Felicitations to [Sports Club] Palestino upon 100 years from its foundation, the celebration of 100 years of historic sport, compromising an identity representing our people in the diaspora.
We are a singular people with teams that have the same name and flag.
My regards, though you, to all the family of Palestine, the Palestinian community of Chile, Latin America, and the rest of the world. We are very proud of your achievements at the national and international level. We hope that soon you will be able to play in Holy Jerusalem, the capital of the state of Palestine, and that you will continue to bring joy and pride to our people.
Mohammed Abbas
President of the State of Palestine
The opinions of the letter belong to President Abbas, and are not mine.
Whether or not you think that Palestinians are a real people or an “invented” one, they obviously consider themselves a nationality — and so do Palestinian-Chileans.
Mohammed Abbas, the dictator of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, sent a letter of congratulation to CD (Club Deportivo/Sports Club) Palestino on the occasion of their 100th anniversary.
CD Palestino has an international following, not only in Chile, but also in the Mideast. They are a phenomenom.
This is a big deal among Palestinians in Chile and Latin America, especially Chile.
PS: You can use the Settings (the gear) to get English translations.
The government of Israel secretly planned to encourage Palestinians to move from Gaza to Paraguay, which agreed to accept up to 60,000 of them, according to the minutes from a 1969 cabinet meeting uncovered by KAN journalist Eran Cicurel this week.
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The protocol from 1969 states that Israel would bear the travel costs of the Palestinians moving to Paraguay and give each person $100, plus $33 per person would go to the government of Paraguay. At the time of signing the agreement with Paraguay, Israel would pay $350,000 to cover the costs for 10,000 émigrés. The full amount Israel was meant to pay was $33 million.
Of course, the Palestinians would not get all of that money. Most of it would have gone to travel costs, administration, and payments to the central Paraguayan government.
$100 would be given to each Palestinian personally to relocate?! That was an absurdly low figure.
Why would Paraguay have even considered taking in 60,000 Muslims in?
Because Paraguay was run by a right-wing dictator, Presidente Stroessner, and Israel promised that the Muslims would not be leftist.
Only 30 Palestinians moved to Paraguay.
Had the plan worked, it would have cleared Gaza out of 10% of its population, while making Paraguay roughly 2.5% Muslim at that time. Can you imagine how that demographic percentage would have blossomed over the intervening five decades?
Israel did not, nor does not, seem to mind exporting its Muslim problem. What is amazing is how it did not care about the problems it would have created for Paraguay which would have accepted them.
The creation of a 2.5% Muslim demographic would not have been a minor issue to a poor country like Paraguay. It would have produced a disaster in a few decades.
I have recommended paying Arabs from the contested area to move to South America, but always at immigration rates which would produce less than a 1% Muslim demographic in any country — and even then, only to countries like Brazil, Argentina, or Chile which have the ability to absorb Arabs … not to small countries like Paraguay which could not handle them.
As it is, Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina meet at what is called the Triple Frontier area of South America. It is notorious for smuggling and Hezbollah penetration. Can you imagine how much worse it would have been if 60,000 more Gazans had immigrated to Paraguay in 1969?
The Tri-Border Area, bounded by Puerto Iguazu, Argentina; Ciudad del Este, Paraguay; and Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, developed into a breeding ground for a wide array of illegal interests. As a result, the research community considers it to be lush ground for terrorist organizations to operate unrestricted, including Hezbollah.
And I have always recommended giving the immigrants enough money to set themselves up, and not become a social problem. Today that amount would be roughly $100,000 per Arab, not chump change.
In 1969, that would have been equivalent to $14,000 per Arab, not the $100 given to each Arab personally.
Israel wanted to effect this movement far too cheaply, even by 1969 standards.
An unclassified document shows Israel’s secret plan to resettle 60,000 Palestinians in South America.
In 1969, Israel struck a deal with Paraguay to accept Palestinians from Gaza with Israel paying the cost of travel and a $100 grant per deportee. #FreePalestinepic.twitter.com/qk03ibxyvH
When the sounds of excitement rise, everyone cheers Palestino ?? ?عندما تعلو أصوات الحماس والتشويق والإثارة ، الكل يهتف باليستينو ?? ?Ese sonido que te llega al alma. ¡Todos con Palestino! #VamosPalestino #يلا_بالستينو
Guess who is celebrating their centennial. Club Palestino in Chile. (Click to see the video on Facebook – they changed the permissions)
Club Palestino is a successful football (soccer) team in Chile and South America, having won championships. It has become an international phenomenon.
Even though headquartered in Chile, they have been embraced in the Arab world as well.
Their fans call themselves Baisanos, which comes from the Spanish word: paisanos, which means countrymen or compatriots. However, as Arabs often have trouble pronouncing the letter P, and instead say B, the fans call themselves Baisanos. It is an affectionate remembrance of their Arab ancestors’ struggle with the Spanish language.
The club has thoroughly identified itself with the Palestinian cause; and has become somewhat of a firebrand for Palestinian nationalism.
As an aside: those who would claim that Palestinians had no national identity before 1964 have to contend with the fact that this team was found in 1920 – some say 1916 – which is a long time before 1964.
The team has made tours to the disputed territories. Indeed, they are controversial.
June 16, 2022 – Made a note about video, which can now be seen only on Facebook.
As you can see, the Chilean soccer team: Club Palestino, and the Palestinian cause have become mutually identified in both Chile and the disputed territories.
Shabab al Khalil is a soccer team in Hebron. I took the liberty of translating it, as most people would not know what Shabab al-Khalil means. Al-Khalil is the Arabic name for Hebron.
