Lebanese

Lebanese or people of Lebanese descent

Arab Arts Festivals

Latin Arabia Arts, History, Lebanese, Maronites, Other , 0 Comment

Arab-Latin Arts

Cine Fertil (Creative/Fertile Cinema) is an Arab-Latin Arts group.

They regularly hold Arab-Latin Arts Festivals.

They event seems to be sponsored by the

The last, the Ninawa Daher Foundation, was named after a beloved Agentine lawyer, newscaster, TV hostess of Maronite-Christian-Lebanese ancestry. It is a charity which helps women.

Ninawa Daher died rather young – she was 31 – in a car crash in 2011.

Argentina is about 9% Arab. Many, if not most Latin-Arabs, are intermarried and not pure Arab; but Arabs are a large enough community that she had quite a following.

They are running a festival this month in Buenos Aires about Arab-Latin arts.

If you are in Buenos Aires, check it out.


Madrilenos (Madrid citizens) have a lisp (called a ceceo)
Spaniards talk like Daffy Duck
Posted on YouTube: January 9, 2010

It may seem odd that I, an American, would know about this.

A little over 2 years ago, I was trying to learn some Spanish by going to YouTube. From past experience, I know that South Americans speak better Spanish than Spaniards. Spaniards have a lisp and cannot pronounce the letter s.

The Spaniards of Madrid say Ethpaña, not España.

It is like talking to Daffy Duck.

So, I went to check out some videos from Argentina and Chile. The Latinos of South America, particularly Argentina and Chile, tend to be of European extraction, and speak a much more educated Spanish, without the lisp of the Madrilenos (citizens of Madrid) of Spain.

I accidentally found a video about a video about a show called DESDE EL ALJIBE (FROM THE WELL), a program aimed at Arab-Latins in Argentina.


Ninawa Daher: From the Argentine show: DESDE EL ALJIBE
Posted on YouTube: September 9, 2012

The name comes from the community Water Well where news and gossip is traded among Arabs in their communities. In America, we get our gossip at the office Water Cooler. Same principle.

Click after click, and I found dozens of videos about DESDE EL ALJIBE.

Ninawa Daher was the co-host.

I could not understand all their Spanish, but I was able to get the general idea.

One click lead to another, and I discovered a massive – and I do mean massive – Arab subculture in South America. Not just in Argentina, but in Chile (which has a massive Palestinian population), Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, all of Latin America.

Most fascinating is that almost no one in America, or Europe, knows about this. The only time our news mentions Arabs in South America is when someone arrests a Hezbollah operative.

Our media never tells us that there are 25-30 Million Arabs in South America. Ninety-five perent (95%) of them, or more, are Christian. Many of these Arab-Latins had ancestors who went to South America around 1900, when they were fleeing Turkish Muslim persecution.

Latin immigrants came from Syria, Lebanon, and Israel/Palestine as well. Most were Christian. A few were Muslim; but most of their children or grandchildren are Christian. They assimilate well.

They tend to be well off, and elite, in Latin America. Yet, we never hear about this. They present an image of a successful, Westernized, educated, elite ethnic group that we never hear about.

We never hear how mainstream Arab culture has become in South America. I found dozens, if not hundreds, of videos of Latins with names indicating Spanish, Italian, or German origins who have taken up Arab Dance, and appear in Arab Dance shows. Check out my Dancer of the Day Category.


Viña del Mar – a beach resort in Chile
The Palestinians in Chile are elite
Posted on YouTube: May 31, 2011

This is not some salacious trend. Arab Dance is taught to young girls, and not all are of Arab descent. In fact it is taught at Catholic Schools. (Click Here). It is considered cultural.

This is seen as a positive thing.

Just as American Jews are discovering the Jewish roots, these Arab-Latins are re-discovering their Arab roots, it seems.

There is a positive side to the Arabs, and South America presents it.

What you say? Arabs in the land of the gauchos?!

I asked the same thing. Gauchos and Arabs do not mix.


Arab Origin of Gauchos – Ninawa Daher from DESDE EL ALJIBE
Posted on YouTube: September 1, 2012

I soon found out how wrong I was. Apparently, Gauchos came from Moorish exiles from Spain who went to South America. Ninawa Daher did a piece on DESDE EL ALJIBE about the history of the Arab – Gaucno connection that almost no one knows anything about.

BTW: Though once considered ridiculous, more and more historians are coming to the unavoidable conclusion that the Guachos have some Arab/Moorish input in their history.

It is two years later, since I ran into these videos – almost by accident. My Spanish is still terrible. I have trouble making out what they are saying but I have discovered into a massive subculture that is astounding.

I wish I were younger. I would learn re-learn my Spanish, and learn Arabic as well.

Now, do not get me wrong. I remain suspicious of extremist Islam; but our media ignores a positive side to the Arabs which should be encouraged.

I am neither Arab, Hispanic, Latin, Muslim, nor Jewish. I am an American Christian of European ancestry. I just find this fascinating. I am amazed how few people here in the United States know about this.

This ignorance – which is fostered by our media – is a story in and of itself.

July 3, 2020 – Edited: Had to replace a dead video link.
November 20, 2024 – Edited: Made more mobile friendly.

The Latin American Dream

Latin Arabia Business, History, Lebanese 0 Comment

Viva Los Turcos: Latin America and the Arab connection

…

Despite the obstacles, Latin Americans of Middle Eastern descent seem to have been disproportionately successful. Carlos Slim Helú, the richest man in the world, according to the Forbes rich list, is a Mexican of Lebanese descent (Slim is a hispanicised version of Salim). Slim is not the only Lebanese Latin American gracing the pages of business magazines, Carlos Ghosn, the current CEO of Renault and Nissan, is a Brazilian of Lebanese descent who was Fortune magazine’s man of the year in 2003.

…


MY NOTE: AN ARAB LATIN MUSIC VIDEO

…

According to Colombian writer Luis Fayed, whilst the christian supicion of arabs’ endures in Latin America as  in all parts of the world,  Latin America is probably the place where the Arab community has achieved the most  “complete” integration of anywhere in the world. The Lebanese in Colombia feel Colombian not Lebanese, and thus do not feel the need to write about the immigrant experiences as opposed to “Arab immigrants in Europe, or (people) of other nationalities, will always write about how they’ve integrated (into the new society). They always write about that, and the difficulties they’re having, how they’ve accommodated to society. They talk about justices and injustices … They never stop having the feeling of being from (elsewhere),” he said.

The Arabic world has a long history of cultural exchange with Spain that later expanded to Latin America and continues to this day. The next time you see a girl belly dancing in a reggaeton video or a Latin American politician with an arabic last name, you can put it down to brave Middle Eastern immigrants who in spite of difficulties and discrimination have gone on to fulfil their Latin American dream.

Arabs do better in Latin America than they do in the Arab world.

The Lebanese of Mexico

Latin Arabia History, Lebanese 0 Comment

From the article in the previous post, but this time we will concentrate on his points about Mexico

Arabs Making Their Mark in Latin America: Generations of Immigrants in Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico

By Habeeb Salloum.

…

I spoke with Michel Jacabo Eljure, whose father emigrated from the district of Qura, located in present-day Lebanon. He is a retired businessman who owned a ranch in the Yucatán. He spoke Arabic well and was familiar with the history of the Arabs in Mérida. According to him, even though the Lebanese were only 1 percent of the city’s 1.5 million population, they controlled 30 percent of the commercial and industrial establishments. As for religion, he explained that the Lebanese were originally evenly divided between Maronite and Orthodox Christians. Today, they are all Roman Catholics with only about 20 families still practicing the Orthodox rites. From time to time, a priest travels from Mexico City to administer to these few families’ needs.

With the tolerance of peoples to others in mind, I asked Michel, “Why is it that in countries like Canada, multicultural societies are encouraged and here in Mexico it’s total assimilation?” He replied, “Our society is montholitic. We want everyone to be Roman Catholic and speak Spanish. In our community only about 20 people still read Arabic.”

He continued, “As for our food, it’s another matter. Even a great number of the non- Lebanese in Mérida cook in their homes our kubbah, grape leaves and other Arabic foods. At least we contributed some of our heritage to Mexico – now our beloved homeland.”

This essay appeared in Al Jadid, Vol. 6, no. 30 (Winter 2000)

I am not saying Mexico’s way is best, but notice the total assimilation of the Arab community. Notice also that these Lebanese are not commercial and industrial elites.

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