Palestinians make impressive mark in Chile

CHILE: In just over a century, Chile’s Palestinian community has achieved things still not possible at home: a widespread rise to prosperity, elite status and even their own football team.

The summit between South America and Arab nations that starts Monday in Lima will honor the swift, surprising development of the community a long way from its homeland, on South America’s Pacific coast. Early on, mostly humble Palestinians in Chile were nicknamed “Turks” because of their Ottoman empire passports in the early 20th century. Now, very prosperous Palestinian immigrants and their descendants number 350,000 people, and enjoy influence in all parts of Chilean society. “There are Palestinians all over the place here,” businessman Nassim Alamo told AFP. A second generation Palestinian-Chilean, he runs a clothing business with his brother Chafik in the capital’s Patronato district.

Once upon a time the neighborhood was the heart of the local Palestinian community. Now, their businesses largely have been bought up by Koreans and Chinese.

Small businesses indeed were the cornerstone of many Palestinians’ success stories here. “They started out selling just anything. They would go out in the fields, where there were no businesses nearby. Since they did not know the language, they would just hold things up to show what they had to sell,” said Nassim.

“It must have been a really hard life. They would walk hundreds of kilometers, all on foot,” said the businessman who at 70 still does his books like his ancestors -- with pencil and paper.

Immigration waves The first Arabs came to Chile in the mid-19th century. But the biggest influx started in the early 1900s as many fled domination by the Turks. Most were from the towns of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahur, and were Christian -- both Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians. What’s not so clear at all is why they chose Chile in the first place.

AFP