While a lot of Latin America is condemning Israel for the war in Gaza, Argentina has just elected a president who converted to Judaism, and is a fan of Israel.
Talk about contrasts.
So, the Jews of Latin America are holding their Maccabi games in Argentina.
(JTA) — With the Pan American Maccabi Games set to begin in Argentina next week, an Israeli delegation of more than 200 athletes was planning to join 5,000 Jewish participants from across the world who will compete in 30 sports.
But, as with practically every facet of Israeli society, Oct. 7 changed their plans.
Now a pared down group of 74 Israeli athletes will head to Argentina for the 15th edition of the international tournament. Forty-five of them live in communities close to the Gaza Strip, the area attacked on Oct. 7, according to a press release from the Maccabi World Union, the global governing body that puts on the quadrennial Maccabiah Games in Israel and other international tournaments.
What this means is that Latin America is split in its sympathies. Indeed, even countries are split in their sympathies.
Another break from dealing with Latin Armerica’s Arab communities:
Most Latin American countries have small Jewish populations. Hence the effect of the Jewish community on local politics is usually minimal. Not so for Argentina.
ARGENTINA HAS THE SIXTH LARGEST COMMUNITY OF JEWS IN THE WORLD (Click Here)
In Argentina, the Jewish community was quite noteable.
Posted on YouTube: 2020
Even Juan Perón had a Jewish advisor for economics, José Ber Gelbard.
Juan Perón and José Ber Gelbard
To set the record straight, Perón was not a Nazi. He admired Mussolini’s fascist economics, but not necessarily Mussolini’s politics. And while Perón allowed some Nazis in to Argentina after World War 2, he did so chiefly to get their technical skills. Perón was not an anti-Semite himself, and he certainly could not have imposed Nazi racial policies on a Latin country … and he knew it.
The Jewish community in Argentina used to be around two percent (2%) of the population in the past. That compares roughly to the historical percentage of the Jewish community in the United States in the 1960s.
There was a massive flight of Jews during the time of the military junta (1976-83), but even then, a massive amount of Jews remained in Argentina.
With around 180,000 Jews today, most of whom live in the Buenos Aires area, the Jews still have a massive effect on Argentina’s culture as well.
Because of this, Argentina’s reaction to the 2023 Gaza War is muted — at least when compared to the histrionics seen in Chile, where the influential politicized community of Palestinian-Chileans (Chilestinos) can force government policies.
So, taking an aside from the present (2023) Gaza War, let’s take another look at Jewish Buenos Aires.
Posted on YouTube: 2021
Jews even had a remarkable influence on Argentina’s tango.
Posted on YouTube: 2009
There was the tragic bombing of the Jewish Center in 1994, but that was done by Iranians.
Overall, Argentina has been quite friendly to Jews. Yes, there were some bigots at times, but Argentina was friendly enough to attract a massive amount of Jewish immigrants to the country from Europe.
Posted on YouTube: August 14, 2023
(Click Here) – This restaurant is world famous!
Posted on YouTube: Oct 16, 2022
This Jewish factor counts in world affairs. Chile recalled its ambassador (Click Here) from Israel over issues concerning the 2023 Gaza War. Argentina did not.
So, who will decide in the contest between Arabs and Jews for the sympathies of Latin Americans?
The answer may surprise you.
In South America, it is the Evangelical Christians (who are usually Christian Zionist) who are starting to make their mark.
Posted on YouTube: May 15, 2023
The Evangelicals are growing fast in Latin America.
In Brazil, the population is 31% Evangelical.
In Guatemala, the population is 40% Evangelical.
In Honduras, the population is almost 40% Evangelical.
In Chile, the population is 18% Evangelical.
In Argentina, the population is 15% Evangelical.
In Chile, this is noticeable, as Palestinian-Chileans – who tend to be Eastern Christians or Roman Catholics – have complained about the Evangelicals. In Brazil, the former president, Bolsonaro, who was Evangelical, was very pro-Israel. True! He lost the last election, but under questionable circumstances. Pro-Israel feeling runs large in Brazil, even though it has roughly 15 million Arab-Brazilians.
In Honduras, when the Evangelicals hit 50%, it may not matter any longer what the powerful Palestinian-Hondurans think.
A lot of countries, who are pro-Palestine today, may shift their foreign policies very soon, as the Evangelical communities keeps growing, and very rapidly so.
Source: The Economist
April 5th, 2023
Marabá And Salvador
Evangelical Christianity is the fastest-growing religion in the region. Polls on religious beliefs vary widely, but around a fifth of Latin Americans identify as evangelicals, up from a tenth in 2002. In Guatemala and Honduras, they are set to overtake Roman Catholics as the dominant religion by 2030.
It is the Evangelicals who will decide this battle.
In the meantime, the Jews of Argentina are fascinating.
Iran’s influence is continuing to grow, not only in the support of Hezbollah operatives, but especially through the netcasting and broadcasting of HispanTV, which sends out Iranian propaganda to the continent. And Iran assists the dictatorial regime in Venezuela.
WASHINGTON —
Iran is striving to expand its influence in fellow U.S. adversary Venezuela, which is hosting an Iranian cultural fair this week and seeking Iranian assistance to revive the ailing Venezuelan energy industry.
Iran is troublemaking in the Western Hemisphere, particularly in this area of propaganda.
Whatever one thinks of pro-Jewish or pro-Israel lobbies in the United States, they are an antidote to some really ugly antisemitic disinformation out there. Indeed, Latin America is often drenched with anti-Israel agitprop that would not have been tolerated in the USA, until recently, which is a sad commentary on recent developments.
The anti-Israel indoctrination that America is sadly seeing now, Latin America has been drenched with for a long time.
Yet, oddly, Iran’s influence is more political than religious.
Why not religious?
Because Islam is being countered in Latin America – not by Jewish influence, as the Jewish population is usually small – but rather by a large and growing Evangelical Christian movement.
In Brazil, the population is 31% Evangelical.
In El Salvador, the population is 40% Evangelical — more than Catholics.
In Guatemala, the population is 40% Evangelical.
In Honduras, the population is 40% Evangelical.
In Chile, the population is 18% Evangelical.
In Argentina, the population is 15% Evangelical.
These Evangelicals tend to be very pro-Zionist.
So Iran’s influence is limited to the political arena, which is scary enough, though even in politics, the Evangelical church is competing successfully.
In the case of Chile and Brazil, the growing Evangelical power base has not stopped the governments from criticizing Israel, but it will prevent some of the Latin governments from going too far.
In one nation, Guatemala, the Evangelicals have made the country very friendly to Israel.
Posted on YouTube: February 18, 2022
El Salvador is particularly interesting, as it has an influential Palestinian (chiefly Christian) minority population. The Palestinian Christians tend to be more Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, though.
Bolivia has cut off ties with Israel, while Colombia and Chile have recalled ambassadors. Pro-Palestinianism is MUCH stronger in Latin America than in the USA.
SANTIAGO, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Chile’s Palestinian community, the largest outside the Middle East, is a strong force in the Andean nation, involved in local politics, culture and soccer. Now it’s making Chile one of the loudest regional voices criticizing Israel over its military action in Gaza.
Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, a moderate figure in the Latin American left, recalled the country’s ambassador in Tel Aviv last week and said Israel was not abiding by international law.
On a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Boric added that the Israeli military operation “at this stage acts as a collective punishment to the civilian population in Gaza.” He brought up the issue with President Joe Biden during a bilateral meeting last Thursday in Washington.
The article does not go into full depth that the vast majority of Palestinians in Chile are Christians, who fled Ottoman Islamic rule. They seem to have forgotten that aspect of their ancestor’s lives and identity with a halcyon past of religious tolerance in the Holy Land that never existed.
Many of these Palestinian Chileans (Chilestinos) are multi-generational Chilean and intermarried.
But it does note their influence. Chile did pull its ambassador out of Israel.
While Europe and the USA are strongly in favor of Israel, Latin America is mixed.
