Opinion

Palestine present more than ever in Latin American politics

Governmental and popular solidarity with Palestine is unprecedented following the latest Israeli invasion of Gaza.

Last updated: 09 Aug 2014 12:09

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Mauricio Abu Ghosh, president of the Palestinian Federation of Chile, the most active pro-Palestine civil society entity in the country, says that popular solidarity with Palestine in Chile at the moment is unprecedented. He explains: “The last four years we witnessed a leap in communication thanks to social media. Today 95 percent of Chileans commenting on Palestine online are in favour of Palestine despite efforts by the Zionist lobby to always portray Jews as the permanent victim.”

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Nevertheless, what may be called the Palestinian lobby in Chile has managed to penetrate the media, to expose a different point of view through several prominent faces of the Palestinian community. One of them is Daniel Jadue, the mayor of a Recoleta municipality in Santiago, who often goes on TV to argue passionately for the Palestinian cause.

When asked about the secret of the community’s success in putting enough pressure on the government to recall Chile’s ambassador from Tel Aviv, Abu Ghosh laughs and says he won’t reveal the recipe and simply mentions members of parliament and influential businessmen of Palestinian descent as fundamental contributors to the successful lobbying. He adds: “We now aim at putting pressure on the government to cut all diplomatic ties with Israel.”

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Interesting article from Al Jazeera. Arab ethnics have joined with the left to flip South American opinions.