Pro-Palestinian diaspora rally for Palestine in London’s Trafalgar Square. Photo credit: Politico
Morgan Lima
The America-Eurasia Center
The Middle East Program
www.EurasiaCenter.org
The America-Eurasia Business Coalition
www.usebc.org
The Palestinian Diaspora first began in 1948 when Israel took over Gaza and the West
Bank. Since then, Palestinians have lived in numerous countries around the world. Palestine
refugees are best defined by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency as “persons whose normal
place of residence was Palestine during June 1, 1946 to May 15, 1948, and who lost both home and
means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.”1 There are approximately one-third of
recognized Palestine refugees living in refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab
Republic, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.2 The estimated total of Palestinians at the end of 2021 is approximately 14 million all over the world.3 Although Palestinians are now in various different countries, there is still a part of them that feel like they are not home and want to return back to Palestine.
Although approximately 2.2 million Palestinians do remain in Gaza, Jordan also has a large
population of Palestinians. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan donated 4.3 million US dollars in
support of the UNRWA during this time of crisis for Gaza.4 This assistance from Jordan, which is
the first in cash in the history of the UNRWA, will help the teams in Gaza to respond to
humanitarian needs including delivering food and other basic needs to those impacted by the
current conflict.5 With this large population of Palestinians, Jordan as a country is very willing to
provide aid and help Gaza during this time of struggle for many individuals.
As Palestinians continue to fight for their country and feel a sense of belonging, there are
still some underlying fears that remain in the future. In AP News the article, “Why Egypt and other
Arab countries are unwilling to take in Palestinian refugees from Gaza,” Jack Jeffery and Samy
Magdy report about the constant fear that this conflict could cause Israel to permanently force all
Palestinians out. They state, “Arab countries and many Palestinians also suspect Israel might use
this opportunity to force permanent demographic changes to wreck Palestinian demands for statehood in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which was also captured by Israel in 1967.”6
Although these fears have been ongoing since 1948, this current conflict has only caused those
concerns to heighten.7
The continued conflict has also caused Palestinians all around the world to protest. Chile
has the largest Palestinian population outside the Middle East.8 Since the Hamas attacks, Chile has
been very vocal on their views. This has made Chile one of the loudest regional voices criticizing
Israel.9 President Gabriel Boric of Chile recalled the country’s ambassador in Tel Aviv and said
that Israel was not abiding by International law.10 There has been a strong presence of Palestinians in Chile since the 19th century, which is why the country is so passionate with what is occurring in
that region although they are rather far from the current conflict.
Another country that is experiencing this Palestinian diaspora that has a large Palestinian
population is Australia. There have been many instances where Australians that are of Palestinian
descent have wanted to put the Palestinian flag out to show support of their home country. This is
something that some politicians in Australia have struggled with. In the article, “Agony for
Australia’s Palestinian Community as War Rages on in Gaza,” Dechlan Brennan expresses how
Australians feel about the situation occurring abroad as well as how those in political power in
Australia view this issue and how it impacts the people of their country. Brennan writes, “However,
Liberal opposition leader Peter Dutton disagrees, the Labor minister Tony Burke-whose electorate
covers the council mentioned above-condemned Hamas but added that such a condemnation was
not ‘somehow weakened if you do something to acknowledge the Palestinian loss of life.’ Dutton
decided this was akin to weakness.”11 Prior to this statement it was said that a local council gave
permission to fly the Palestinian flag, as there have been multiple other flags flown without needing
permission.
As we have seen the support coming from not only Middle Eastern countries that are close
and directly impacted by this conflict such as Jordan, as well as countries that are further from the
conflict like Chile and Australia, this shows the dedication and passion in the Palestinian
population. All over the world, Palestinians of numerous other countries have stood up for their
relatives and loved ones globally to speak out about what is happening. This has shown the
importance of the Palestinian diaspora and why this has impacted not only so many individuals, but
also so many countries. These people have shown that Palestine is not only a country, but it is an ethnicity which many identify with and it is bringing Palestinians all around the world together in
protest to what is currently taking place between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Bibliography
1.UNRWA, “Palestine Refugees | Unrwa,” United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East, accessed November 27, 2023, https://www.unrwa.org/palestine-refugees.
2. Ibid., https://www.unrwa.org/palestine-refugees.
3. Arab Center Washington DC, “Brief Report on the Population of Palestine at the End of 2021,” Arab Center
Washington DC, January 30, 2023, https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/brief-report-on-the-population-of-palestine-at-the-end-of-2021/#:~:text=The%20 estimated%20number%20of%20
Palestinians,countries%20and%20750%2C000%20in%20 foreign.
4. UNRWA, “Jordan Donates US$ 4.3 Million in Support of Palestine Refugees and UNRWA Operations in the Gaza Strip [En/Ar] – Occupied Palestinian Territory,” ReliefWeb, October 12, 2023, https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-
palestinian-territory/jordan-donates-us-43-million-support-palestine-refugees-and-unrwa-operations-gaza-strip-
enar#:~:text=Jordan%20 donates%20 US%24%204.3%20 million,%5D%20%2D%20 occupied%20 Palestinian%20
territory%20%7C%20ReliefWeb.
5. Ibid.,https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/jordan-donates-us-43-million-support-palestine-
refugees-and-unrwa-operations-gaza-strip-enar#:~:text=Jordan%20 donates%20 US%24%204.3%20
million,%5D%20%2D%20 occupied%20 Palestinian%20 territory%20%7C%20ReliefWeb.
6. Jack Jeffery and Samy Magdy, “Why Egypt and Other Arab Countries Are Unwilling to Take in Palestinian Refugees
from Gaza,” AP News, October 19, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/palestinian-jordan-egypt-israel-refugee-
502c06d004767d4b64848d878b66bd3d.
7. Alexander Villegas, “In Chile, a Palestinian Diaspora Makes Its Voice Heard on Gaza,” Reuters, November 7, 2023,
https://www.reuters.com/world/chile-palestinian-diaspora-makes-its-voice-heard-gaza-2023-11-07/.
8. Ibid., https://www.reuters.com/world/chile-palestinian-diaspora-makes-its-voice-heard-gaza-2023-11-07/.
9. Ibid., https://www.reuters.com/world/chile-palestinian-diaspora-makes-its-voice-heard-gaza-2023-11-07/.
10. Ibid., https://www.reuters.com/world/chile-palestinian-diaspora-makes-its-voice-heard-gaza-2023-11-07/.
11. Dechlan Brennan, “Agony for Australia’s Palestinian Community as War Rages on in Gaza,” – The Diplomat,
November 2, 2023, https://thediplomat.com/2023/11/agony-for-australias-palestinian-community-as-war-rages-on-in-gaza/.
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