Iran’s HispanTV Is Ratcheting Up Antisemitism in Latin America

Iran’s HispanTV Is Ratcheting Up Antisemitism in Latin America

Source: HispanTV: The Iranian Regime’s Long Arm of Hate in Latin America
ADL
July 2024

The top two channels IRIB [the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting] uses for promoting anti-Jewish hate globally are the English-language PressTV, established in 2007, and its Spanish-language twin HispanTV, established in 2011. A joint ADL and Center for Countering Digital Hate report issued in April 2023, titled “State Hate: How Iran’s Press TV Uses Social Media to Promote Anti-Jewish Hatred,” exposed PressTV as a “foreign state hate operation” that targets “Jewish people with antisemitic tropes,” and attacks “charities, schools, journalists, academics, and individuals by promoting the conspiracy that they are part of a coordinated ‘Zionist movement.’”

To download the whole ADL report: (click here).

We here at Latin Arabia have noted the pernicious influence of HispanTV on South American culture for over a decade, now. Do a search for HispanTV on our site – we didn’t always tag it.

No doubt, HispanTV strikes a chord with some Arab-Latins.

A primer post, here on Latin Arabia, from 2013, deals with this insidious network, and can be found here.

This is an even better post.

HispanTV (and its English equivalent, PressTV) have faced bans in Europe.

But HispanTV is powerful and well known in Latin America. A Major Chilean Politician: Daniel Jadue (of Christian Palestinian ancestry) – a former presidential candidate – has had a series on HispanTV.


Posted on YouTube: June 24, 2021
From Turkish TV

Daniel Jadue’s television series (below):


The playlist was posted on YouTube: Around 2024
On HispanTV
(It can be auto-translated)

HispanTV has been thrown off of many platforms, but seems to always re-emerge.

The thing here is not to panic.

In countries where the major Arab demographic is Maronite Lebanese (such as Brazil), the political effects of the Arab communities can be neutral. Maronite Lebanese were historically hostile to Islam. Some were even friendly to Zionism.

Maronites tend to be Western in outlook, and they have assimilated easier and more successfully than other Arabs. Where the Maronite demographic is large among Arab communities, they will dampen anti-Zionism.

But in countries with large and influential Palestinian communities (such as Chile), all havoc can break loose.

The Palestinians are highly successful in Chile, and have out-sized influenced. They have distorted Chile’s foreign policy. Even Chile’s otherwise conservative politicians pander to them.

This is the audience that HispanTV would attract. While such an audience is indeed worrisome, it also has to be remembered that Evangelical Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds in Latin America.

HispanTV is annoying, but it will be drowned out by Christianity.

It’s effects on politics have to be watched though.

Evangelicals versus Iran in Latin America

Evangelicals versus Iran in Latin America


Posted on YouTube: November 13, 2023

Iran’s influence is continuing to grow, not only in the support of Hezbollah operatives, but especially through the netcasting and broadcasting of HispanTV, which sends out Iranian propaganda to the continent. And Iran assists the dictatorial regime in Venezuela.

Source: Why Iran’s Growing Influence in Venezuela Challenges the West
VOA
Michael Lipin
March 11, 2023

WASHINGTON —
Iran is striving to expand its influence in fellow U.S. adversary Venezuela, which is hosting an Iranian cultural fair this week and seeking Iranian assistance to revive the ailing Venezuelan energy industry.

(Read More)

Iran is troublemaking in the Western Hemisphere, particularly in this area of propaganda.

Whatever one thinks of pro-Jewish or pro-Israel lobbies in the United States, they are an antidote to some really ugly antisemitic disinformation out there. Indeed, Latin America is often drenched with anti-Israel agitprop that would not have been tolerated in the USA, until recently, which is a sad commentary on recent developments.

The anti-Israel indoctrination that America is sadly seeing now, Latin America has been drenched with for a long time.

Yet, oddly, Iran’s influence is more political than religious.

Why not religious?

Because Islam is being countered in Latin America – not by Jewish influence, as the Jewish population is usually small – but rather by a large and growing Evangelical Christian movement.

In Brazil, the population is 31% Evangelical.
In El Salvador, the population is 40% Evangelical — more than Catholics.
In Guatemala, the population is 40% Evangelical.
In Honduras, the population is 40% Evangelical.
In Chile, the population is 18% Evangelical.
In Argentina, the population is 15% Evangelical.

These Evangelicals tend to be very pro-Zionist.

So Iran’s influence is limited to the political arena, which is scary enough, though even in politics, the Evangelical church is competing successfully.

In the case of Chile and Brazil, the growing Evangelical power base has not stopped the governments from criticizing Israel, but it will prevent some of the Latin governments from going too far.

In one nation, Guatemala, the Evangelicals have made the country very friendly to Israel.


Posted on YouTube: February 18, 2022

El Salvador is particularly interesting, as it has an influential Palestinian (chiefly Christian) minority population. The Palestinian Christians tend to be more Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, though.


Posted on YouTube: May 26, 2019

Their present president, Nayib Bukele, is of Palestinian origin, yet somewhat pro-Israel.

So the Evangelicals are winning.


December 22, 2023 — major rewrite and title change.

Edgardo Rubén Assad doubts the Holocaust

Edgar Rubén AssadThis guy, Dr. Edgardo Rubén Assad is an Argentina citizen who spends half the year in Iran. He is considered an Iranian operative in Latin America, and he has been denied enterance into Mexico.

He is now publically denying the Holocaust.

What I find troubling, however, is hid middle name, Rubén (Reuben) , with his reddish beard. His first name is Edgardo (Edgar).

Edgar?! Edgar Reuben Assad for a Shi’a Muslim?!

If he were born Shi’a we would expect a Shi’a name. Maybe Mohammed, or Hassan, or Jihad, not Edgar. Edgar?!  Certainly not Edgar Reuben.

Frankly, his name, and appearance point to his being of Jewish origins.

Catholics – and 85% of Argentina is Catholic – usually have Christian names. Names which come from saints. Pedro (Saint Peter), Pablo (Saint Paul), Miguel (Saint Michael), Jorge (Saint George), etc. Edgar is decidedly neutral. A Jewish person would give a name like Edgardo to his child, which would indicate assimilation into a Latin culture, but not Christianization. Rubén (Reuben), while not necessarily indicating a Jewish identity, is a very common Jewish name.

Add in his auburn red beard, which is not uncommon among Ashkenazic Jews, but very uncommon among Lebanese.

I have to wonder if this guy is not a self-hating ethnic Jew. I wonder if his birth name is Edgardo Rubén, and he adopted the name Assad upon his conversion. Argentina has a very large Jewish community. At the middle of the century, it was even larger.

The official story is that he is the son of Lebanese immigrants to Argentina.

Okay!

But 90% of all Arabs in Argentina are Christian. Most, not all, of the Lebanese immigrants to Argentina were Christian.

Moreover, from the 1960s to the 1970s, Jews started fleeing Lebanon. Argentina would have been good place to go, just then.

Something does not look right here.

I could be wrong; maybe Edgardo is a bona-fide Shi’a. But look at that hair and beard. The guy looks more North European than the son of Lebanese Muslims.

Add in his name: Edgardo Rubén Assad.

This guy is dangerous, and merits watching; but something is not right with this story.

That aside, Israel and the USA, should be working to stop Iranian penetration into Latin America.

I will be trying to find out more about this guy; but this whole story sounds odd.

1) His name sounds funny.

2) His appearance look North European.

3) Why wouldn’t Argentina just suspend his passport, and not let him out of the country?

Everything in this story is suspicious.