Posted on Nov 19, 2023
Diaspora Drum: Latin America's Arab cohort stirs support for Palestinians
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Bolivia severed diplomatic relations with Israel last week to protest Israel’s military strikes in Palestinian Gaza. Chile, Colombia and Honduras recalled their ambassadors to Israel.
It was a reminder that Latin America, especially governments on the left, usually sides with Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — which last month erupted into full-throttled war after militants from Hamas, which rules Gaza, massacred more than a thousand Israeli civilians, and Israel responded with a bombardment of Gaza that in turn has killed thousands of civilians there.
Latin Americans tend to share a geopolitical underdog identity with Palestinians. And many also see the dispute as an opportunity to stick a finger in the eye of the U.S., Israel’s staunchest ally and a power still widely regarded in Latin America as imperialista.
But there’s another important reason — one you can hear, for example, in Arab-infused pop culture hits like the song “Ojos Así” by Colombian megastar Shakira.
It was a reminder that Latin America, especially governments on the left, usually sides with Palestinians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — which last month erupted into full-throttled war after militants from Hamas, which rules Gaza, massacred more than a thousand Israeli civilians, and Israel responded with a bombardment of Gaza that in turn has killed thousands of civilians there.
Latin Americans tend to share a geopolitical underdog identity with Palestinians. And many also see the dispute as an opportunity to stick a finger in the eye of the U.S., Israel’s staunchest ally and a power still widely regarded in Latin America as imperialista.
But there’s another important reason — one you can hear, for example, in Arab-infused pop culture hits like the song “Ojos Así” by Colombian megastar Shakira.
Diaspora Drum: Latin America's Arab cohort stirs support for Palestinians
Posted from wlrn.org
Israel
Palestine
Posted 6 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""To be a Palestinian in Chile, it’s a beautiful experience, to be honest.”
Tumancaret, who spoke from Santiago, Chile’s capital, where he owns a sporting goods store, points out Palestinians have also built one of the country’s strongest political lobbying forces.
“We are everywhere — you can find Palestinians in every town in Chile," he says.
"So we make Chileans really understand the Palestinian struggle.”
There is an underside to this, however. Many Arab-Latin Americans WLRN spoke with said too many left-wing politicians there twist support for Palestinians into support for the anti-Semitism and terrorism of groups like Hamas.
They point to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Colombian President Gustavo Petro — who last month called Israeli leaders “Nazis” — as a prime example of Latin American leaders who they say have “hijacked” the Palestinian cause.
Even so, that cause has a broad and deep home in Latin America."
...""To be a Palestinian in Chile, it’s a beautiful experience, to be honest.”
Tumancaret, who spoke from Santiago, Chile’s capital, where he owns a sporting goods store, points out Palestinians have also built one of the country’s strongest political lobbying forces.
“We are everywhere — you can find Palestinians in every town in Chile," he says.
"So we make Chileans really understand the Palestinian struggle.”
There is an underside to this, however. Many Arab-Latin Americans WLRN spoke with said too many left-wing politicians there twist support for Palestinians into support for the anti-Semitism and terrorism of groups like Hamas.
They point to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Colombian President Gustavo Petro — who last month called Israeli leaders “Nazis” — as a prime example of Latin American leaders who they say have “hijacked” the Palestinian cause.
Even so, that cause has a broad and deep home in Latin America."
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