Arab and Jewish Immigrants in Latin America

Ignacio Klich, Jeffrey Lesser

This collection of essays addresses various aspects of Arab and Jewish immigration and acculturation in Latin America. The experiences in the region of these two groups have never been the subject of joint and comprehensive scrutiny. The volume examines how the Latin American elites who were keen to change their countries' ethnic mix felt threatened by the arrival of Arabs and Jews. Their arrival was largely unexpected, and in some cases frankly undesired and practically banned. Negotiating national identity was never easy, and many of this volume's multidisciplinary cast of authors examine discrimination and prejudice as a component of Arab and Jewish life in the region. These cultural, economic and political (public) negotiations left neither side unchanged: while Latin American society and post-migratory immigrant identities have been in a constant state of flux, the elite's desired homogenization of national or cultural identity has been precluded to this day.

Chapter 1 Arab-Jewish Coexistence in the First Half of 1900s' Argentina, Ignacio Klich; Chapter 2 'Jews are Turks Who Sell on Credit', Jeffrey Lesser; Chapter 3 Arabs and Jews in the Development of the Colombian Caribbean 1850-1950, Louise Fawcett, Eduardo Posada-Carbo; Chapter 4 Between Privilege and Opprobrium, Brenda Gayle Plummer; Chapter 5 The Arab-Jewish Economic Presence in San Pedro Sula, the Industrial Capital of Honduras, Darío A. Euraque; Chapter 6 Re-creating Community, Liz Hamui-Halabe; Chapter 7 The Economic and Social Condition of Jewish and Arab Immigrants in Bolivia, 1890-1980, Marc J. Osterweil; Chapter 8 Ethnic History, Nationalism and Transnationalism in Argentine Arab and Jewish Cultures, Michael Humphrey; Chapter 9 The Question of 'Argentinida?, Estela Valverde; Chapter 10 The Historiography of Jewish Immigration to Argentina, Fabiana Sabina Tolcachier; Chapter 11 The Historiography of Arab Immigration to Argentina, Theresa Alfaro Velcamp;