United States

U.S. Congresswoman in Chilean Magazine

Latin Arabia News, Palestine Bethlehem 2000 Foundation, Palestinians, Propaganda , 0 Comment
U.S. Congresswoman in Chilean Magazine

It turns out that Rashida Tlaib has gotten a write up in a Chilean magazine Al-Damir – which means “the conscience” in Arabic – that caters to the Palestinian community in Chile.

NOTE: I am sure that Congresswoman Tlaib has no connection to the article at all in the Chilean magazine. I doubt the Congresswoman is even aware of it. I just find it fascinating that Palestinian-Chileans find her newsworthy.

(Click Here) to see article.

A translator app can convert it to English, and the first thing we notice is that the article has a major error.

Source: Palestinian-American representative Rashida-Tlaib achieves reelection
Al Damir
November 7, 2024
(translated by app)

Palestinian-born Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib who –last July – held a message calling Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu «guilty of genocide », as the leader spoke before Congress of United States, this week has achieved a victory by defeating his Republican opponent in the Michigan Congress 12th district elections, thereby ensuring a fourth term as the only Palestinian-American woman in the United States Congress.

…

(Read More)

The problem is that Rashida Tlaib was born in Detroit, not “Palestine.” Her parents were born in the Holy Land; she was not.

Another problems is that Al Damir magazine is published by a questionable charity in Chile called the Palestine-Bethlehem Foundation 2000. The foundation has been suspected of questionable connections. See quote below from Media Line.

Source: The Media Line
(When I tried to relink to the article, the original source had put it behind a paid firewall)

According to official sources, the stated aim of the foundation (translated as “Palestine-Bethlehem 2000”) is to provide “scholarships, medical and economic aid to the Palestinian Authority.” Yet, a Chilean government source described the organization to The Media Line (TML) as a lobby. The Anti-Semitism and Racism Institute claims that this foundation is the chief fund-raising organization in Chile for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Wealthy Palestinians from the Chilean community support the fund, which publishes the monthly journal, A-Damir. In celebration of its first anniversary on June 25, 2002, the foundation organized an event, attended by more than 1,000 invitees that included ministers, Members of Parliament, clerics, army officers and judges. Minister of the Interior Jose Miguel Insulza and Government-Secretary Heraldo Muoz both posed for a photograph, wearing a kafiyah decorated with a map depicting a Palestinian state that encompassed land that today is the entire state of Israel.

A Chilean source connected to the Chilean Intelligence Agency (CIA) told TML that this particular fund managed to collect $6m in one year, but that the funds do not always find their way to needy Palestinians. Instead, much of the money goes to charities identified with Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organization.

(emphasis mine)

However, the Palestine-Bethlehem 2000 foundation did garner support from Chilean politicians; and a lot of American and European companies have bought advertising in its magazine (Al Damir) in the past, so that questionable connection might be a minor issue; if it is even an issue at all. Though it was once published in a glossy version, Al Damir now seems to be focused on its online website presence.

NOTE: Al Damir listed its distribution here (below); but, as noted, that information seems to be dated, and it looks like the glossy magazine may be out of print, with the emphasis now being placed on that online website presence.

Source: The Magazine (La Revista)
Al Damir
(translated by app)

…

· Bimonthly publication (January, April, June, August, October and December).
60 – 64 pages
· Interiors: glossy couche paper 90 gr.
· Cover and back cover, glossy couche paper 170 gr.
· Free distribution
· Since 2010 associated with ANP
· Projected reading 20,000
· Free distribution
· 8,000 copies digital version

…

(Read More)

The online version of the glossy magazine stopped being archived in 2020, but older issues of the glossy magazine can still be found at (Click Here).

AL DAMIR STILL PUBLISHES A WEBSITE EDITION
And if you don’t read Spanish, get a translation app.

See article, here on Latin Arabia, to find more background information.

What is clear is that the Palestinian-Chilean community has/had enough wealth and clout to publish a magazine and attract major advertisers to it.

This is a video (below) of the sign display by Congresswoman Tlaib that the Al Damir website article refers to.


Posted on YouTube: July 24, 2024

Al Damir commends Rashida’s behavior.

As one would expect, among Israeli advocates, in this case a gentleman from Britain, Joseph Cohen, Rashida Tlaib is not thought well of.


Posted on YouTube: January 9, 2019

Well, I guess you can’t please everybody.

Even though I am a mild Christian Zionist, I will make no comment about Representative Tlaib in this post, except to note that apparently she is a hero to Palestinians everywhere – even in Chile.

Whether that is good or not, I leave to the reader.

November 22, 2024 – Edited – Added a blockquote. Added emphasis. Noted that a blockquote source link is now behind firewall. Added notes and caution.

A Demographer’s Nightmare

Latin Arabia History, Lebanese, Maronites , , 0 Comment

There is a demographic issue when accounting for the Arabs in Latin America. For an example: Look at this inconsistency for Colombia (image below).

Screenshots of Wikipedia.

Wikipedia estimated about 800,000 – 3.2 million Lebanese Colombians, out of approximately 50 million people in Colombia. Take a moment to let that enormous spread in estimated numbers sink in.

Now look at the second image. Notice that the Arab diaspora in Columbia is listed at 1.5 million.

Did you notice the contradiction? Lebanese-Colombians could be as high as 3.2 million, but another chart lists only 1.5 million Arab-Colombians.

How can there be more Lebanese-Columbians than Arab-Columbians, when the Lebanese are a subset of Arabs?

This is what makes checking the demographics of Arabs in the Western Hemisphere so hard. As is so often stated, the problem is that many Lebanese refuse to call themselves Arabs.

The number of Arabs in South America is much higher than official figures cite.

Similar inconsistencies crop up in Argentina and the United States. In Australia, the Lebanese do not even have to list their ancestry as Arab, but can cite Syriac (which is a language group, not necessarily Syrian) instead.

I suspect elsewhere as well.

The demographic contradictions stem from the reluctance of Lebanese Christians to identify as Arabs.

Lebanese Christians were horribly persecuted by the Muslims. In the nineteenth century, the French had to intervene in Lebanon to prevent a genocide of Christians by the Muslims. Many Lebanese Christians prefer to call themselves Phoenicians, by virtue of their ancient Phoenician past. Some will get rather indignant if you call them Arabs.

This has led to the odd situation where Lebanese are often considered completely different than Arabs.

Yet, upon arrival in any country, Lebanese Christians speak Arabic, eat Arabic food, and listen to Arabic music. The international community considers them Arabs.

Most of the Lebanese who immigrated to the West were from the Christian community. Muslims were less likely to leave. And, given that Maronite Christianity is affiliated with Roman Catholicism – the dominant religion in Latin America – Lebanese Maronites could seamlessly blend into Catholic communities in one generation. The first generation of kids would be indistinguishable from other Latins.

Complicating the matter, Lebanese Christians, primarily the Maronite Christians, have a portion of European DNA, as a result of their ancestors having intermarried with Europeans Crusaders. In plain terms, they are sometimes slightly whiter than other Arabs, and can often pass for Europeans. In Latin America, whites are often the elite, and Maronites would have had that advantage.

Muslims did immigrate to Latin America, but in smaller numbers, and often decades later, long after the Maronites blended in.

Mixing things up further, Muslim Lebanese certainly consider themselves to be Arabs. So ironically the Muslim-Lebanese would classify themselves as Arabs – in contravention to the Christians – primarily the Maronite Christians – who consider themselves to be Phoenician, not Arabic.

Historically, the Lebanese Christians, who refuse to identify as Arabs, were also determined to blend in, assimilate, and intermarry rather rapidly. So if they are under-reported, it is because they assimilated so well. The Lebanese Christians are a large almost invisible community.

The migration of Lebanese Christians to the Americas was rather large, and the result is that glaring inconsistencies in demographics can occur. Hence the number of Arabs in any country in the Western Hemisphere is grossly under-reported.

Thankfully, this is not a problem for anyone, but demographers.

Take for example: Julio César Turbay. He was the 25th president of Colombia, and was half-Lebanese. The product of assimilation and intermarriage.

This curiosity has to be noted.

February 3, 2018 – Edited: Grammatical error.
July 17, 2020 – Edited: Added image. Added and edited text.

Arab-Chilean gave lecture in Tennessee

Latin Arabia Education, History, Lebanese, News, News Summary , 0 Comment

Al-Imad lectures history of Middle East conflict

By Jessica Mynatt

On Oct. 24, Professor Leila Al-Imad gave a summary of the long history of political conflicts in that area.

Her father was Lebanese and her mother was from Chile. She offered a unique perspective on the subject.

Professor Al-Imad explained how outside influences were causing changes in the Middle East.

“In the middle of the nineteenth century, nationalism hit the Middle East,” she said.

The idea of nationalism was coming from the west, and the idea of fundamentalism was coming from the east.

It became a cultural idea that problems were caused by people not living up to their religion, and this view encouraged the fundamentalist movement.

…

(Read more)

From Tennessee: This was a few days ago.

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