A group of Argentinians (150), followed by some Centrist and Central Right wing activists as well as some members of the Evangelical Churches came out to show their support for Israel against Hamas war crimes.
Clearly, there are more than 150 in that crowd.
The poster’s name is AssyrianPride1000, which is a reference to the persecuted Assyrian Christians.
However, he is posting in English, not Spanish which is odd; and he lists his country of origin as Iraq, which is odder.
Whether this is primarily Jewish community show of support or not is immaterial. There are roughly 200,000 Jews in Argentina, and they are the largest Jewish community in the Spanish speaking world. They used to be even higher in number, till Argentina’s economic crises drove them to Israel. Argentina’s Jews still have clout.
The comment says there are Evangelicals in the crowd. Of this, I have no doubt.
Evangelicals are not as strong in Argentina as they are in Brazil or Chile; but they are starting to grow, and change things. Already they are 10% of the population in Argentina.
I have seen very strong pro-Israel support come for the richer more elite Catholic sections of Argentina.
The Arabs have effected the culture of South America; but their Arabs are Christian primarily, and they have not changed the Christian aspect of the society. In fact, their Christianity has become Westernized in South America.
Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian freelance political artist. He is usually leftist; but he also is notorious for his very pro-Palestinian cartoon.
We in America may ignore the Arabs in Latin America, the rest of the world does not. Carlos Latuff is an international Media Star from Brazil, of Lebanese descent. (Click here)
Some of his cartoons are here.
BE WARNED – THEY ARE VICIOUS!
Some of his stuff is vicious!
Latuff is of part-Lebanese ancestry. He claims to be not anti-Semitic, but the Simon Wiesenthal Center has labelled him the #3 on the 2012 Top 10 anti-Semitic slanderers. (Click Here)
Only The Muslim Brotherhood and the Iranian Regime have been scored higher.
Latuff mocked their condemnation.
The Arabs, as you can imagine, have become great fans of Latuff.
Most Americans are not aware of Latuff. Our newspapers will not print his drawings. But the rest of the world, even Canada, does print his stuff. It has a major effect on the world. He is a sort of a media star.
Draws Israel as a Nazi – Some of his stuff looks like Goebbel’s propaganda
We should stop ignoring the Arabs in Latin America. They can be a force for good or evil. If the West does nothing, the other side will.
April 15, 2020 – Edited: Had to remove a dead video.
The World Social Forum is running into some problem in Porto Alegre in Brazil.
It was supposed to be major political form about the Palestinian problem. Mondoweiss – a pro-Palestinian site – is reporting that Zionist groups in South America are interfering with the forum.
Whatever the internal squabbling, the outside pressure is worse. It’s being brought to bear on the conference itself. I received this update from the organizers yesterday:
In part they succeed, because now the WSF have lost the Usina do Gasômetro, the place where it would be held.
The Usina do Gasômetro is a cultural center in Porto Alegre, which was converted from a former power plant. Apparently some pressure was made to withdraw the venue. They now have to look for another venue.
Mondoweiss is right that Israel is starting to notice Latin America. Until recently, Latin America has been ignored by everyone. Chile and Brazil, which are now starting to emerge, are making that an impossible luxury.
Porto Alegre has a small Palestinian community. Brazil has somewhere between 10-15 Million Arabs; almost all are Christian, mostly Catholic.
I suppose it would only be natural that Palestinians would try to draw Brazil into the conflict. However, Brazilian Arabs are heavily Lebanese Maronites, descended from Maronite Lebanese Christians who fled waves of Muslim genocide, starting in the 19th century. These are not going to present a fertile ground for pro-Palestinian sympathies. Neither will the Arabs in Brazil who have become Evangelical Christians – and there are many in Brazil.
One should not necessarily equate Arab with pro-Palesitnian viewpoints, especially Christian Arabs in South America.
This does show that, inspite of relatively small numbers, Israel’s community has some clout in South America.
I have no problem with pro-Zionists trying to make their case known; however this strikes me more as trying to suppress the Palestinians from making their case. Rather than presenting the Israeli view, it seems they are trying to stop the Palestinian view. Rather than acting pro-Israel, they are acting anti-Palestinian. This does not strike me as right.
Israel should contend for itself, but not interfere with free speech.
The point here is that South America is becoming a battle ground between Zionists and pro-Palestinian activists. A region of the world which was one ignored is now being contested. I suppose, for the South Americans, it is a step up. They are getting noticed.
This was posted in August 2012 on YouTube
In the end, while the Palestinian cause may seem right, at an initial glance, it has the problem of purpose. What does it propose?
If the end result of Palestinian Liberation is an Islamic state like the Hamas run Gaza, mockingly called Hamastan, then Liberals the world over should flee from the cause.
I am not saying Israel is innocent. Some Israeli actions are appauling; but to favor an Islamic cause is sheer lunacy for Liberals. This is not a native vs. colonial, worker vs. capitalist, contest. Some Liberals cannot shake the old paradigm.
Old paradigms do not apply in the Mideast.
If you want to help the Palestinians, the first thing you must do is shake them of Islam. To free them of the very real settler violence and restore them to a pre-Medieval Mullah driven tyranny is NOT an improvement.
One has to be careful in this cause. The Palestinians look like a people worthy of solidarity; and certainly the Christians among them would be. However, 92% of the Palestinians are Muslim; and more fundamentalist strains are arising among them.
There is no happy solution to this problem, at this point; but while the Israeli treatment of Arabs in Judea and Samaria (what the world calls the West Bank) is harsh – and at times, brutal – one must be careful to make sure that the remedy is not worse than the disease.
Rather than spending money to finance BDS, Liberals might set up legal funds to buy construction permits for Palestinians; and to contest every land siezure in Israeli courts.
This would have the benefits of:
1) Being Legal: Setting up a legal fund is, by definition, legal
2) Avoiding the legal question of boycotting Israel: Boycotting Israel can be illegal in some jurisdictions. The matter of boycotting settlements falls into a gray area. Do you want to be on the wrong end of a lawfare litigation?
3) Forcing Israel to act legally: A people committed to HaTorah (the Law) can sometimes be restrained by appeals to law.
My point here is that the Liberals in the West are not embracing the Palestinian cause with wisdom.
Are the Arabs in Judea and Samaria (what the world calls the West Bank) oppressed?
Absolutely! They have been for a long time.
Would creating a Palestinian government help them?
Not necessarily.
Restoring the Arabs in Judea and Samaria to Islamic rule is not an improvement.
So what should progressives do?
Set up a fund to help Arabs pay for the expenses necessary to get permits.
Set up a fund to help Arabs build once the permits are granted.
Set up a fund to help Arabs leave Islam, which is their chief oppressor.
The Left is out of its mind to be blanket supporting any cause which is tainted with an Islamic flavor.
Any Leftist cause which supports Palestine against Israel while ignoring the greater atrocities in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Iran, etc. is hypocritical.
