Arab-Jewish coexistence in the first half of 1900s' Argentina: Overcoming self-imposed Amnesia

• Published in: Immigrants & minorities 1997-03, Vol.16 (1-2), p.1-37
• Main Author: Klich, Ignacio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 1900-1950; Arab-Israeli Conflict; Arabs; Argentina; Coexistence; Comparison Arabs; Cultural relations; Immigrant adaptation; Immigrants; Immigration; Jews; Latin America; Migrants; Minorities; Social networks; Social relations
• ISSN: 0261-9288; 1744-0521
• DOI: 10.1080/02619288.1997.9974901

A similar cultural background and jointly shared interests in Argentina prompted the country's largely Christian immigrants from Lebanon and Syria, as well as their Jewish counterparts from the Arab and Muslim worlds, a minority among the predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish influx, to foster business, political and social links. These successfully overrode internal and external pressures to get both groups closely aligned with one and the other side to the Arab-Zionist conflict, at least until the United Nations' adoption of the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states and its military sequels began to be felt. Unexceptionally, the Arab-Israeli conflict resulted in a self-imposed de-emphasis or mere omission of such Arab-Jewish ties of yore (especially, though not only, in Argentina), the survival of aspects of these relationships notwithstanding. A documented insight into the main institutions created by immigrants from the Middle East in Argentina's capital and a number of the country's provinces helps to reconstruct such links, as well as sets the record in a way that is more sensitive to their history.