Okay, this video from Deutsche Welle (German Wave/public TV) is roughly six months old, but it is noteworthy.
Posted on YouTube: July 3, 2024
Video can be auto-translated
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.
While here in America, the issue of the Palestinian-Chileans is rarely metioned, it is noted by broadcasters outside the USA.
Again, this is not a minor issue. The Palestinian-Chileans (Chilestinos) are an elite and politically powerful group in Chile. They have hijacked Chile’s Mideast foreign policy so that it is against Israel.
Chile is otherwise a democratic, First-World, Western nation, but when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians, it is an outlier from other Western countries, thanks to the Chilestinos.
This is a short but very good video, if one ignores the bias. However, it takes a few seconds to load.
@themujerista The history of Palestinian migration to Latin America 🇵🇸 🌍🌎🌏 Palestinian migration to Latin American occurred in four significant waves with Chile now being home to the largest Palestinian diaspora outside of the Middle East. #palestine#chile♬ original sound – The Mujerista
Of course, this lady seems to have a bias against Israel, but the history is good.
What is again worth repeating is that almost all of the Palestinians who moved to Chile were Christians, either Roman Catholic or Eastern Christian (Orthodox). They assimilated well, and have risen to become elites in the country.
Such is the political power of the Palestinian-Chileans – called Chilestinos – that they have distorted Chile’s foreign policy against Israel. Otherwise, Chile would be a quite typical Western democracy.
This pro-Palestinian slant has caused concern among Jewish groups around the world, as can be seen in the video, from the World Jewish Congress, below.
Posted on YouTube: July 9, 2020
The Palestinian Community in Chile does not mince words.
Israel ha estado bombardeando Palestina (Gaza y Cisjordania), Líbano, Yemen y Siria, pero aún así, se siguen creyendo víctimas.
El primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, dijo la semana pasada en la ONU que ellos se estaban defendiendo contra sus “asesinos”, pero ¿si nos… pic.twitter.com/Zab06Q4jZG
What the picture says is: Imagine bombing 4 countries at the same time and continuing to believe yourself to be the victim.
However, the Jews are a very small population in Chile, and can do little to resist the pro-Palestinian slant.
This is not to say the government is antisemitic. It is NOT! Chile is quite democratic, but the government is swayed by a Chilestino population that outnumbers the Jews about 30 to 1.
It is with good reason that the Jews of the world keep an eye on Chile.
This is one of their documentaries on the “Naqba.”
You can get English an translation by playing with the settings gear.
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.
— Club Deportivo Palestino (@CDPalestinoSADP) May 26, 2024
I am just posting for your information.
The CD Palestino (Palestinian Sports Club) Soccer team is a major league soccer franchise in Santiago, Chile, sort of like a professional sports team here in the USA. It was founded in 1920 by Palestinian-Chileans (Chilestinos).
It has become more than a sports team, but also a political force to be reckoned with in Chile, and not only Chile but also in the whole Mideast. It has a large fan base in the Palestinian territories, the Muslim world, and even has its fans throughout the world.
I do NOT agree with CD Palestino’s politics, which tend to be anti-Israel, but I am just reporting what is posted.
And the team is presently making a statement about the Gaza War (see first tweet).
There is an influential Palestinian constituency in Chile, and part of the way they express their power is through their sports team: CD Palestino.
Palestinians in Chile are rich, influential, and politically powerful. They vastly outnumber the Jews of Chile, and can get away with this in a way that would NOT be acceptable in the USA.
Indeed, the government of Chile often falls in line behind the Palestinian community’s wishes.
This is odd, because Chile is otherwise a progressive Western democracy.
Naturally, the Jewish community in Chile condemns anti-Israel protests in Chile – see below where the Jewish community condemned Chilean student protests which called for the university to break relations with Israeli campuses.
"La Comunidad Judía de Chile condenó la manifestación realizada ayer miércoles en el frontis de la casa central de la Universidad de Chile, donde estudiantes de la institución de educación superior llamaron a sus autoridades a romper relaciones con planteles israelíes en condena… pic.twitter.com/lAkK5WQgG1
— Comunidad Judía de Chile (@comjudiachile) May 17, 2024
