The amazing history of the Christians from the Middle East in Central and South America and Tacos al Pastor!

Submitted by dhimmi no more, Feb 13, 2019 at 12:21

Dr. Pipes,

Anyone who has been to Mexico must have enjoyed the great food of Mexico and in particular Tacos al Pastor. These tacos are the gift of the Lebanese Christians to Mexican cuisine. It is the Mexican version of Shawarma mixed with wonderful Mexican ingredients. So the lamb becomes pork and the bread instead of being pitta bread it becomes wonderful hand made fresh tacos.

The influence of the Christian Lebanese and their descendants in Mexico is not only limited to food but you will also find it in politics, arts, sports, businesses and literature. They brought with them the best of the Middle East and incorporated what is also wonderful in Mexico. Again they are the descendants of the amazing Phoenicians. May be recent Muslim arrivals in the Americas can learn a lesson or two from those pioneers.

Also the history of immigration of Palestinians Christians from Ottoman Palestine to far away Chile is just amazing. To reach Chile they had to travel via boats to either ports in France or Spain then on to ports in Cuba or Mexico then along the coast of South America to Rio, Brazil then Buenos Aries, Argentina and then crossed the Andes mountains on mules and at last they arrive in Santiago Chile to a hostile reception after all they were regarded as "Turcos" (Turkish). The trip took a few weeks but this did not stop them from migrating to Chile. Now, almost 500,000 Chileans are the descendants of those pioneers. They brought with them hard work, great cuisine and education.

Why did many Christians in the Middle East immigrate to South and Central America? I will leave it to a different post

BTW: Some indeed were misled and instead of ending in the US they ended in South America. However, the "golden door" of the US was not wide open to immigrants from the Middle East. Nonetheless many Lebanese Christians were able to make to the US in the 18th and 19th centuries.

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