Palestinian diaspora

Palestinians
(الفلسطينيون al-Filasṭīniyyūn)

Tawfiq Canaan • Edward Said • Mahmoud Darwish • Leila Khaled Yassir Arafat • Mohammad Bakri • Hanan Ashrawi • Queen Rania of Jordan
Total population
c. 11,000,000-20,000,000
Regions with significant populations
Palestinian territories 3,760,000 [1] – West Bank (including East Jerusalem) 2,345,000 [1] – Gaza Strip 1,416,000 [1]  Jordan 2,700,000 [2][3]  Israel 1,540,000 [4]  Syria 630,000  Chile 500,000 [5]  Lebanon 402,582  Saudi Arabia 280,245  Egypt 270,245  United States 255,000 [6]  Honduras 250,000  United Arab Emirates 170,000  Germany 159,000 [7]  Mexico 158,000  Qatar 100,000  Kuwait 70,000  El Salvador 70,000  Brazil 59,000 [8]  Iraq 57,000 [9]  Yemen 55,000  Canada 50,975 [10]  Australia 45,000  Libya 44,000  Denmark 32,152  UK 30,000  Sweden 25,000 [11]  Peru 20,000  Colombia 12,000  Pakistan 10,500  Netherlands 9,000
Languages
Palestinian territories Palestinian Arabic, English, Neo-Aramaic, and Greek. Israel Palestinian Arabic and Modern Hebrew, English, Neo-Aramaic, Modern Hebrew and Greek Diaspora: Other varieties of Arabic, Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, and others
Religion
Sunni Islam, Christianity, Druze, Judaism, Samaritanism
Related ethnic groups
Other Levantine, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Semitic peoples: Jews, Arabs, Assyrians.[12][13] [14]

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Palestinians
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Definitions · Palestine · History · Name · People · Diaspora Refugee camps · Arab citizens of Israel
Politics
Past Arab Higher Committee · All-Palestine Gov-t · PLO · PFLP · Depopulated villages Today Fatah · Hamas · Islamic Jihad · Political parties in the PNA PNA · Hamas gov-t Districts · Governorates · Cities · Arab localities in Israel PNC · PLC · General Palestinian flag · Law Territories: (West Bank · Gaza Strip · E. Jerusalem)
Religion / Religious sites
Islam · Christianity · Judaism Dome of the Rock Al-Aqsa Mosque Great Mosque of Gaza Cave of the Patriarchs Church of the Holy Sepulchre Basilica of the Annunciation Church of the Nativity Joseph's Tomb · Rachel's Tomb Lot's Tomb · Nabi Samwil
Culture
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Notable Palestinians
Mahmoud Abbas · Naji al-Ali Hanan Ashrawi Hany Abu-Assad Tawfiq Canaan Mahmoud Darwish · Emile Habibi Atallah Hanna Faisal Husseini Haj Amin al-Husseini Abd al-Qader al-Husseini Ghassan Kanafani Ghada Karmi · Leila Khaled Walid Khalidi Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Edward Said · Khalil al-Sakakini Ahmad Shukeiri · Elia Suleiman Fadwa Touqan · Ibrahim Touqan Khalil al-Wazir · Ahmed Yassin May Ziade · Wael Zwaiter
v t e

Palestinian diaspora (Arabic: 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.^[15] Of the total Palestinian population worldwide, estimated at between 9 to 11 million people, roughly half live outside of their homeland.

Large-scale emigration of Christians began in the mid-19th century as a response to the oppression of Christians by the Ottoman Empire.^{[16][17][18][19]}

Since the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Palestinians have experienced several waves of exile and lived in different host countries around the world.^[20] 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.^[20] Besides those displaced by war, others have emigrated overseas for various reasons such as work opportunity, education,^[21][22] religious persecution^[23] 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.^[24] The pattern of Palestinian flight continued during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s 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.^[25]

Arab refugees of 1948 war

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."^[15]

The issue of the Palestinian right of return has been of central importance to Palestinians and more broadly the Arab World since 1948.^[20] It is the dream of many in the Palestinian Diaspora, and is present most strongly in Palestinian refugee camps.^[26] 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.^[26] 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.^[26]

Population figures

The majority of the Palestinian diaspora are in the Middle East,^[1] other than the state of Israel (indicated population statistics) :

• Jordan : 2,700,000 Palestinians (both refugees and Jordanian citizens)^{[3][citation needed]}.
• Chile : 500,000 Palestinians (largest community outside the Arab world)^[27][28][29]
• Syria : 434,896 Palestinians^[30]
• Lebanon : 430,000 Palestinians^[1]
• Saudi Arabia : 250,000 Palestinians^[1]
• Europe : 70,000 to 100,000 Palestinians^{[citation needed]}
• Egypt : 70,000 Palestinians^[31]
• United States of America : 67,842 Palestinians^[32]
• Honduras : 54,000 Palestinians
• Brazil : 50,000 Palestinians^[33]
• Iraq : 34,000 Palestinians^[34]
• Canada : 23,975 Palestinians^[35]
• Australia : 15,000 Palestinians^[1]
• East Asia : 12,000 Palestinians^[1]

In 2007, Japan accepted and created a "Palestinian nationality" to designate Palestinian people living in the country, instead of their birth in Israeli occupied territories.^{[citation needed]}

Other populations are found in mostly Muslim countries known for more political stability (i.e. Bahrain, Jordan, Libya, Qatar, Syria and Tunisia).

In 2004, the population of Palestinians in the historic Palestine lands made up of the Palestinian Authority (Israel and Jordan):

• 900 000 Palestinians in Israel (excluding East Jerusalem);
• 1,300,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip;^[1]
• 200,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem;^[1]
• 2,200,000 Palestinians in Jordan.^[1]

About 350,000 Palestinians live in the Persian Gulf states and in other mostly Muslim countries (i.e. Azerbaijan, Iran, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Turkey and the U.A.E.).

The majority of the estimated 100,000 Palestinians in the E.U. are in the UK, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Outside the E.U. 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 (~1% of the total population) people of Palestinian origin residing in the city.^[36]

Small numbers of Palestinians are found in Eastern Europe such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia and the Ukraine.

Palestinians, along with other Arab peoples alike the Lebanese migrated to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Southeast Asia, and in West Africa and West Indies nations.

The French Le Monde Diplomatique ("The Diplomatic World") has two web sites with more accurate information on the Palestinian diaspora:

• The global Palestinian diaspora in the world (in French), Fébruary 2000;
• The Palestinian Refugee population in the Middle East (in French), Fébruary 2000.

Palestine Populations in the Diaspora

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2011)

Country	Estimate	See Article in Wikipedia
Palestine	4,200,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_Authority
Jordan	2,900,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan
Israel	1,800,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_citizens_of_Israel
Syria	800,000
Chile	500,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_community_in_Chile
Lebanon	490,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinians_in_Lebanon
United States	452,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_American
Saudi Arabia	350,000
Egypt	270,245
Honduras	250,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honduras
El Salvador	250,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_El_Salvador
Venezuela	245,120	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Venezuelan
Germany	200,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs_in_Berlin
United Arab Emirates	170,000
Mexico	158,000
Qatar	100,000
Kuwait	100,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_expulsion_from_Kuwait
Brazil	59,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Brazilian
Iraq	57,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinians_in_Iraq
Yemen	55,000
Canada	50,975
Australia	45,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Australian
Libya	44,000
Eritrea	41,000
Denmark	40,952	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark%E2%80%93Palestine_relations
United Kingdom	30,000
Sweden	25,500
Nicaragua	25,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Nicaraguan
Peru	20,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Peruvian
Colombia	20,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_diaspora_in_Colombia
Costa Rica	15,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Costa_Rica
Cuba	15,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubans
Italy	15,000
Tunisia	12,000
Spain	12,000
Template:Country data East Asia	12,000
Guatemala	12,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_Guatemala
Algeria	10,500
Panama	10,000
Netherlands	10,000
Greece	9,500
Norway	9,000
Pakistan	8,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs_in_Pakistan
France	7,000
Haiti	7,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Haitian
Puerto Rico	7,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_people#Others
Dominican Republic	7,000	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic#Demographics
Austria	3,000
Switzerland	2,000
Argentina	2,000
Czech Republic	1,500
Turkey	1,000
Belize	1,000
India	300

See also

• 1948 Palestinian exodus
• 1991 Palestinian exodus from Kuwait
• Arab diaspora
• List of Palestinians
• Palestinian Christian
• Jewish diaspora

References

External links

• Shaml - The Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Centre
• The Palestinian Christian Diaspora in Jordan

v t e Palestinians Muslims Christians Jews Samaritans Arab citizens of Israel Diaspora Australia Brazil Chile Colombia Iraq Kuwait Lebanon Nicaragua Pakistan Peru United States

v t e Palestinian refugee camps1 locations and populations as of 2005  Gaza Strip 986,034 refugees  Jordan 2,127,877 refugees  Lebanon 404,170 refugees  Syria 432,048 refugees  West Bank 699,817 refugees Al-Shati (Beach) 76,109 Bureij 30,059 Deir al-Balah 20,188 Jabalya 175,646 Khan Yunis 60,662 Maghazi 22,536 Nuseirat 64,233 Rafah 90,638 Canada Camp disbanded Amman New 390,805 Baqa'a 120,100 Husn 19,573 Irbid camp 35,512 Jabal el-Hussein 100,674 Jerash 30,696 Marka 41,237 Souf 21,911 Talbieh 4,041 Zarqa 180,344 Beddawi 15,695 Burj el-Barajneh 19,526 Burj el-Shemali 18,134 Dbayeh 4,223 Dikwaneh destroyed Ein el-Hilweh 44,133 El-Buss 9,840 Jisr el-Basha destroyed Mar Elias 1,406 Mieh Mieh 5,078 Nabatieh destroyed Nahr el-Bared 28,358 Rashidieh 24,679 Sabra Shatila 11,998 Tel al-Zaatar destroyed Wavel 7,357 Dera'a 5,916 Dera'a (emergency) 5,536 Hama 7,597 Homs 13,825 Jaramana 5,007 Khan Dunoun 8,603 Khan Eshieh 15,731 Neirab 17,994 Qabr Essit 16,016 Sbeineh 19,624 Latakia 6,534 Yarmouk 350,550 Ein Al-Tal 4,329 Abu Dis Aida 3,260 Am'ari 8,083 Aqabat Jabr 5,197 al-'Arrub 9,180 Askar 31,894 'Azza 1,828 Balata 41,681 Deir Ammar 2,189 Dheisheh 10,923 Ein Beit al-Ma' 6,221 Ein as-Sultan 1,888 Far'a 12,836 Fawwar 7,072 Jalazone 9,284 Jenin 35,050 Kalandia 9,188 Nur Shams 8,179 Shuafat (Shu'fat) 9,567 Tulkarm 17,259 1 The UNRWA definition of a "Palestinian refugee" is a person "whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict ... UNRWA's definition of a refugee also covers the descendants of persons who became refugees in 1948." [1] Palestinian exodus · United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)