Palestinian diaspora

The Palestinian diaspora (Arabic: الشتات الفلسطيني‎, al-shatat al-filastini) are formed of Palestinian-originated communities living outside the region of Palestine.

History

The first large-scale emigration of Palestinian Christians out of Palestine began in the mid-19th century as a response to the oppression of Christians by the Ottoman Empire.[1][2][3]

Palestinian refugees of the 1948 war.

Since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Palestinians have experienced several waves of exile and have spread into different host countries around the world.[4] In addition to the more than 700,000 Palestinian refugees of 1948, hundreds of thousands were also displaced in the 1967 Six-Day War. In fact, after 1967, a number of young Palestinian men were encouraged to migrate to South America.[5] Together, these 1948 and 1967 refugees make up the majority of the Palestinian diaspora.[4][6] Besides those displaced by war, others have emigrated overseas for various reasons such as work opportunity, education[7][8] and religious persecution.[6] In the decade following the 1967 war, for example, an average of 21,000 Palestinians per year were forced out of Israeli-controlled areas.[9] The pattern of Palestinian flight continued during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Population

In the absence of a comprehensive census including all Palestinian diaspora populations and those that remained within the area once known as the Mandatory Palestine, exact population figures are difficult to determine. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the number of Palestinians worldwide at the end of 2003 was 9.6 million, an increase of 800,000 since 2001.[10]

Robin Cohen in his book Global Diasporas (1997), explains that for Palestinians, and others like Armenians, Jews, and some African populations, the term 'diaspora' has "acquired a more sinister and brutal meaning", signifying "a collective trauma, a banishment, where one dreamed of home but lived in exile."[11]

The issue of the Palestinian right of return has been of central importance to Palestinians and more broadly the Arab world since 1948.[4] It is the dream of many in the Palestinian diaspora, and is present most strongly in Palestinian refugee camps.[12] In the largest such camp in Lebanon, Ain al-Hilweh, neighborhoods are named for the Galilee towns and villages from which the original refugees came, such as Az-Zeeb, Safsaf and Hittin.[12] Even though 97% of the camp's inhabitants have never seen the towns and villages their parents and grandparents left behind, most insist that the right of return is an inalienable right and one that they will never renounce.[12]

Population figures

Main article: Palestinian people

It is estimated that more than 6 million Palestinians live in a global diaspora.[13]

The countries outside the Palestinian territories with significant Palestinian populations are:

The majority of the estimated 100,000 Palestinians in the European Union (EU) are in the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Outside the EU is Norway and Switzerland. Germany's capital Berlin has one of the largest Palestinian communities outside of the Middle East with about 30,000-40,000 people of Palestinian origin residing in the city (~1% of the total population) .[14]

In the USA, this includes a Palestinian community of 800-1,000 in Gallup, New Mexico highly involved in the area's Southwest jewelry industry.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Lebanese in the world: a century of emigration, Albert Habib Hourani, Nadim Shehadi, Centre for Lebanese Studies (Great Britain), Centre for Lebanese Studies in association with I.B. Tauris, 1992
  2. ↑ Between Argentines and Arabs: Argentine orientalism, Arab immigrants, and the writing of identity, Christina Civantos, SUNY Press, 2005, p. 6.
  3. ↑ Arab and Jewish immigrants in Latin America: images and realities, by Ignacio Klich, Jeff Lesser, 1998, pp. 165, 108.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Palestinian Diaspora". Le Monde Diplomatique. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
  5. ↑ John Tofik Karam, "On the Trail and Trial of a Palestinian Diaspora…" http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9070730
  6. 1 2 "Middle East: Palestine from www.persecution.org". www.persecution.org. February 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
  7. ↑ "Saudi Arabia finances study abroad for Palestinian students". The embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C. 2007-04-25. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
  8. ↑ "Swarthmore Senior Founds Organization for Palestinian Students in U.S.". Swarthmore. March 27, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-07-19. Retrieved 2007-09-08.
  9. ↑ Palestine Refugees: 50 Years of Injustice," The Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations," http://www.palestine-un.org/info/frindex.html (28 Nov. 2002)
  10. ↑ "Statistical Abstract of Palestine No. 5" (PDF). Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. October 2005. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
  11. ↑ Abbas Shiblak (2005). "Reflections on the Palestinian Diaspora in Europe" (PDF). The Palestinian Diaspora in Europe: Challenges of Dual Identity and Adaptation (Institute of Jerusalem Studies). ISBN 9950-315-04-2. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2008.
  12. 1 2 3 "One Day We'll Rise Again - and Return". Al-Ahram Weekly. 28 October – 3 November 1999. Retrieved 2007-09-11.
  13. ↑ http://www.globalexchange.org/country/palestine/diaspora
  14. ↑

External links

  1. ↑ "Camp Profiles". unrwa.org. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
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