The Palestinians in Peru

The migration of Palestinians to Peru resulted from the same factors that prompted their migration to other countries in the Americas , particularly Latin America . Many left Palestine, which was under Ottoman rule, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for economic, political, and cultural reasons.

Causes of Palestinian Emigration

On the economic level, the cottage industry (weaving, dressmaking, ceramics, pottery, furniture, etc.), subject to competition from products imported from Europe, was going through a serious crisis. Moreover, the issuance in 1858 of the Ottoman Land Code that permitted the private ownership of vast tracts of land, and the generalization of the monetary economy resulted in the transformation of the forms of land ownership, causing a concentration of land ownership in a period of strong demographic growth.

Politically, the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were marked by the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of nationalism within it. The seizure of power in 1908 by the Young Turks was intended to consolidate the empire by strengthening political and administrative centralization. The new power violently repressed the emerging nationalist movements, as well as religious minorities. As it introduced compulsory military service for all Ottoman citizens in 1909, many young Christian Palestinians preferred then to go into exile rather than be conscripted into the army.

On the cultural and religious level, the European nations and the United States provided assistance for the creation of missionary schools, intended above all for Christian pupils. This led to new aspirations among them and encouraged the idea of migration to the West. In addition, pilgrimage to the Holy Places of Palestine, concentrated at that time mainly in the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem , allowed almost permanent contact between the Palestinians of these cities and foreigners. It is therefore not surprising that the great majority of emigrants in the nineteenth century and up to 1948 came from this region, especially from Bethlehem and the two neighboring towns of Beit Jala and Beit Sahur , villages whose population was almost exclusively Christian at that time.

Pioneers of Small Trade in the South of Peru

Peru was not initially the preferred destination for Palestinian emigrants. Located on the Pacific coast, it was a difficult country to reach for emigrants who arrived to the continent by ship and disembarked in the Atlantic ports, especially in Buenos Aires in Argentina or Montevideo in Uruguay . From there, most of them went to Chile , then in full economic expansion, while others preferred to try their luck in Bolivia . Only a few continued on to Peru. Almost all of these immigrants had the same project: to achieve financial autonomy as quickly as possible through the practice of small-scale itinerant trade, which led the new incomers to conquer new markets, ever further away from the port of disembarkation.

At the end of the nineteenth century, Peru, despite its drawbacks, was not totally deprived of assets. During that period, the Peruvian Andean South underwent a considerable economic boom; the development of the wool trade attracted English companies in search of raw materials for their textile industry. The English commercial companies promoted the construction of the railroad lines to convey the wool from the south of Peru to the Pacific coast for its export in England and to facilitate the import to Peru of English manufactured textile products.

The Palestinians headed for the Andean South of Peru from Argentina and Bolivia. They settled in the cities along the new railroad stations, notably Arequipa , Sicuani , and Cusco ; in fact, their arrival in Peru closely followed the construction of the railroad. In these cities, they worked as peddlers but also opened small stores, selling mainly textiles.

The commercial dynamism of the Palestinians, combined with their know-how, allowed them to quickly dominate the small trade of the Andean South, which was not developed at that time. But their commercial successes threatened their wholesale suppliers, who tried to eliminate them. They did not succeed and, on the contrary, it was the Palestinian merchants who progressively intervened in the wholesale trade and even in import-export.

Their commercial success is essentially due to their organization and their traditional work ethic. They work as a family. Their place of work and residence are generally the same, which allows for very long business hours. The store is a space of sociability, as in the East. Commerce is conceived as a service, in the strongest sense of the term—hence the welcoming demeanor, availability, and friendliness of the shopkeepers toward their customers.

By the 1920s, the Palestinians felt confident enough by their economic success to head for the capital, Lima , the nerve center of the country. They created branches of their commercial companies and soon started an industrial adventure, first in textiles and much later in plastics. They encouraged their children to pursue higher education and some of them practiced liberal professions.

Social Organization and Ethnic Solidarity

One of the keys to the economic success of the Palestinians was their strong solidarity with one another, due in large part to their shared background: they came from the Bethlehem area, and primarily from Beit Jala. Many were related to one another and almost all were Orthodox Christians. A migratory chain was quickly established based on traditional social structures: clan, village, and confession.

Once established in Peru, Palestinians felt the need to create community structures. For the first generation of immigrants, these associations were places of meeting and celebration of traditional festivals; they were conceived as a kind of reciprocal mutual assurance network and helped newcomers integrate in the Peruvian society.

Subsequently, and especially after most of the Palestinians had settled in Lima, they decided to create an expanded community structure in 1954, the Club Union Arabe Palestino . By then, the Palestinian community had changed socially, especially due to the arrival of some Muslim families, mainly after 1948, and also due to the diversification of professions held by the immigrants and their descendants. The new Palestinian club went beyond the original community, village, and confessional ties; it is open to all Palestinians in Peru and admits anyone from the (small) Lebanese immigrant community who wishes to join. The club represents the Palestinian community in Peru unofficially and gives it institutional visibility. The club has hosted national and international political figures, including the presidents of Peru several times.

Other institutions were established to support the work of Palestinians in Peru in various fields: economic (Camara de Comercio Arabe-Palestina , Circulo de Profesionales de Ascendencia Arabe ) and charitable (Sociedad Arabe de Beneficiencia ). These associations were federated in 1976 in FEARAB-Peru (Federacion de Entidades Arabes), a federation that is affiliated with FEARAB-America , created in 1973.

Today, however, a certain loosening of community ties is perceptible. Young people are less likely to attend the club than their elders, feeling less need for cultural resourcing than the latter. Arabic is not typically spoken at home and few Palestinian cultural traditions are maintained, except for the cuisine. However, even if Palestinians have gradually adopted the Peruvian Creole culture, their sociability and values, especially those related to the family and more specifically to family honor, remain distinctive characteristics.

The Dual Loyalty of Palestinians

Palestinian immigrants have always shown great loyalty to their country of origin, Palestine, as well as to their host country, Peru. They gradually developed a Palestinian national identity as the national claim in Palestine grew since the 1920s. They experienced the partition of Palestine and the creation of the State of Israel as traumatic events. After 1948, they quickly saw the arrival in Peru of Christian and Muslim compatriots who, although not strictly speaking refugees, preferred to leave Palestine because of the extremely conflictive and uncertain context. From then on, their support for the "Palestinian cause" has remained unwavering.

The creation of the PLO in 1964 and even more so the official opening of a PLO representative office in Lima in 1979 were decisive moments in the mobilization of Palestinians. The PLO representative in Peru encouraged Palestinians to form political institutions that could support PLO action. In 1984, the Confederacion Palestina de Latino America y el Caribe (COPLAC) was created. A Palestinian from Peru, Mario Roberto Abusabal , was part of the first COPLAC board. In 1984, the Federacion Palestina del Peru (FPP) was created and became a member of COPLAC. In 1987, Peru hosted the second COPLAC congress. With the same objectives, the PLO encouraged the formation of a youth organization called Sanaud (“We will return”), whose Peruvian branch was hosted by the Club of Lima . A National Congress of the Palestinian Youth was held in Lima in 1986 in the premises of the Club. Moreover, the Palestinians of Peru sent two elected representatives, Hanna Kahhat Thride and Mejid Issa Hamideh , to the Palestinian National Congress (PNC) to participate in the session of the PNC held in 1991 in Algiers .

The presence of the PLO Office in Lima, together with the work of Palestinian institutions in Peru, greatly influenced the Peruvian position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With the first presidency of Alan Garcia (1985-1990), a significant rapprochement between the Peruvian state and the Arab countries took place. He appointed experts of Palestinian origin to key positions in the national economy and in some ministries. During his second term (2006-2011), Peru officially recognized the State of Palestine. His successor as president, Ollanta Humala , appointed a Palestinian, Omar Chehade , as vice-president and cast Peru's vote for Palestine’s admission to UNESCO as a full member in 2011 and then to the UN as a "non-member observer state" in 2012.

Palestinians have been increasingly involved in Peru's institutional political life, thanks to their economic success and their increasingly effective integration into Peruvian society; for the men, integration was facilitated by marriage with Peruvian women, which became more common ever since the third generation of immigrants. Starting in the 1970s, some began to run for local political office and were elected mayors, mainly in districts of the capital; others worked as senior civil servants of the State, and a few accept ministerial portfolios. The most prominent examples are Yehude Simon , grandson of an emigrant from Beit Jala who became prime minister in 2008-09, and Daniel Abugattas Majluf , former president of the FPP who became president of Congress in 2011-12, where he created the Peru-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship League .

The patriotic loyalty of Palestinians to their new homeland, Peru, is undeniable. They themselves never lose an opportunity to publicly affirm themselves as fully Peruvian. They see no contradiction between this patriotism and their still strong identification with Palestine. As far as they are concerned, these two patriotisms do not compete, perhaps because they are not expressed in the same situations. Their dual loyalty is not feigned and corresponds to the mixed identity they have gradually forged for themselves. They sincerely consider themselves both Peruvians and Palestinians.

A Small but Well-Established Palestinian Diaspora in Peru

Today, about ten thousand Peruvians are of Palestinian descent. In the early days of Palestinian migration to Peru, only a minority of immigrants returned to Palestine. Compared to their economic and social success in Peru, the economic and political situation in Palestine, together with the rise of Zionism and the creation of the State of Israel, made any plans to return permanently virtually unthinkable. Some, however, continue to maintain the link with the motherland and the family back home through periodic visits.

The Oslo Agreement (1993) and the prospect of the creation of a Palestinian state gave great hope to Palestinians in Peru and pushed some individuals to attempt a return to Palestine. However, these were immigrants who had arrived in Peru more or less recently and who did not have deep ties to the country. The disillusionment that followed the peace agreements and the resumption of armed conflict in 2000 put an end to any dream of return.

Today, the Palestinians of Peru have an emotional and sometimes also a political link to Palestine that is always solid enough for them to feel deeply concerned by the future of their country of origin. And they continue to share strong moments of community conviviality and to maintain a strong mutual solidarity among themselves. In this way, they contribute to the formation and consolidation of a Palestinian diaspora in Peru.