Again, note that the video (above) is by Al Jazeera which is funded by the Qatari government, and can be biased.
The video is in Spanish, but it there is an option to have it translated to English.
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.
Unlike the USA, where there are very influential organized pro-Israel advocates, in much of Latin America the Jewish influence can be muted. Hence there is a mixed response of Latin American countries to the Mideast situation.
So Israel has to use different methods – other than it would in the USA or Canada – to get its message across.
Argentina is sort of an exception, as the Jews in Argentina were, by percentages, much larger than in other Latin countries. And Argentina’s president Javier Milei is very pro-Israel.
The real game changer is the rise of strong Evangelical Christianity in Latin America, especially in Brazil, where the Evangelical Christians are close to one-third of the population. When the President was Bolsonaro, the policies of the government were quite pro-Israel. Now that Lula is president, the police of Lula’s anti-Israel stances have to be muted from what they would otherwise be. The Evangelicals in Brazil are a powerful voting bloc.
Again, Brazil is an exception. Under President Bolsonaro, Brazil’s foreign policy was very, very pro-Israel, but the last Brazilian presidential election returned Lula to office. (However, that election was suspicious). Even so, Lula cannot be quite as anti-Israel as he would like, because of the Evangelical votes.
Posted on YouTube: November 13, 2023
So the best thing for Israel to do would be to support Evangelical Christianity.
Al Jazeera is posting some video about a notable Palestinian activist, Aya al-Hamidi, in Chile.
Posted on YouTube: August 15, 2024
(You’ll probably have to make full screen
in order to read the fine print)
And we have another posted about her, here.
Go to 1:21 to see Aya al-Hamidi
Posted on YouTube: December 9, 2023
Chile is rather amazing. It is a borderline first-world country with a high democratic index, higher even than the USA.
Yet, it differs from the Western world with its strong support for Palestinians causes, which has brought Chile to the attention of many pro-Jewish, pro-Israel advocacy groups which have critized Chile for its positions, and what they perceive as antisemitism.
Posted on YouTube: July 9, 2020
by the World Jewish Congress
At roughtly 500,000 people, the Palestinians in Chile are roughly 2½ percent of the population – similar to the Jewish demographic in the USA. And also like American Jews, these Palestinians (Chilestinos) are educated, prosperous, and punch well above their weight in the economy and politics.
“The Palestinian community is to Chile what the Jewish community is to the US,” [The president of Chile’s Jewish community, Gabriel] Zaliasnik explained.
Oddly, about 99% of the Palestinian-Chileans – called Chilestinos – are Christian, and seem to have forgotten how often the Muslims in the Mideast used to persecute their ancestors. Ironically, they tend to identify strongly with the Palestinian cause, even with its Muslim aspects.
Hence, a Palestinian activist, like Aly al Hamdi, can get airtime on the University of Chile’s Radio station.
Source: Radio Universidad de Chile
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Translated by Google
… Under the slogan “Our eyes in Rafah”, activist Aya Al Hamidi, the Coordinator for Palestine, Action for Palestine and Chile for Palestine, called for the mobilization this Friday afternoon through social networks and demanded that Chile break relations with Israel.
The mobilization, which began at 6:30 p.m. on the corner of Providencia and Tobalaba, was attended by a hundred people with Palestinian flags and posters calling for an end to the massacre in the Gaza Strip.
In a conversation with Radio Universidad de Chile, Aya Al Hamidi, commented that the “whole world is rising up for Palestine, for Gaza and even more so when Hamas accepted the peace agreement, accepted all the terms and everything to stop the massacre.”
“Instead of stopping, Israel attacked and invaded Rafah. Nearly 100 people have died in less than four days. So, demonstrating against a genocide is essential to be able to achieve something,” Al Hamidi said.
It is not that Jews have no influence in Chile. They do. Rather, they are outnumbered by the highly successful Palestinian-Chilean community (Chilestinos) by roughly 30 to 1.
Posted on YouTube: September 1, 2021
by the World Jewish Congress
Chile’s government has a somewhate tortured relationship with Israel. Right now, it has recalled its ambassador due to the war in Gaza.
Source: Israeli Diplomacy Doing Well Despite War
~ Ynetnews / Bridges for Peace
by: Itamar Eichner
August 7, 2024
Chile: Chile’s leftist president Gabriel Boric recalled his country’s ambassador to Israel. Conversely, Israeli Ambassador Gil Artzieli remained in Chile and continues to work as usual.
Though quite democratic, and less corrupt that Argentina, Chile has does not have the strong Jewish influence that Argentina had during its history. Its government – though NOT antisemitic – is not hospitable to Israel.
Even conservative politicians – whom one would think would be pro-Israel – still have to pay homage to the Palestinian community in Chile, or their political careers will be destroyed.
And the Chilestinos?! They have group amnesia, forgetting that one of the reasons their Christian ancestors fled to Chile was to escape the Muslim world. Their support for, what is now an Islamic cause is, truly unbelievable.
September 8, 2024 – edited a spelling. Added a video.
There is no reason that our own networks ignore Latin America, and it does cost us in influence. If you think that Latin Americans do not notice who is paying attention to them, then you are mistaken.
Some of Al Jazeera’s more recent reports for South America.
