Palestinian diaspora

Palestinian diaspora ( _ar. الشتات, "al-shatat") is a term used to describe Palestinians living outside of historic Palestine - an area today known as Israel and the Palestinian territories or the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.cite journal|title=The Palestinian Diaspora: Formation of Identities and Politics of Homeland|author=Helena Shiblak|journal="Journal of Refugee Studies"|date=2005|accessdate=2007-09-05|volume=18|pages=507–509|url=http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/18/4/507|doi=10.1093/refuge/fei051] Of the total Palestinian population worldwide, estimated at between 9 to 11 million people, roughly half live outside of their homeland. Since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Palestinians have experienced several waves of exile and lived in different host countries around the world.cite web|title=The Palestinian Diaspora|publisher=Le Monde Diplomatique|accessdate=2007-09-05|url=http://mondediplo.com/focus/mideast/a2335] In addition to the Palestinian refugees of 1948, hundreds of thousands were also displaced in the 1967 war. Together, these refugees make up the majority of the Palestinian diaspora. Besides those displaced by war, others have emigrated overseas for various reasons such as work opportunity, education, [cite web|title=Saudi Arabia finances study abroad for Palestinian students |publisher=The embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C.|date=2007-04-25|accessdate=2007-09-08|url=http://www.saudiembassy.net/2007News/News/NewsDetail.asp?cIndex=7101] [cite web|title=Swarthmore Senior Founds Organization for Palestinian Students in U.S. | publisher=Swarthmore|date=March 27, 2006|accessdate=2007-09-08|url=http://www.swarthmore.edu/x3335.xml] religious persecution [cite web|title=Middle East: Palestine from www.persecution.org | publisher www.persecution.org|date=February 2007|accessdate=2007-09-08|url=http://www.persecution.org/suffering/countryinfodetail.php?countrycode=36] and persecution from Israeli authorities. In the decade following the 1967 war, for example, an average of 21,000 Palestinians per year were forced out of Israeli-controlled areas.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)] The pattern of Palestinian flight continued during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. In 2002, for example, 13 militants were deported by Israeli authorities following the Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

In the absence of a comprehensive census including all Palestinian diaspora populations and those that remained within the area once known as British Mandate 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.cite web|title=Statistical Abstract of Palestine No. 5|publisherPalestine Central Bureau of Statistics|date=October 2005|accessdate=2007-09-05|url=http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/PressRelease/abstract_e.pdf] 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."cite journal|title=Reflections on the Palestinian Diaspora in Europe|author=Abbas Shiblak|journal="The Palestinian Diaspora in Europe: Challenges of Dual Identity and Adaptation"|publisher=Institute of Jerusalem Studies|isbn=9950315042|date=2005|url=http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/PDFs/Shiblak.pdf]

The issue of the Palestinian right of return has been of central importance to Palestinians and more broadly the Arab World since 1948. It is the dream of many in the Palestinian Diaspora, and is present most strongly in Palestinian refugee camps.cite web|title=One Day We'll Rise Again - and Return|publisher=Al-Ahram Weekly|date=28 October - 3 November 1999|accessdate=2007-09-11|url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1999/453/re5.htm] In the largest such camp in Lebanon, Ain Hilweh, neighborhoods are named for the Galilee towns and villages from which the original refugees came, such as al-Zeeb, Safsaf and Hittin. 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.

ee also

* 1948 Palestinian exodus
* Arab diaspora
* List of Palestinians
* Palestinian Christian

References

External links

* [http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-2922-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html Shaml - The Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Centre]
* [http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:DhbmkFZspbYJ:www.surrey.ac.uk/Arts/CRONEM/krakow/Luisa-Gandolfo.doc The Palestinian Christian Diaspora in Jordan]