Palestinians as a Political Force in Latin America

A half-century of political instability in the Middle East has created a huge Palestinian (and Lebanese) diaspora, with a large fraction of migrants from there having settled in several Latin American countries (think of Shakira, for example, the Lebanese-origin Colombian singer). My son, Greg Weeks, has posted several comments on this phenomenon. Chile has a large Palestinian-origin population, and this is almost certainly behind the decision of Chile's President Piñera to support an independent Palestinian state.


At the same time, a PhD student doing research for his dissertation in Honduras has talked about the rise of Protestant Evangelicals in Latin America who have an affinity for the Jewish state and who refer to Palestinians somewhat derogatorily as "turcos."


The Third Latin American-Arab Summit will be held in Peru in February, symptomatic in many ways of these new kinds of ethnic groups rising in Latin America. The feedback from that conference should be very interesting.