A Concert For Peace In Gaza Brings Together Jews And Palestinians
SANTIAGO, Chile — A concert for peace in Gaza brought together Jews and Palestinians at a Catholic church in Santiago. Some 500 people attended the concert for cello, flute and classical guitar, with two female voices, organized by the Archbishop of Santiago, Cardinal Fernando Chomalí.
“In Chile, the Palestinian and Jewish communities are valued and respected, not only for the contribution they have made to the country, but also for the bonds of friendship they have forged over decades between themselves and the rest of society. Our ties are long standing in schools and universities, in hospitals, in culture, in academia and politics, and in business,” Monsignor Chomalí said in his welcoming remarks.
The archbishop is a descendant of Palestinian immigrants. He organized the July 6 concert in response to Pope Leo XIV’s call to build bridges of dialogue. The late Pope Francis had made the same call.
Palestinians began arriving in Chile at the end of the 19th century. They migrated for economic reasons and settled mainly in Santiago and Valparaíso. Chile has the largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East. Some 500,000 people of Palestinian descent live in the South American country, which has about 19 million inhabitants.
When countries voted on the establishment of the State of Israel in 1947, Chile abstained. The vote, held in the United Nations General Assembly, approved the creation of two states, one Jewish and one Arab, in the territory of the British Mandate for Palestine. The resolution was passed with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, with 10 abstentions.
The Palestinian community in Chile has spread to different areas of society, founding non-profit organizations, schools, and even a soccer club in 1923. Event organizing has increased since the start of the Gaza War in October 2023. The conflict, which has claimed the lives of thousands and displaced millions of Palestinians, prompted Club Deportivo Palestino, one of Chile’s leading football clubs, to launch a keffiyeh-inspired soccer jersey. Part of the proceeds from the sale will go to a refugee camp near Bethlehem.
In addition to Palestinian descendants and Jews, the Apostolic Nuncio, the president of the Senate, the rector of the Catholic University in Santiago, diplomats and politicians were among those who attended the concert at the San Francisco de Sales Church in the Vitacura neighborhood. The ambassadors of Israel and the State of Palestine to Chile did not attend. There was police security at the entrance.
The San Francisco de Sales church was full of candles for the event. The Apostolic Nuncio, Monsignor Kurian Mathew Vayalunkal, who arrived in Chile in June, thanked the organizers and called for peace and unity at the end of the concert. The event lasted an hour, after which people started mingling.
“Using art to convey a message of peace is an important path,” said Juan Aristizábal, an Argentine living in Santiago who attended the concert with his wife.
In Chile, Palestinian descendants and Jews have coexisted for decades.
“The Chilean who is neither Jewish nor Palestinian does not know what this coexistence that truly exists is,” said Patricio Hales at the end of the concert.
A former congressman, his grandfather emigrated from Palestine and settled in southern Chile.
“Cardinal Chomalí’s invitation to both communities indicates a rapprochement and a search for common ground rather than differences,” added Aldo Bril, from the Jewish community in Santiago, as he left the church.
Manuel José Ossandón, president of Chile’s senate, said that Chile shouldn’t import existing conflicts.
“One can have differences, but we are all Chileans first. So let unity and dialogue begin here. I have opposed any act in the Senate that is against anyone,” he added.
His view differs from President Gabriel Boric, who ordered a diversification program to reduce dependence on the Israeli industry. He also excluded Israel from the International Air and Space Fair in April 2024 and most recently announced the withdrawal of military attachés.
In his State of the Union address on June 1, President Boric announced a toughening of Chile’s stance toward Israel, accusing the country’s government of committing genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people.
“The president has made some mistakes because he should understand that his personal opinion represents the state of Chile,” Ossandón said.
Graciela Ibáñez is a journalist with a Master of Arts from Columbia Journalism School, where she graduated in 2008. She works as a professor of journalism at Universidad Gabriela Mistral and at Universidad Viña del Mar in Chile. She covers Chile for foreign media outlets, including TRT World. She worked as a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires in Santiago and for the Financial Times Group in New York City. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Viña del Mar.