The Santiago Times reports that two senators from opposite ends of Chile’s political spectrum, Senator Alejandro Navarro of the leftist Movimiento Amplio Social and Senator Ivan Moreira of the right-wing Union Democratica Independiente, will travel to Palestine, where they hope to meet with President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. According to Navarro, “Chile cannot continue to be indifferent” to the violence in Gaza.
My friend and colleague Natascha Scott-Stokes has an article on Chile’s Palestinian heritage and community. She notes that Chile is “one country where Palestinians are not immediately associated with suffering, but with the exuberance of their great culture.” Santiago has its own version of the Alhambra Palace, built by an Arab mining magnate in 1860, with mosaics and beautiful fountains, and that many towns have a Club Arabe, which hold cultural events open to the whole community: http://quintaescondida.com/chiles-palestinian-heritage/
Notes on the Americas 