What the video does not explain is that the instability was caused by the ongoing Islamic attempts at genocides of the Christians — which have been periodically happening for centuries in Lebanon and Syria.
Hence the vast majority of these Arab immigrants were Christians fleeing Muslim persecution which, at times, rose to genocidal levels.
However, the video (above) does get correct how massive and influential the Lebanese are in Brazil.
The video estimates 12 million Lebanese in Brazil, which is roughly in accord with my own estimates. However, I estimated 12-15 million for all Arabs, while this video estimates 12 million for the Lebanese alone in Brazil.
Add in the Syrian-Lebanese and you can see how massive the Arabs are in Brazil … and they are prosperous.
My estimates of Arabs in Brazil might even be low.
Again, almost all the Lebanese in Brazil are Christians.
Posted on YouTube: 2023
This is from an Israeli channel, but the facts are there.
The upshot of this is that Lebanese Christians in Latin America usually do not subscribe to the raw hatred of Israel which is more common among Palestinian-Christian-Chileans (or Hondurans).
The Lebanese-Christian-Brazilians remember the brutality of the Muslims. Their views on Israel vary from friendly to not thrilled, but they have no illusions about Islam.
Hence, wherever the Lebanese Arabs predominate among Arab-Latins — and they predominate in many Latin countries – they then to moderate the discussion.
Why Do So Many Evangelicals in Brazil Support Israel in the New Conflict?
This new stage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has revived the popularity of Zionism within this religious segment
The eruption of a new conflict in Israel has flooded evangelical social media with the white and blue flag bearing the Star of David in its center. This new stage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has revived the popularity of Zionism within this religious segment, even prompting expressions of support from this religious bloc in Congress.
Brazil is one of those countries where a very large Evangelical constituency can override Arab sympathies in the political realm. The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, was very pro-Israel. The current president is not so.
Rio De Janiero protest in support of Israel
Posted on YouTube: October 15, 2023
Pro-Israel supporters from another view.
Posted on YouTube: October 16, 2023
Almost one-third of Brazil is now Evangelical Christian (31%) – who tend to support Zionism – and the government, even though it is leftist, has to respect their political power.
Posted on YouTube: October 16, 2023
One can see the enormous numbers of people who support Israel. Yet, there are not a lot of Jews in Brazil, relatively speaking. Roughly 110,000 which is one-twentieth of one percent (0.05%) of the population.
So where is this support coming from: The Evangelicals.
Yes, there is pro-Palestinian support (see video below) but it will be drowned out.
Remember that the Arabs in Brazil are, in the vast majority, Christian, and some of those would be Evangelical or, at the least, moderate Maronites. So even though Brazil has roughly 15 million Arabs, the Evangelicals will win.
News report on pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel supporters.
Posted on YouTube: October 11, 2023
The Evangelical Christians are making demographic gains daily. While there will be pro-Palestinian support in Brazil, in the end, the politics will sway to Israel. The Evangelicals are powerful — powerful enough that the leftist president Lula da Silva has had to moderate his position.
Added October 24 (below):
Not just the Evangelicals in Brazil. Apparently, there was a massive street protest in favor of Israel in Buenos Aires. Argentina has a massive amount of influential Jews — circa 180,000.
Expect Brazil, with its large Evangelical base, and Argentina – with a large Jewish community – to be more muted or balanced in taking sides in this war, unlike Chile or Honduras where Palestinians are large, elite, and powerful.
The video below was posted on October 16 which leads me to believe that this protest and the Brazilian demonstrations were coordinated to occur around the same time, across Brazil and Argentina, as a large scale show of political power.
One has to remember that Latin/South America has a massive and prosperous Arab demographic, and this can affect Latin America views of the wars in the Mideast.
However, the Arab demographic is not necessarily monolithic.
First: Almost all of the Arabs in Latin/America are Christian. And they do not identify with the Islamic aspect of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
This distance derives from the Mideast history of their Arab ancestors, where there were instances of anti-Christian massacres such as in 1860, which drove many Christians out of Lebanon and Syria, to Latin America.
The slaughter of the Catholic Maronite Christians caused France, recalling its ancient role as protector of Christians in the Ottoman Empire which was established by treaty in 1523 to intervene [in 1860], landing troops in Lebanon to protect the Maronites.
Another source of Christian-Arab flight to Latin America was due to a fear that the Ottoman Empire would draft Christian men and put them in the front ranks of the battle as cannon fodder. So a lot of Christian families left to protect their sons.
Given these historical Muslim-Christian hostilities, when South American Arabs (who would be Christian) support the Palestinian cause, they probably would support the secular Fatah over the Islamic Hamas. They would avoid Islamic sympathies.
The only possible exception to this are the Palestinians in Latin America. (Click Here) to see some Palestinian-Chileans (who would be Christian) support the Intifada. Palestinian Christians in Latin America can be insane in their animus towards Israel. It makes no sense.
Second: It was easier for Christian Arabs to move to the West and assimilate in Latin America than for Muslims. There were links between the West and the Christians in the Holy Land. Such links could provide needed help. No such connections existed for Muslims who were on their own.
Third: Those relatively few Muslims who did immigrate to Latin America often converted to Catholicism or intermarried with local Christians in Latin America. The kids ended up being raised Christian, usually Catholic.
Fourth: Maronite Christians (affiliated with Catholicism), which form a large part of the Arab demographic in Latin America, have been historically hostile to Islam. As already noted above, on more than one occasion, Muslims tried to genocide the Maronite Christians in Lebanon. So there is no love lost between Maronites and Muslims.
Maronites tend to assimilate very well in Latin America, as they consider themselves to be a Western people. They rise to the top of society very fast. They are often neutral in Arab-Israeli struggles, and some of them can be pro-Israel.
Indeed, some of the Maronites see themselves as Phoenicians, not Arabs at all.
At the very least, the Maronites of Latin America have a moderating effect on the opinions of other Arab groups in Latin America.
Fifth: Syrian Arabs in Latin America (usually Eastern Christians) have other concerns, especially after the Syrian Civil War, when the remaining Christians in Syria came under threat of genocide.
Sixth: It is the Palestinian Latins (who are almost always Christian) who are a matter of concern. The Palestinian-Christians of Chile (Chilestinos) being an example.
Chile has the largest community of Palestinians outside the Mideast. However, the are NOT representative of Palestinians as a whole, since Chile’s Palestinians (Palestinos / Chilestinos) are taken, almost exclusively, from the Christian element.
The Palestinian community is to Chile what the Jewish community is to the U.S.
– Gabriel Zalisnek, then president of Chile’s Jewish Federation
Palestinian Christians in Chile tend to be very intelligent, influential, hard working, and rich. But all their virtues disappear when it comes to the issue of Israel. They have a blind spot in that area. They have major outsize influence in Chile which, being a first world country now, has a major influence on Latin America.
Hostility from a poor country would not carry much weight, but from Chile, it can be worrisome. Some Jewish organizations have expressed grave concerns over the Palestinian-Christians in Chile, and their influence on government policy.
Posted on YouTube: July 9, 2020
The Palestinian-Latins and the Leftist governments in Latin America (such as Venezuela) are the issue, but overall the Arab-Latin Americans are not monolithic at all. There is some cause for concern, but not too much to worry about.
The issue is really Islam, and unfortunately, the penetration of Iranian influence, especially through HispanTV, a joint venture of Iran and Leftist Venezuela.
While Arab-Latin Americans may not be thrilled with Israel, some of them remember what the Muslims did to their ancestors — except for the Palestinian Latins (who are, ironically, mostly Christian). As noted, the Palestinian-Chileans are insanely anti-Israel and they have real clout in Chile.
The group holding back the flood of anti-Israel sentiment, however, are very pro-Israel Evangelical Christians in Latin America.
3) Click – for a second time – to turn on: Subtitles/CC(1) Spanish (auto-generated) .
4) Click auto-translate.
5) Choose English – THIS CAN BE TRICKY – I suggest using up and down arrows to chose English, and then press Enter.
This can be very touchy, and you may have to play with it, but it works. Once you get the hang of it, you can turn the option on in a few seconds.
Chile has a large Palestinian community — which will assert its own view — during this war. However, even the Chilean government, which is often anti-Israeli in its official positions, has rebuked the Hamas attack on civilians in Israel this October. It was a strong condemnation.
Nuestra solidaridad está y estará siempre con la víctimas de la violencia, sin distinción. Nos duele la humanidad.
Condenamos sin matiz alguno los brutales atentados, asesinatos y secuestros de Hamas. Nada puede justificarlos ni relativizar su más enérgico rechazo. Condenamos…
SAO PAULO: Living in countries whose presidents have expressed pro-Palestinian views, Palestinian communities in Chile, Brazil and Argentina have expressed disappointment with statements issued by these countries’ governments concerning the fighting between Hamas and Israel.
Most Latin American nations released statements condemning Saturday’s attack on Israel by Hamas from the Gaza Strip.
The exceptions were Venezuela, which demanded that Israel immediately halt the occupation of Palestinian territories, and Bolivia, which said it is following developments with concern and accused the UN of inaction.
In Colombia, the Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning violence against civilians and asking both parties to hold dialogue on a two-state solution.
…
Palestinian-born Nicola Hadwa, a prominent Middle East analyst, told Arab News that Palestinians in Chile feel “betrayed,” adding: “That kind of declaration comes from political leaders who are subordinated to the US and Israel.”
Hadwa, who also worked as a football manager and was the first professional coach of the Palestinian national team in 2002, said: “Every day, the Israelis kill two or three young Palestinians and nobody talks about it in the media. When Palestine reacts, suddenly everybody is concerned.”
Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s administration seems to be coming under pressure from both sides.
However, with a large demographic of Arabs in South America – even if most are Christian – there is some small degree of sympathy for the Palestinian side, particularly among the demographic of Palestinians in Latin America.
Thankfully, this time, the governments are acting rationally in spite of this pressure from pro-Palestinians.
Remember, the Arab demographic in Latin America may be large, but it is NOT monolithic.
