husband’s back (set to right time in video). Graciela had to find this out from her great aunt.

The children of Muslims integrated and Christianized successfully in South America. In Graciela’s case, all too successfully, because she had no idea of who was in her family tree.

While, I am not advocating that anyone forget their ancestors, the documentary does show that the children of Arab Muslims can be well integrated in Latin America.

New Arab Muslim immigrants would interface with these earlier Christian-Arab-Latinos, and would discover the wisdom of embracing the dominant Christian culture.

The Hogar Árabe Argentino de Berisso [Argentine-Arab Home of Berisso] is an Arab Cultural Society in Berisso (a suburb of Buenos Aires), and is a shining example. It is 100 year old, and helps Arabs in Argentina assimilate, while maintaining pride in their heritage.

The chief difference with the past is that a century ago the Muslim children became Catholic. Today, they might become Bautista (Baptist) or Pentecostalista (Pentecostal).

However, preference should be given to Palestinian immigrants, so as to quiet down the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Perhaps Argentina could be persuaded to take in some of those Palestinians … and who knows … maybe they could be directed to an iglesia bautista (Baptist Church).

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