Islam

The Arab Community in Bolivia

Latin Arabia Islam, Muslim, Opinion, Other, Politics 0 Comment
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Check out this interesting website concerning the Arab community in Bolivia:

https://comunidadarabebolivia.com/ (dead link)
which translates to Arab Community Bolivia or, as English grammar would have it: Bolivian Arab Community.

The website is affiliated with the Club la Unión Árabe de Santa Cruz (The Arab Union Club), in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia.

Since 2013, the Arabs of Bolivia have been trying to form an ethnic organization around their Arab ancestry, with an emphasis on a Youth Organization.

BUT FIRST, LET’S SEE HOW BOLIVIAN ARABS DESCRIBE THEIR HISTORY

Source: https://comunidadarabebolivia.com/cultura/ (dead)
(translated by Google, with some minor corrections by me)

ARAB IMMIGRATION TO BOLIVIA

The vast majority of the Arab immigrant population arrived at the beginning of the 20th century, from what are now the nations of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, followed by some Iraqi, Egyptian, Moroccan and Jordanian families; It could be said that about 80% were of Orthodox or Catholic Christian faith, while only 20% were Muslim. This, while contradicting the demographic distribution of the Arab world, has a reason: Arab ethnic-religious minorities were systematically persecuted and oppressed by the Ottoman Empire, which controlled almost the entire Middle East at that time, until World War I.

It is interesting to note that this Bolivian Arab site admits that the reason that Christian Arabs immigrated to South America was that they were being persecuted by Ottoman Turkish (Muslim) Authorities.

They seem to be in denial, blaming it all on the Turks. Yes, the Ottoman Turks discriminated against Christians; but Islamic governments discriminated against Christians before and after the Ottoman Turkish Empire ruled. The persecution was a Muslim, not just a Turkish, practice.

As noted, the demographic patterns of immigration were similar to that of other Latin American countries … heavily leaning towards Christian, even though the Arab world is majority Muslim.

According to Wikipedia, the first imam did not arrive in Bolivia until 1974, with the first mosque being built in 1994 … in Santa Cruz.

Why 1974?

Remember that OPEC launched its first Oil Embargo to protest Israel’s victory in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.

Source: OPEC enacts oil embargo
History.com
History.com Editors
February 9, 2010

The Arab-dominated Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announces a decision to cut oil exports to the United States and other nations that provided military aid to Israel in the Yom Kippur War of October 1973.

…

Eventually, the price of oil quadrupled, causing a major energy crisis in the United States and Europe that included price gouging, gas shortages, and rationing.

The world was thrown into a crisis, and the Arab oil states got filthy rich. They could not do this today, given America’s oil production from fracking.

By 1974, Arab Muslims felt empowered, and I suspect they sent an imam to Bolivia with the idea of introducing Islam to a country that was almost Muslim-free except for a few isolated individuals.

Source: Fox News: Bolivia Becoming a Hotbed of Islamic Extremism, Report Concludes (2009)

One Muslim leader named in the OSC report is Mahmud Amer Abusharar, founder of the Centro Islamico Boliviano (CIB) in Santa Cruz. Abusharar emigrated from the Palestinian territories in 1974 and claims to have built Bolivia’s first mosque in 1994 so that he would not lose touch with his religion.

My note: Wikipedia reports that imam Abusharar died in 2011.

Now, Santa Cruz has an Islamic Center and a mosque. And La Paz – one of Bolivia’s two capitals, the other being Sucre – has a mosque since 2004. Quite an achievement for a Muslim community that all but did not exist before 1974. The worries about foreign intrigues are well founded.

According to the Bolivian website, there are 70,000 Bolivians of Arab descent.

Source: https://comunidadarabebolivia.com/cultura/ (dead)
(translated by Google, with some minor corrections by me)

[W]e can estimate with a reasonable error that there are approximately 70,000 Arab descendants living in Bolivia.

Yet, for all of this, Bolivia still has very few Muslims today (around 2,000), which is not that much out of a Bolivian population of approximately 12 million. Roughly 1 in 6,000.

Nor is it much out of the 70,000 Arab-Bolivians (only about 3% of Arab-Bolivians). It is safe to assume that the Muslim presence was far, far less in the 1970’s, as there seemed to be no Muslim institutions in Bolivia at all prior to that time.

Most of the Muslims who did immigrate to Bolivia, prior to the 1970’s, either converted or their children did. The Arab community in Bolivia was – and still is – almost totally Christian.

Source: https://comunidadarabebolivia.com/cultura/ (dead)
(translated by Google, with some minor corrections by me)

Regarding religion, although the majority [of the Arab immigrants] were Orthodox or Catholic Christians, plus a few Muslims, practically all would end up converting to Roman Apostolic Catholicism sooner or later, in the absence of other centers of Christian sects in Bolivia, at that time.

Below is a picture of the Islamic Center built in Santa Cruz (Click). It was founded in 1986, and I suspect it has some connection to Club la Unión Árabe de Santa Cruz which seems to have built the website.


Santa Cruz – Islamic Center
The image was taken in 2014.

It seems that the Islamic Center was probably subsidized by Islamic interests. Had it not been subsidized, I suspect Islam would have never risen above the presence of a few isolated individuals and visiting businessmen. According to Wikipedia, most of those associated with the Bolivian Islamic Center are immigrants. From that, we can assume that apart from the Islamic Center, any new Arab immigrants to Bolivia would have repeated the past example of conversion to Christianity.

Putting it all together, it follows that the Islamic Center was set up to subsidize an infusion of Islam into Bolivia, possibly extremist Islam.

We can infer that while Arabs are a glorious presence in Bolivia, Islam is an unnatural intrusion, subsidized by outside interests.

But let’s break from that, and finish up with standard Arab Bolivians, who are almost always Christian.

Chile’s ArabTV talked with some Arab Bolivians.


About Arab-Bolivians, but broadcast on Chile’s ArabTV.
posted on YouTube: September 8, 2020

This is in Spanish, but it there is an option to have it translated to English.

January 18, 2025 – Edited: Noted that some links are now dead. Added some citations.

Chilean Jews Are Warning of Radical Islam in Chile

Latin Arabia antisemitism, Comunidad Palestina de Chile, Islam, Jewish, Other, Religion , 0 Comment

Source: Jewish Links – Enlace Judío – January 30,2020
(translated by app)
The Awakening of Radical Islamism in Chile

Chile can easily become the source from which radical Islam spreads throughout Latin America in full view and patience. Attempts have already been made in other places such as Peru, or Bolivarian Venezuela itself, but the results have not been helpful for the vile objectives of radicalism. The steady decline of the Catholic Church, in a deeply believing country like Chile, leaves a vacuum that radical Islamist groups could potentially use.

At this rate, with these investment amounts, it would not be surprising that in less than 5 years, Chile becomes the central Shiite stronghold in Latin America.

The [linked] opinion piece was from a few months ago; but apparently the Jewish authors are worried about the strong influence of radical Islam in Chile.

There is a concern that Chile may become a Shia stronghold in Latin America.

The problem here is that the continuing decline of the Catholic Church in Chile, along with the social unrest, may provide an inroad for Islam. [Read the article!]

The authors fear that because Chile has let in some radical Muslims over the last decade, they feel the infrastructure is already in place for Islamicization.

The problem with this exaggerated fear is that Chile is still less than 0.04% Islamic. There are only 5,000 Muslims out of 18 Million people, less than 1 in 3,000. There are only three or four mosques in the whole country.

Chile is, happily, one of the LEAST Islamic countries on the planet.

My own view is that Chile merits watching, but not so much on the issue of religion. Chilean society is far too secular for Islam to gain a major foothold. Too many forces work against Islam in Chile.

As noted elsewhere on this website, Islam does not stand much of a chance in a culture which ennobles alcohol, rowdy sports, and dancing with women. Islam is no match for the tango or the samba.

Those individuals who are given to moral conservatism – and fed up with Roman Catholicism – are more likely to swing to Pro-Zionist Evangelical Christianity, which already has made major inroads in Brazil and Chile.

What the influence of Iran may achieve is an increase in anti-Zionism or anti-Semitism among some sectors of society; but right now, the Evangelicals are keeping that in check.

The strong influence of Chilestinians [Palestinian-Chileans] has been noticed, but Chilestinians are 99% Christian. They are often quite anti-Israel, but they are NOT Islamic. They are a concern, and a growing one, but not a danger to Christianity.

Iran may get some support from Chilestinians and the Arab-Chilean community, but that may be limited to drug smuggling, money laundering, or anti-Israel activity. I seriously doubt large scale conversions to Islam will occur.

Islam likes to boast of its successes in South America, but in reality, those successes are hopelessly exaggerated, and often end in failure. There will be individuals who may convert, but I do not see societal changes.

If anything, as the Catholic Church declines, it is more likely that Evangelical Protestantism will increase. Brazil is a classic example. Chile is next in line to swing to Evangelicalism.

The authors of the linked opinion piece – who are Jewish – may not appreciate the power of Evangelical Christianity.

Israel should be worried about pro-Iranian activity in Chile insofar as it concerns Israel and Chile’s Jews, but Chile is probably not in any danger.

Palestinians Are Invented?!

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Palestinians Are Invented?!


Posted on YouTube: December 9, 2011

Newt Gingrich is usually a very excellent historian; but in this video he was playing to the audience, in this case a Jewish audience. Quite understandable! but the comment turned out to haunt him.

You see, even though Israel has a right to the land, there were people in the land, many of whom did identify as Palestinians.

Palestinians are invented?!

So were we Americans in 1776?

Argentina, Mexico, Chile, etc. were invented in 1810, when most of Latin America rose up to declare Independence.

Brazil invented itself in 1822.

Iceland invented itself in 1944, when it declared independence from Denmark.

An invented people does not signify illegitimacy.

What is clear is that Palestinian identity precedes the British Mandate.

What is not clear is if this identity was more established in the Christian Palestinians than in Muslims who tend to be more centered on the idea of a transnational Caliphate. It is clear that the Christians, who were a considerable part of the population in Palestine at that time, had such an identity1; and if it was common among Christians, it would have been found in some of their more educated Muslim neighbors, too.

Otherwise, we would not see some Palestinian Christians moving to Chile, in the late part of the 19th century into the 20th; and setting up an ethnic soccer team called Palestino in 1920 (some say 1916), which would rise to become a major league soccer team in Chile.

Source: Palestino History (Spanish)

El Club Deportivo Palestino nace en la ciudad de Osorno, localidad al sur de Chile, capital de la provincia que lleva su nombre. El club nace en unas olimpiadas de colonias, siendo fundado por inmigrantes palestinos el 20 de agosto de 1920.

The Palestinian Sports club was born in the city of Osorno, located in the south of Chile, capital of the province that bears its name. The club was born in an olympic colony, being founded by Palestinian immigrants, 20th of August, 1920.

Why would those immigrants suddenly start calling their team Palestino, UNLESS THEY ALREADY HAD A PALESTINIAN IDENTITY?

Of course, this alone does not necessarily void Jewish claim to the land!

Israel still has a right to the land; but it still has to deal with this issue. It can’t deal with a problem if it denies the existence of the problem.

It does mean that the land was not as empty2 as the Zionists claimed it was; and it does mean there was a competing national identity.

In the end, how would Gingrich explain this: Palestino Soccer Club in Chile, founded in 1920.


The Club was formed in 1920 by Palestinian immigrants.
They did not call themselves South Syrians as some claim.

1If you think about it, according to the official story, the Romans gave the name to the area after crushing a Jewish revolt. When Rome Christianized, the name would have stuck, and the Christians would have embraced it. Even after the Roman Empire split into Latin and Greek areas, and the corresponding areas split religously into Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy, the name would have persisted among the Christians.

Is an imposed name invalid? Ask yourself. Is America an invalid name because it was given by an Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci? Is Argentina an invalid name because it derives from the latin word for silver?

Names are imposed all the time.

2Many Zionist supporters will refer to Mark Twain’s The Innocents Abroad, published in 1869, which describes areas of the Holy Land as barren and devoid of habitation; but anyone who has driven in Arizona or Nevada knows full well that one can encounter empty wilderness even in populated countries. Twain was only describing one area.

What the people rarely tell you is this quote by Twain, in the same book:

“The narrow canon in which Nablous, or Shechem, is situated, is under high cultivation, and the soil is exceedingly black and fertile. It is well watered, and its affluent vegetation gains effect by contrast with the barren hills that tower on either side”…”We came finally to the noble grove of orange-trees in which the Oriental city of Jaffa lies buried” (Source: Wikipedia Demographics of Palestine)

Source: Wikipedia Demographics of Palestine

Mason Martin, an American author who spent sixteen years as an analyst for the CIA, was critical of attempts to use Twain’s humorous writing as a literal description of Palestine at that time. She writes that “Twain’s descriptions are high in Israeli government press handouts that present a case for Israel’s redemption of a land that had previously been empty and barren. His gross characterizations of the land and the people in the time before mass Jewish immigration are also often used by US propagandists for Israel.” For example she noted that Twain described the Samaritans of Nablus at length without mentioning the much larger Arab population at all. The Arab population of Nablus at the time was about 20,000.

I am NOT anti-Zionist – in fact, I am a mild Christian Zionist – but there was a considerable population in the area at the time. Estimates are over 500,000 around 1900.

Even early Jewish Zionists were dismayed by the number of the indigenous population.

The issue of Israel aside, the existence of these people is an historical fact that Zionism cannot ignore, just because it is inconvenient to their narrative. To deal with the problem, Israel is going to have to face the issue head on.

May 9, 2017 – Edited: Updated a link.
September 4, 2020 – Edited: Updated a link.
November 22, 2020 – Edited: Added categories. Converted from page to post.

Dispelling Myths

Latin Arabia Christianity, Islam, Religion 0 Comment
Dispelling Myths

Some facts on this page will have some interesting stuff to consider.

Hopefully, this should dispel a lot of myths.

While recent Saudi and Iranian inroads into Latin American are troublesome, they are grossly exaggerated.

Grossly.

THIS IS WHAT THE MEDIA SHOWS YOU:


Posted on YouTube: December 30, 2009

Dubbed in English: Islamic propaganda.
A few malcontents embracing Islam.

THIS IS WHAT THE MEDIA DOES NOT SHOW YOU:


Posted on YouTube: October 14, 2009

Evangelicals are having a massive revival in Chile.
Look at the difference in numbers. A few malcontents vs a giant statidum.
Chile and Brazil are having massive revivals.

Over 95% of all Arabs in Latin America are Christian. In many countries that figures rises to 99% of all Arabs.

Catholicism may be weakening, but it is being replaced by Pentecostal Christianity and, to a much smaller extent, Orthodox Christianty.

If the West panics now, we will over react.

The are only three countries with a significant population of Muslims.

Argentina, Guyana, and Suriname.

Argentina:

Most of Argentina’s Muslims are non-practicing. Officially there are around 400-700,000 Muslims. In reality, only 40,000 are practicing. Argentina has 3 Million CHRISTIAN Arab-Argentines, however. They tend to be moderate concerning the Mideast. With a country of overall population of 45 million; Less than 1/1000th of Argentina is practicing Muslim.

Argentina (45 million overall) is 8-10% Arab in ethnicity, but 90% of those Arabs are Christians. The Muslims are not significant.

ETHNICALLY
Argentina (roughly)
Spanish ~ 50%
Italian ~ 62%
Arab 8-10%
Germans 6-9%
Irish 1-1/2%
British 1%
Croats 1/2%
Smaller amounts of other Europeans: Swedes, Poles, Greeks.
Many are intermarried so the numbers add up to higher than 100%

AND, YES, THERE ARE MORE ITALIANS IN ARGENTINA THAN SPANISH.
But the Spanish got there ahead of the Italians, and so Argentina speaks Spanish. However, Buenos Aires speaks Spanish with an Italian accent. Culturally Argentina is just as Italian as it is Spanish. Lots of Italian food and music.

In reality, Argentina is about 63% Catholic, 19% unaffiliated, 15% Evangelical, 1% Jewish, and 1% Muslim, but most of those Muslims are non-practicing. The true Muslim figures are much lower. 90% of the Arabs in Argentina are Christian.

Guyana, and Suriname:

Guyana and Suriname are 7% and 14% Muslim respectively. But these countries have extraordinarily small populations. The number of Muslims between them is around 200,000 at most. Many of these Muslims are not Arabs, but Indonesians bought over during the colonial era. Most Arabs in these countries are Christian.

But what about Palestinians in South America?

Palestinians are notable in Chile, Honduras, and El Salvador. Almost all of them are Christians.

El Salvador has had an election where both candidates were Palestinian. One was Evangelical, and the other of Catholic background.

So before you think the Caliphate is coming, stand back.

In reality, Islam is weaker in Latin America than in the United States. It is just louder in Latin America.

May 10, 2017 – Edited: Updated some figures, and added a link.
May 3, 2021 – Edited: Updated some figures.
June 16, 2022 – Edited: Changed styling, fixed dead links.
June 20, 2022 – Edited: Updated some population numbers, fixed errors.
November 22, 2024 – Added categories. Converted page to post.

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