Chile is the country on the Southwest Pacific coast of South America, which runs from a polar south to tropical north. 5% of Chile’s population is Arab, and the majority of that is Palestinian-Christian: Chilestino/Chilestinian.
Chile is a first world country now, very democratic. The Chilestinos are prosperous and wield incredible political power.
Apparently, with the power of Palestinians in Chile, particularly Daniel Jadue, who is a leftist mayor of Palestinian descent, in the capital district, Jews are somewhat uncomfortable.
In the context of the horrific scenes broadcast from Gaza and Israel, it would not have been surprising to hear Jadue speak of “Zionists,” also a misconstrued word. But what he said was that being a Jew is “incompatible” with being progressive. This affirmation attempts to unite ideology and religion, distorting the biblical concept of a chosen people as an ideology. This tendentious statement, expressed by an important public figure and transmitted infinitely by social networks, is a dangerous precedent that attacks, not only Jews, but “the other.” Jadue’s words are not precisely addressed to “my left-wing Jewish friends,” they dig at the core of a dangerous discourse within Chilean society. As Theodore Adorno warned in 1950, one type of discrimination is associated with others, and anti-Semitism leads to xenophobia.
Politicians in the USA tend to favor pro-Israel groups. The opposite is true in Chile, where the Palestinian community rules the day.
As noted elsewhere on this site, the Palestinian-Chileans – Chilestinos – are the power bloc of note in Chile.
Particularly of note is that the leftist president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, has said the Gaza is worse than Berlin in 1945.
So the Jews of leftist persuasion feel sort of betrayed by their fellow progressives in Chile.
Chile has a stable democratic government, but its views on the Mideast have been hijacked by the powerful Chilestino bloc, some members of whom are at the forefront of a Red-Green Alliance.
Posted on YouTube: December 31, 2023
The show is called: Window on Palestine Warning: HispanTV is an Iranian-Venezuelan propaganda outlet
Of course, in politics, Red usually stands for leftist extemism. Green usually stands for Islamic extremism. One would think they would be at opposite ends of the political spectrum.
In Chile, they are mixing.
Why?
Because Chile has the largest community of Palestinians outside the Arab world. They are called Chilestinos, and almost all of them are Christian. They number 500,000 and are roughly three times the number of Christians left in the Holy Land.
And they have a hero: Daniel Jadue, a leftist politician in Recoleta, a neighborhood in the capital province of Santiago, Chile.
Jadue was born into a Palestinian Christian Chilean (Chilestino) family. And, most notably, he is strongly anti-Zionist.
Big deal, one might say, but he is one of Chile’s most powerful politicians and media personalities. He has made a name for himself.
In the year 2020, the Simon Wiesenthal Center listed his behavior as one of the ten worst antisemitic incidents of the year.
For your knowledge (and horror), HispanTV, which is an Iranian-Venezuelan propaganda outlet is broadcasting and netcasting the political exploits of this Daniel Jadue.
Architect Daniel Jadue is the mayor of Recoleta, part of Santiago, the capital. Jadue, a member of the Communist Party, is a national figure and mentioned as a potential future President. Using municipal funds to finance pro-BDS and antiIsrael activities, Mayor Jadue targets the Jewish community with pernicious smears echoing The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
He charges Jews control of the media and dual loyalty: “It is an insult that the State of Israel through its agents here in Chile wants to import the strife” … “they have to learn and define if they are Chilean citizens.” Last year, Recoleta’s Municipal Council passed a resolution stating, “Palestinian people have been the victim of a deliberate plan of violence and terror by armed Zionist groups …” Jadue insists, “… The leaders of the Jewish community in Chile act on behalf of the State of Israel in Chile…,” adding, “I get along very well with the Jews, with the Zioniist I have certain problems.” Jadue is always referring to Chile’s Jews as the “Zionist” community of Chile.
… Read More
Iran’s HispanTV (which operates out of Venezuela) is lionizing Jadue in some recent reports and trailers.
Think about it. A Chilean politician landed on the Simon Weisenthal’s Top Ten List of Antisemitic Incidents.
In the USA, this guy’s career would be over in a heartbeat. In Chile, Jadue actually ran for president and was a serious contender in 2021, in spite of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s condemnation of his behavior.
Recently, he got into more trouble with the Jewish Community in Chile.
The group also criticized the position of Minister Camila Vallejo, who during the morning assured that it was “not up to the government” to enter into this controversy. “The spokesperson is wrong, this is not an ‘international’ issue, because we are talking about Chileans of Jewish origin, not the Middle East conflict,” she noted.
Un abrazo a todos y todas y que el próximo 2024 sea un año de mayor conciencia, fraternidad y trabajo con la comunidad. Tengo plena certeza de que seguiremos avanzando para terminar con los abusos y las injusticias. Y no olvidemos a Palestina 🇵🇸! #AñoNuevo
This is no minor politician in Chile – which is now a first world country.
This guy is a major player in Chilean politics, much bigger than the squad in American politics. This guy has a brain, and a power base. And the Chilean Jewish community is not happy with him.
We have no one like this in American politics – at least not this strong.
Posted on YouTube: June 24, 2021
(Even after he was listed as antisemitic)
Now, it is true that there is a conservative element that is presently resisting this, but for how long?
And yes, the JEWISH COMMUNITY IS VERY UPSET WITH THIS.
So why isn’t the Jewish community fighting back?
They are trying to, but the Palestinians in Chile outnumber the Jews about 25 to 1. Though Chile has a large community of Jews for South America, they only number around 20,000 to the Chilestino’s numbers of approximately 500,000.
Moreover, the Palestinian community in Chile is rich and well off.
Chilestino is a Spanish term meaning Chilean of Palestinian ancestry.
Backgrounder:
Chilestinos are descendants of Christian Palestinians who started moving to Chile in the late 19th century. At that time, they were often fleeing to avoid having their sons being drafted into a Muslim controlled Ottoman Army. Later waves came, some due to Jewish-Arab fighting.
The vast majority are Christian, and most are now intermarried with other ethnic groups, but are presently re-discovering their Arab roots.
However, what they remember is a Palestinian “paradise” that no longer exists, and they seem to forget that Islamic persecution is what drove some of their ancestors to Chile.
They tend to see the Israel-Palestine conflict in purely national terms, devoid of religious animosities.
They ignore the Islamic aspect of the struggle, an Islamic aspect that once persecuted their own Christian ancestors. The ignore that, were the Palestine side to win, the Christians left in the Holy Land would not fare well.
They are very anti-Israel, but are a rich and powerful community, which can hijack Chile’s foreign policy.
In many ways, the Chilestinos resemble the Jewish community in the USA which punches well above its weight in political influence — except that the Chilestinian community is anti-Israel.
Public opinion in Chile is often influenced by the country’s politically powerful 200,000 Palestinian immigrants and their descendents.
“The Palestinian community is to Chile what the Jewish community is to the US,” [The president of Chile’s Jewish community, Gabriel] Zaliasnik explained.
…
[My Note: The Palestinians are closer to 500,000 in number]
This tweet (below) is from Dec 21, 2023.
Agradecemos al Presidente @GabrielBoric por su participación en la Ceremonia de Navidad y por su contante apoyo hacia el pueblo palestino. https://t.co/JqI1oIEVP9
The Palestinian Community thanked the President of Chile for his participation in a Chilestino Christmas ceremony and his constant support for the people of Palestine.
American politicians go to AIPAC. Chilean politicians bow to the Palestinian community.
These Chilestinos don’t seem to consider the probable consequences that an Islamic victory might present to any of their relatives left in the Holy Land. As noted above, the Chilestinos are sympathetic and nostalgic for a Palestinian cause that no longer exits, if it ever existed at all.
Here in Santiago, 8,000 miles from Gaza, Palestine’s cause and culture burn brightly: Chile is home to the largest Palestinian diaspora outside the Middle East, numbering as many as 500,000 people.
…
“I would love to say that the support is born from an innate sympathy for human suffering,” said Dalal Marzuca, 28, a third-generation Chilean Palestinian. “But I think it’s more likely that everyone here just has a friend, colleague or classmate with Palestinian heritage.”
Marzuca works at a Palestinian coffee shop in the city centre where – between brewing thick dark coffee and serving up sticky, sweet knafeh – she follows the latest news from Gaza via WhatsApp and Instagram.
“Being Chilean Palestinian is unique,” said Marzuca. “I’m not entirely one nor the other, but I know how much what happens in Gaza is affecting me.”
Earlier this month, Marzuca was one of thousands of people who marched beneath a sea of Palestinian flags towards La Moneda, the presidential palace in Santiago, as the diaspora lent its considerable voice to the global clamour for a ceasefire.
Most were Orthodox Christians from Beit Jala, Bethlehem and Beit Sahour, and by the second generation, many were already integrated into Catholic churches.
The Chilestinos imagine the Palestine of their ancestors to have been a halcyon land, forgetting the very real persecutions that their own Christian ancestors had suffered under Muslim rule.
This is an incredible thing to watch. How can they be so deluded?
Yet, when it comes to Mideast policy, the Chilestinos seem to steer Chile’s ship of state.
