Posted on YouTube: November 10, 2012
WHAT A COMMERCIAL!
What is more important is that you see how mainstream this is in South America. Would you see this on American TV?
I added the translation. Please forgive any errors.
May 5, 2021 – Edited: Had to take out dead links. Changed text.
Posted by Maricel Di Mauro originally on November 2nd
Notice that the poster of the YouTube video is an Argentine whose name indicates an Italian ancestry – Italians are very common in Argentina.
Again, Arab culture is mainstream in Argentina. Be careful though. Don’t confuse Arab with Muslim. 90% of Argentine Arabs are Christian. In other South American countries, the Christian percentage is usually even higher.
What this does show is the ubiquity of the subculture all over South America.
At the Fiesta de la Vendimia (Harvest Festival), where this dance occured in March 2012 – (remember March is the start of South America’s autumn) – these dancers were pulled by a tractor trailer with the name of Arab Car World. Not that a sign on the trailer says Arab Planet.
From Mendoza, Argentina
Mendoza, Argentina is a province in West Central Argentina with a capital city (of the same name). Greater Mendoza is the largest wine growing region of South America; and is also noted for olive oil production.
The climate is quasi-Mediterranean.
There are a lot of Arabs in the area.
They have an Islamic Center in Mendoza; but again, one has to remember that Islam is still weak in Argentina, and most Muslims are not practicing. Most Arabs in Latin America are Christian.
Forgive any errors in translation, but this video shows the enormous footprint
of Arabs – in this case Lebanese Maronite Catholics – in Latin America.
(Original Source)
This involves the vist of the World Union of Lebanese Communities’ representatives to 5 major Lebanese communities in Northern Uruguay.
What I did find interesting is that they claim there are 90,000 Lebanese in Uruguay while Wikipedia asserts there are only 70,000.
Again, as noted, the Arabs in South America are woefully under-counted. Also note the Christianity of Latin America Arabs.
Of particular mention in the video is the fact that there are 15 million Lebanese outside of Lebanon. Almost all of these expatriate Lebanese are Christian. About 11 million of them live in Latin America. Right now, only about 1/3 of Lebanon is Christian. Were all those 15 million to return to Lebanon, Lebanon would be over 80% Christian.
What is not mentioned is that a good portion of the Lebanese Christian exodus was ethnic cleansing by the Muslims.
This was a Maronite Catholic group. Almost all the Lebanese in Uruguay are Christian, if not all.
Maronites are a sect affiliated with Roman Catholicism, but where the local priests are allowed to be married before they are ordained. They are particularly noted for Marian (Mary) devotions.