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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 12 - 18 October 2000 Issue No. 503
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Palestine International Economy Opinion Culture Books Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Arabia unveiled
By Hisham El-Naggar
There was something memorable about the occasion: Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Abdullah lent a decidedly regal air to the inauguration of Buenos Aires' impressive new mosque last month, and much of Argentina's political establishment was on hand to witness the event.
Prince Abdullah made the stop during the first leg of a tour that would eventually take him to the extraordinary meeting of OPEC heads of state in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. While the OPEC meeting was no doubt the bigger news -- with the world holding its breath to see what would happen to the price of oil -- the Buenos Aires stopover is likelier to be far longer remembered in this part of the world.
Although relations between Argentina and Arab world countries begin to compare with the close ties that bind this Latin American country to Europe and the United States, a large immigrant population from what is now called Syria and Lebanon keep Arab culture close to home. Arab immigration began around the end of the 19th century, when Argentina was also attracting a number of European immigrants. Natives of what was then the Levant flocked to Argentina, in part because of conditions at home, and in part because Argentina welcomed them. Many of them were Muslim, including Sunnis, Shiites and Druze.
There is little to suggest that Arab immigrants faced any discrimination; mixed marriages soon became the norm and the Arab community, while often maintaining ties with their home countries, became thoroughly "Argentinised." Half a dozen governors of provinces -- not to mention Argentina's former President Carlos Saul Menem, were of Arab descent.
It was Menem who, with the approval of Congress, arranged the cession of the mosque's centrally-located site to the Saudis -- in return for a similar cession in Riyadh that would become the site of an Argentine Embassy. At the time, Menem's detractors criticised the move, not as an attack on Saudi Arabia, or the Muslim religion, but because they took issue with Menem's authoritarian habit of disposing of public property as if it were his own.
Judging by the reaction of the press and public, Argentina is both impressed and intrigued by the imposing structure that has now taken its place among the cityscape of Buenos Aires. There have been a couple of Islamic centres in the past, but a mosque in a capital where the architechtural norm is a mixture of neo-baroque and imaginative modernism is a novelty for most Argentines. To someone accustomed to the dazzling beauty of Cairo's mosques, the new acquisition in Buenos Aires is not exactly a masterpiece, but it is eye-catching -- without being garish. Indeed, the architects seem to have deliberately opted for an austere outward appearance. Its creamy complexion blends in nicely with the city's skyscape, and amazingly, the minarets manage to stand out without being outlandish.
The mosque will include a cultural centre and a library, which could finally bring improved access to information about Islamic and Arab culture in this otherwise highly-cultured city. While Argentines may know relatively little about Islam, there is hardly any antipathy toward the Muslim religion, despite the predominantly Roman Catholic population. This brings to mind the rather different attitude prevalent in Europe, where proximity to the Middle East and centuries of traditional rivalry still make for misunderstanding and prejudice.
Apart from its cultural and historic significance, Crown Prince Abdullah's visit highlights the growing importance of ties between Latin America and the Arab world. Although Argentina's trade with Arab countries is still limited (Argentina imports little oil, as it is largely self-sufficient), the Arab world is beginning to be seen as a promising market for Argentina's agricultural exports. This is all the more important as Argentina's exports of grain and meat continue to face trade barriers from European countries and the United States, whose commitment to free trade apparently does not include allowing American farmers to be elbowed out by more efficient agricultural producers overseas.
In the rest of Latin America, the Arab world holds similar promise. Other countries, though their exports may be different from Argentina's, are attracted by the Arab world's appetite for imports, especially the oil-exporting countries. Other parts of Latin America also have large and influential Arab communities. What they do not have, for the moment, at least, is a mosque to rival that of Buenos Aires; and a fine symbol of cultural symbiosis it is.
