{{Short description|Chilean part of the Palestinian diaspora}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{infobox ethnic group | group = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = | caption = | languages = Spanish, Arabic | population = 450,000 - 500,000 (about ~2.7% of the population of 18 million)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nuestro.cl/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127151041/http://www.nuestro.cl/notas/rescate/patronato1.htm|url-status=dead|title=CHILE TRAVEL GUIDE|archivedate=January 27, 2012|website=CHILE TRAVEL GUIDE}}</ref> | popplace = Santiago, La Calera | rels = Majority Christianity (Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism) <br>Minority Islam | related_groups = | related-c = Arab Chileans }}
'''Palestinians in Chile''' ({{langx|ar|فلسطينيو تشيلي}}) are believed to be the largest Palestinian community outside of the Arab world.<ref>{{citation|periodical=El Economista|url=http://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/sociedad/noticias/1028142/02/09/Los-palestinos-miran-con-esperanza-su-futuro-en-Chile-sin-olvidar-Gaza-e-Irak.html|date=2009-02-11|access-date=2009-07-29|title=Los palestinos miran con esperanza su futuro en Chile sin olvidar Gaza e Irak|archive-date=20 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720141121/http://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/sociedad/noticias/1028142/02/09/Los-palestinos-miran-con-esperanza-su-futuro-en-Chile-sin-olvidar-Gaza-e-Irak.html|url-status=live}}</ref> There are around 6 million Palestinians living in diaspora, mainly in the Middle East. There are estimated to be around 450,000 and 500,000 people of Palestinian descent in Chile.<ref>[http://laventana.casa.cult.cu/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=514 500.000 mil descendientes de palestinos en Chile.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722073846/http://laventana.casa.cult.cu/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=514 |date=2009-07-22 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.blog-v.com/arabesenchile/|title=Arabes en Chile|website=www.blog-v.com|access-date=2 May 2012|archive-date=18 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818205502/http://www.blog-v.com/arabesenchile/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.delacole.com/cgi-perl/medios/vernota.cgi?medio=comunidades&numero=510¬a=510-1 |title=Palestinians |access-date=2 May 2012 |archive-date=4 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104175147/http://www.delacole.com/cgi-perl/medios/vernota.cgi?medio=comunidades&numero=510¬a=510-1 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==History== [[File:Palestino - Universidad de Concepción 20190309 01.jpg|thumb|left|Flags of Chile and Palestine.]] The first wave of Palestinian migrants to Chile came in the 1850s during the Crimean War between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire. They worked mainly in agriculture and as businessmen. Successive waves of migrants arrived during World War I and the 1948 Palestine war (Nakba) when Palestine was partitioned.<ref name="Holston" />
By origin, they primarily came from the cities of Beit Jala, Bethlehem, and Beit Sahour.<ref>{{harvnb|Samamé|2003|p=52}}</ref> Most of these early migrants were Christians and they typically landed at Argentine ports, and crossed the Andes by mule into Chile.<ref name="Reuters">{{citation|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE50C4J720090113|periodical=Reuters|last=Cerda|first=Claudio|title=In remote Chile, Palestinians pray for cease-fire|date=2009-01-13|access-date=2009-08-02|archive-date=15 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215153130/http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE50C4J720090113|url-status=live}}</ref> Chilean Palestinians are often erroneously but also intentionally called ''turcos'' (Spanish for Turks) after the Ottoman nationality that early Arab immigrants had on their passports. Contrary to the immigration of Germans and other western European nationalities, the immigration of Palestinians was not considered beneficial by Chilean intellectuals, and was even, alongside Eastern European, Chinese, and Japanese immigration, questioned.<ref name="turcofobia">{{Cite journal|title=La "Turcofobia". Discriminación antiárabe en Chile, 1900-1950|journal=Historia|url=https://revistahistoria.uc.cl/index.php/rhis/article/view/15763/12857|last=Rebolledo Hernández|first=Antonia|volume=28|pages=249–272|year=1994|language=Spanish}}</ref> The arrival of the Palestinian immigrants to Chile in the early 20th century happened at the same time the Chilean state stopped sponsoring immigration to Chile and the country suffered a severe social and economic crisis coupled with a wave of nationalism with xenophobic and racist undertones.<ref name="turcofobia" /> Immigrants were also at times treated in highly denigrating terms by the Chilean press; for example, ''El Mercurio'' wrote in 1911:<ref name="turcofobia" />
{{blockquote|Whether they are Mohammedans or Buddhists, what one can see and smell from far, is that they are more dirty than the dogs of Constantinople...|''El Mercurio, April 13, 1911.''}}
Many of the immigrants were very poor and illiterate and had to take loans to pay their travel costs.<ref name=turcofobia/> Once in Chile, Palestinians settled largely in the marginal areas of cities and worked as small merchants.<ref name=turcofobia/> In the 1950s by the time of the second government of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo many Palestinian-Chileans had acquired substantial economic as well as political power in Chile, some working as deputies, ministers or ambassadors.<ref name=turcofobia/>
Aside from these migrants of previous decades, Chile has also taken in some Palestinian refugees in later years, as in April 2008 when it received 117 from the Al-Waleed refugee camp on the Syria–Iraq border near the Al-Tanf crossing.<ref>{{citation|periodical=BBC World|title=Chile recibirá a refugiados palestinos|first=Andrea|last=Henríquez|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/international/newsid_7305000/7305722.stm|date=2008-03-31|access-date=2009-07-29|archive-date=20 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920161510/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/international/newsid_7305000/7305722.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> All of those refugees were Sunni Muslims.<ref name=turcofobia/>
People who hold a diplomatic or official Palestinian passport can visit Chile as tourists for up to 90 days, without a visa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bcn.cl/leychile|title=Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional | Ley Chile|first=Biblioteca del Congreso|last=Nacional|website=www.bcn.cl/leychile|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=24 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524064301/http://www.bcn.cl/leychile/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Religion== The vast majority of the Palestinian community in Chile follow Christianity. The largest denomination is Orthodox Christian followed by Roman Catholic, and the number of Palestinian Christians in the diaspora in Chile alone exceeds the number of those who have remained in their homeland.<ref name="Holston"/> One early Palestinian church in Santiago, the Iglesia Ortodoxa San Jorge, was founded in 1917.<ref name="LaCuarta"/> The rest are Sunni Muslims.
==Community organizations== [[File:Palestino - Alianza Lima 20190204 02.jpg|thumb|Club Deportivo Palestino has won twice the Chilean football league and reached the semi-finals of the Copa Libertadores.]] The Club Palestino is one of the most prestigious social clubs in Santiago; it offers swimming, tennis, and dining facilities to its members. There is also a soccer team, C.D. Palestino, whose uniform is in the traditional Palestinian colours red, green, and white. The team has been champion of the Chilean Primera División twice.<ref name="Holston">{{citation |periodical=Américas |last=Holston |first=Mark |date=2005-11-01 |access-date=2009-07-29 |url=http://www.articlearchives.com/south-america/chile-santiago-chile/914068-1.html |issn=0379-0975 |title=Orgullosos palestinos de Chile |language=es |archive-date=5 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505135845/http://www.articlearchives.com/south-america/chile-santiago-chile/914068-1.html |url-status=live }} *English version: {{citation |periodical=Americas |last=Holston |first=Mark |date=2005-11-01 |access-date=2018-05-12 |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Proud+Palestinians+of+Chile.-a0147747796 |title=Proud Palestinians of Chile |archive-date=12 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180512113119/https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Proud+Palestinians+of+Chile.-a0147747796 |url-status=live }}</ref> Also, some Chilean-Palestinian footballers like Roberto Bishara and Alexis Norambuena have played for the Palestine national football team. Other Chileans of Palestinian origin, such as Luis Antonio Jiménez, played international football for Chile and several foreign clubs.
A number of Palestinians in Chile have shown significant concern with the situation of Palestine, for example, the president of the Cámara de Comercio (chamber of commerce) of the Barrio Patronato, himself a Palestinian, in 2006 organised a protest regarding the 2006 Lebanon War; Lebanese and Palestinian flags were widely seen in the neighbourhood's streets at that time.<ref name="LaCuarta">{{citation|periodical=La Cuarta|url=http://www.cuarta.cl/diario/2006/08/09/09.03.4a.CRO.PATRONATO.html|date=2006-08-09|access-date=2009-07-29|title=Palestino lucha por la paz desde Patronato: Carlos Abusleme chantó banderas en honor a los caídos del pueblo libanés|archive-date=7 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707005943/http://www.cuarta.cl/diario/2006/08/09/09.03.4a.CRO.PATRONATO.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On another occasion, outside the ''Club Palestino'' and again in front of the ''Colegio Árabe'', someone wrote on the sidewalk "''Árabe=terrorismo''" ("Arabs=terrorism") and "''Palestina no existe''" ("Palestine does not exist").<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.diarioeldia.cl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24437&Itemid=127 |title=Palestinos inquietos por rayados ofensivos |periodical=Diario el Día |access-date=2009-07-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707010629/http://www.diarioeldia.cl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24437&Itemid=127 |archive-date=2011-07-07 }}</ref>
In August 2025, the Palestine Football Association relocated its base of operations to the country due to the large diaspora in the country as well as its distance from the Gaza war.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://efe.com/en/other-news/2025-07-30/palestines-2030-world-cup-quest-finds-haven-in-chile/|title=Palestine's 2030 World Cup quest finds haven in Chile - EFE|first=Agencia|last=EFE|date=July 30, 2025}}</ref>
==In literature== A number of Chilean novels have featured Palestinian characters and discussed the experience of Palestinian immigrants in the country, such as ''El viajero de la alfombra mágica'' by Walter Garib, ''Los turcos'' by Roberto Sarah, and ''Peregrino de ojos brillantes'', by Jaime Hales.<ref>{{harvnb|Samamé|2003}}</ref>
==Notable people== {{columns-list|colwidth=30em| *Edgardo Abdala, footballer * Lina Meruane, writer * Ricardo Meruane, humorist * Nelly Meruane, actress *Carlos Abumohor, businessman and investor *Roberto Bishara Adawi, footballer *Francisco Chahuán, politician *Diamela Eltit, writer *Cardinal Fernando Chomalí Garib, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Santiago *Daud Gazale, footballer *Annemarie Jacir, movie director and photographer *Daniel Jadue, politician *Matías Jadue, footballer *Sergio Jadue, football executive *Luis Antonio Jiménez, footballer *Roberto Kettlun Beshe, footballer *Miguel Littin, movie director and screenwriter *Lina Meruane, writer *Luis Musrri, footballer *Miguel Nasur Allel, businessman and football club owner *Christopher Penroz, footballer *José Said, businessman *Álvaro Saieh, businessman *Arturo Salah, former football player *Fernando Solabarrieta Chelech, journalist, TV presenter *Rafael Tarud Siwady, politician *José Zalaquett Daher, lawyer *Leonardo Harum Amaro, footballer *Marko Zaror, martial artist, actor *Elyanna (''née'' Elian Amer Marjieh), singer and songwriter }}
==See also== *Chile–Palestine relations *Arab Chileans *Lebanese Chileans *Immigration to Chile
==References== ===Notes=== {{reflist|2}}
===Sources=== *{{citation|doi=10.4067/S0718-09342003005300004|title=Transculturación, identidad y alteridad en novelas de la inmigración árabe hacia Chile|first=María Olga|last=Samamé|journal=Revista Signos|year=2003|volume=36|issue=53|pages=51–73|url=http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-09342003005300004&script=sci_arttext|issn=0718-0934|doi-access=free}}
==External links== {{commons category}} *[http://www.arabe.cl/chile/escritores.html Escritores chilenos de origen arabe] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20010730040133/http://www.palestinos.com/ Fundación Palestina Belén 2000-Chile] *[http://www.federacionpalestina.cl/ Federación Palestina de Chile] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100414121322/http://www.ugep.cl/ Unión General de Estudiantes Palestinos de Chile] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20111107203930/http://www.nuestro.cl/notas/rescate/patronato_palestinos1.htm Comerciante palestino en Patronato], an article from the Corporación del Patrimonio Cultural de Chile
{{Palestinian diaspora}} {{Ethnic groups in Chile}}
Category:Arab diaspora in Chile Category:Ethnic groups in Chile Category:Chilean people of Palestinian descent Category:Palestinian diaspora in South America