Celebrating Lebanese Independence in Downtown Montevideo, Uruguay
The Lebanese are about 2% of the Uruguay’s population, but they have already produced a Vice-President, Alberto Abdala.
Almost all are from Maronite Catholic stock.
Again, as noted, depending on the country, Maronite Catholics are often 45-65% of the Arab ethnic community in Latin American countries. (Chile and Honduras are noteable exceptions)
In Uruguay, Maronites are almost all the Arabs.
Where the Maronites predominate, they are a moderating influence.
When they came to Latin America, because the Maronites are a branch of Roman Catholicism, they fit in well with Catholic Latin America.
When they came to Latin America, some Maronites spoke French, which is a Latin language similar to Spanish and Portuguese making the transition easier.
Historically, Lebanese Maronites have intermarried with the Crusaders, Romans, etc. making them partly European in genetics. They tend to be fairer, and have slightly higher rates of fair eyes than most other Arabs. Outwardly, they could pass for European.
They considered themselves an outpost of Western Civilization in the Mideast. They felt closer to the French than neighboring Arab Muslims.
Maronite Catholics often considered themselves Phoenician not Arab, even though they speak Arabic.
This has caused friction with the Lebanese Muslims who do consider themselves Arabic.
So the Maronite Catholics blended in well with South Americans, and all the other Arabs had to play catch up with them.
They are very moderate concerning Mideast politics. Where they predominate, there will not be much anti-Israel polemics.
In Chile, where Palestinian-Christian predominate among the Arab community, Arab ethnic politics can get ugly.
Some [Jewish] refugees – 879 in number – who reached Chile after the outbreak of World War II were accepted on condition that they settle in the south and not move to the capital.
When one adjusts for population, 879 refugees would have been like the USA accepting 14,000 Jews. They sent them to the south of Chile, to build up the land.
In all, between 10,000 and 12,000 Jews were able to enter Chile in 1933–40. The two last ships, Augusto and Virgilio, arrived in January 1940 with a few hundred Jews who were moved to the south in a special train under military custody. An attempt to bring 50 French Jewish children to Chilean Jewish families who promised to adopt them was made in 1943 but failed.
In certain instances the Chilean government protected Jewish refugees of Chilean origin or Chilean citizens in zones occupied by the Nazis, to prevent their deportation to concentration camps. On a few occasions the foreign minister and the Chilean ambassador to Germany, Tobías Barros Ortíz, threatened to imprison German supporters of the Nazis who resided in Chile if Chilean citizens in Germany were detained.
When adjusted for Chile’s small population [only 18 million today], this is an enormous number. They did this when the rest of the world was refusing Jews.
EL SÁBADO GIGANTE
The most watched TV show in history. It’s hosted by Don Francisco, the Chilean born son of Jewish refugees.
Probably the most famous product of this exodus was Don Franciso (nee Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld) of El Sábado Gigante, who was born in 1940 Talca in the South of Chile soon after his Jewish refugee parents arrived. The show is the longest running TV show on the planet, and may have the biggest regular audience as well. It is shown in the United States, Spain, and all of Latin America.
This mixing of Jews and Palestinians has had the oddest effect on Chile. There are about 15-60 Thousand Jews depending on the sources. Yet, Chilean society is overall sympathetic to them. On the other hand, Chile has 500,000 Palestinians, who are middle class to rich. They cannot be ignored either.
This produces a schizophrenia in Chilean society, policy, and government attitudes towards the Mideast.
In 1947, the Palestinians were able to persuade the Zionist friendly president, Gabriel González Videla, to have Chile abstain from voting for a paritition of Palesitine, which would have created Israel.
In 1945 a Pro-Palestine Committee was founded in Santiago, and its prominent member, Senator Gabriel González Videla (later president of Chile), was among those who sponsored the organization of the International Christian Conference for Palestine, which took place in Washington in 1945. In spite of his past record of goodwill toward Jewish aspirations, as president Videla gave in to the internal pressure of the Arab community (100,000 citizens of Arab descent lived in Chile at that time and were known for their financial and political influence) and instructed his delegation to the UN General Assembly to abstain from voting on the resolution to partition Palestine in 1947. Senator Humberto Alvarez, second-ranking member of this delegation, resigned in protest against that decision.
Arabs are now 800,000 in Chile, with Palestinians alone being roughly 500,000 today. Almost all the Palestinians are Christian, but they are radicalized against Israel. But even as far back as 1947, they had enough wealth and clout to throttle Chile’s pro-Zionist sympathies at the UN.
To get a sense of how schizophrenic this is:
In 2006, according to the Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, Chile had the most Jewish government in the world outside Israel, but …
Following the Israeli government, the newly elected Chilean cabinet is the most Jewish government in the world, with three Jewish ministers, one deputy minister serving in government
… what the article does not say is that there were an equal number of Arabs in the government.
This produces some bizarre occurrences coming out of Chile.
Further compounding this schizophrenia is the massive growth of Evangelicals; many of whom who support Israel.
The Evangelicals of Chile
So you have Chile which produces the largest radicalized population of Arabs in South America, but it is also extraordinarily friendly to Jews and Evangelicals.
Chile is now a first world nation. The Switzerland of South America, yet when it comes to the Mideast, the government is torn between two completely opposite groups.
In 2011, Chile recognized Palestine; and what a fight that was.
The government’s resolution also noted that both Jewish and Palestinian communities have been key to Chile’s social, cultural, political and economic development for many years, working in harmony that should serve as a model for their both the Israeli and Palestinian states. It’s a message that Pinera plans to make personally during a visit to the Middle East in March.
What the above article does not mention is the Pinera put a lot of conditions on the recognition. For ex: The Chilean declaration did not mention the ’67 borders as the borders of Palestine, like the other South American countries did.
As time goes by, the demographic weight, and wealth, of the Palestinian community seems to be asserting itself. This will be interesting to watch.
Congreso Mundial Juventud Libanesa
JUCAL 2012 [World Congress Lebanese Youth]
Juventud Unida Cultural Argentino Libanesa.
[Lebanese-Argentine Youth Cultural Union]
(Click Here)
Vivir el Libano en Argentina.
[Living Lebanese in Argentina]
Buenos Aires October 2012
The Lebanese are arguably the most Westernized, and assimilated, of all the Arabs in the New World.
There are 1-1/2 Million Lebanese in Argentina, about 7 Million in Brazil, 500,000 in Venezuela, etc. Many, if not most, are Maronite (affiliated with Roman Catholicism) Christians. They have an enormously moderating effect in South America wherever Arabs have settled.
From what I have seen Lebanese Maronites are as not concerned as much about Arab or Muslim issues as other Arabs are. When they are concerned about these things, they tend to be muted. The Lebanese tend to be more concerned about becoming assimilated Westerners, evincing a love of Lebanese cuisine, music, and dance, yet maintaining a sort of quasi-Arab identity.
There are chiefly eleven (11) reasons for this:
1)For centuries, the French assumed the role of Protector of the Maronites In Lebanon. The Maronites, in turn, looked to the West as their protector.
2)Even, before that, going well back to the first millenia AD, and the church councils, the Maronite Church affiliated with the Western Church, not the Eastern Churches, when it came to Christian doctrine. Their religious orbit was to the West, not the East.
3)When the Crusaders came, not only the Muslims, but a lot of Eastern Christians were victimized by the Crusader forces. The Maronites, however, welcomed them, and affiliated with the Catholic Church. There was a degree of intermarriage with the Europeans.
3)For centuries, the Maronites, and other Lebanese Christians, had been oppressed by Druze overlords. Lebanese Maronite Christians were almost exterminated by Muslims in the 19th century. The French Army had to intervene to prevent a genocide. (Click Here).
4)Many Lebanese Maronites do NOT consider themselves as Arabs per se – though they speak Arabic, now. They consider themselves Phoenicians, who were overrun by the Arabs in the 7th century, but who remained distinct from the Arabs/Muslims (Click Here). The philosophy is called Phoenicianism; and I have seen Maronites get furiously angry if they are called Arabs.
5)Until the 18th century, many Maronites spoke Syriac – similar to Aramaic, a language of the Bible – which indicates how distinct they were from surrounding Arabs. Once they did adopt modern Arabic, many spoke it better than the Muslims around them, by virtue of a Christian education.
6)Their religious affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church, and political connections with the French, gave them a Western mindset that was lacking in other Arabs. Though Arabic speaking by the 19th century, a few also spoke French. French contacts, such as priests, tended to prefer the Maronites over the other locals; and for all intents and purposes treated the Lebanese Maronites as if they were Europeans with a funny language. This gave the Maronites a leg up, not only over the Muslims, but also the Syrian Orthodox Christians, who tended to have a stronger Arabic center.
7)Unlike the rest of the Arab World, the Maronites were not as opposed to Zionism. Some such as Archbishop Ignace Moubarac of Beirut actually spoke in favor of Israel.
In fact there was once a strong trend toward pro-Zionism within the Maronite Church of Lebanon (once the largest and most powerful religious community in that country) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries up untill the establishment of the state of Israel. The movement was spearheaded by the Maronite Patriarch Antoine Pierre Arrida and Archbishop Ignace Mubarak of Beirut. If anything, this was a marriage of convenience. After all the Christians of Lebanon and the Jews of (then) Palestine were both minorities (in the case of the Maronites this was slowly but surely coming true) surrounded by a hostile Muslim majority. It was only natural to form a sort of alliance.
8)The Palestinian refugees were a major issue in the Lebanese Civil War. The Lebanese Maronite Forces and the Palestinian forces both committed massacres against each other’s communities.
9)Israeli intervention in the Lebanese Civil War, in 1982, may have prevented a major defeat of Lebanese Christians. The Christian leader Bashir Gemayel even considered an alliance with the Israelis. Some Maronites consider the Israelis to be the savior of Lebanese Christians.
10) The Maronites love wine/arak (alcohol), and will eat pork and shellfish. They are not bound by Muslim, or Jewish food laws. This further distinguishes them.
11) While there are other Lebanese Christians, most tend to be of a Christian Orthodox persuasion, with a historical Eastern/Arabic outlook. Contrast this with the Maronites, who boast of being the ancient Phoenicians who settled Italy, Sicily, Spain, and who made it out to the British Isles. They seem themselves as all but proto-Westerners. So they have little or no problems assimilating into a Western culture. It is their destiny. It is where there ancestors went … to the West.
So the Lebanese tend to assimilate very well into the Western world. Almost seamlessly.
The Lebanese Christians tend to be moderate to Western in their views regarding the Mideast; and can, at times, be pro-Israel. This does not mean they are necessarily thrilled with Israel; but they have enough bad experiences in their history fighting Muslim forces that they tend to shy away from getting as involved in the Palestinian cause.
Some Maronites are downright hateful of the Palestinians. Some consider the Palestinian refugees to have started the Lebanese Civil War, and to have destroyed Lebanon. The Palestinians often share an equal, but counter-aversion, to the Maronites; and consider the Maronites to have started the Lebanese Civil War. But sides committed atrocities.
I have noticed that Argentina’s and Brasil’s Arabs tend to be less contentious about Israel than Chile’s Arabs, who have a more Palestinian ethnic bedrock.
Why?
Because Argentina’s and Brazil’s Arabs are top heavy with Lebanese Maronites, while Chile’s Arab’s are top heavy with Palestinians.
This is noticeable when studying the Arabs of South America.
To see this in effect, look at these former logos on two similar websites.
FEARAB – Argentina (Note : the Website is now down)
FEderación de Entitades Arabes (Federation of Arab Groups) – Argentina
Notice the Argentine flag. Notice that one of the changing images is of a Gaucho
The Arab-Argentine society laid emphasis on the Gaucho. They are emphasizing and embracing an assimilated Argentine/Western identity.
Now look at a former logo on the Chilean Site!
FEARAB – Chile
(Note : the Website has changed its logo)
FEderación de Entitades Arabes (Federation of Arab Groups) – Chile
Israel is erased from the map!
The Arab-Chilean society laid emphasis on the struggle against Israel.
Why the difference?
Chiefly because 60% or more of the Arabs in Chile are Palestinian.
In Argentina, the opposite is true where roughly half the Arabs in Argentina are Lebanese, and the number of Palestinians is far smaller. The Lebanese also predominate among Arabs in Brazil.
So in Argentina, the Western leaning Lebanese set the agenda, while in Chile the Palestinians set a different agenda.
The Western-leanig Maronites seek assimilation, while the Christian-Palestinians in Chile retains an ethnic identity of struggle.
This is all the more amazing when one realizes that Christian Palestinians have been in Chile in large numbers since 1890. What distinguishes them is that Christian Palestinians tend to be Syrian Orthodox Christian, which is an Eastern Church, while Maronite Catholicism is affiliated with Rome in the West. So, the Christian-Palestinians retain their Arab identity, while the Maronites are all but wannabe Westerners.
From their insistence on Christianity, to affiliation with Rome (rather than the local Eastern Churches), to their alliances with the French, to their friendly dealings with Israel, the Maronites are so Western that their Muslim neighbors have considered them on more than one occasion as traitors to the “Arab nation,” (the UMMAH), which ironically has a germ of truth, as many Maronites do not consider themselves Arabic, but Phoenician.
So Westernized Maronite Lebanese areNOTa Myth.
In Latin America, the Maronites/Christian-Lebanese often blend in without a hitch. Where Maronites predominate in the Arab community, they smooth the Westernization of the Arab community. In Chile, their moderating influence is weak, by virtue of a smaller demographic, in competition with a very organized and determined Christian-Palestinian community.
May 11, 2017 – Edited – Massive changes, and updated links. November 18, 2024 – Edited – Moved to be a post, not a page November 18, 2024 – Edited – Added featured image – probably not seen
Can you narrate the origins of the Palestinian community in Chile?
There were three important migrations of Palestinians to Chile. The first registered migration occurred in 1880, although it is noted that those who arrived prior to this, in 1850, quickly returned to Palestine. The era was that of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, which exercised its power over Arab nations and imposed higher taxes on the income of non-Turkish subjects of the empire, making life very difficult. With this migration, the doors of South America were open to Palestinians. Their preferred destinations in the region were Chile, Peru and Bolivia – notably because of the similarities in climate, landscape and the perceived opportunities offered by a developing country which had just celebrated its 100 years of independence. The migration intensified during the World Wars for reasons well understood. The Turks sent Arab youths, as young as fifteen, to the battle front. The parents, in an attempt to prevent probable death, sent their sons to ‘conquer the world’ through travels, with the intention of joining their offspring and returning to a normal family life once they became established in another country. These families were mostly Christian families who suffered discrimination at the hands of the Empire. Migrants from Syria and Lebanon also faced the same problems.
The second migration occurred during the British Mandate for Palestine, which was contrary to the agreements between Palestinians and General Allenby who promised Palestinians their independence if they fought against the Turks. My grandfather was part of this migration to Chile in 1925. The mandate caused widespread discontent amongst Palestinians due to the entry of European Zionists; also British laws were harsh in relation to Palestinians.
The third migration happened after the Nakba Catastrophe in 1948. Palestinians were dominated by Jordanians and Israelis, making life extremely difficult especially for those with large families. My father’s family completed their migration in 1951, returning only sporadically to Chile to visit relatives who stayed behind. There was a fourth migration, not as large as the previous, which took place in 1967 upon the total occupation of Palestine
Mauricio Abu-Ghosh was detained in Isael, and refused entry
to the Palestinian Territories in 2012.
The article goes on to describe the speaker as Mauricio Abu-Ghosh, a first generation Palestinian Chilean with ancestral roots in Beit Jala. Mr. Abu Ghosh is also President of the Palestinian Federation of Chile.
He has apparently come to the attention of Israeli authorities who have detained him when he has tried to end the Palestinian territories.
I do not fault him for not being Zionist. I suppose that would be too much to ask of a Palestinian, whether Christian or Muslim. But he should at least acknowledge that the Christians have been persecuted by Muslim as well.
We also do a program on Radio Universidad de Chile, which runs every Sunday at 7pm – an hour of analysis, news and interviews. As can be seen, the Federation is growing and we will continue spreading the just cause of the Palestinians.
What has to be noted is that Mauricio Abu-Ghosh is Christian. Beit Jala was a Christian town. He was careful to downplay the aspect of Christianity, but he should not have avoided the issue.
Make no mistake about it. The Palestinians of Chile are becoming radicalized. Chile is the elite capitalist workhorse of South America. The Palestinians are the elite of Chile. If this is not contested, it will have a disastrous effect for the West.
