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A policeman, a pastor and a Palestinian: the ‘Chilestinians’ as a model for Palestinian unity
The divided and demoralised movement in Palestine itself could learn a lot for Chile’s emigrant community — home to the Deportivo Palestino football club, writes RAMZY BAROUD
A pro-Palestine march in Chile

I WAS only introduced to the term “Chilestinians” last February at a conference in Istanbul, during a presentation by the director of the Palestinian Federation of Chile, Anuar Majluf.

When Majluf referred to the well-rooted Palestinian community in Chile, who number between 450,000 and half a million, using that unfamiliar and peculiar phrase, I smiled. Others did, too.

It is quite rare that a conference on Palestine, anywhere, would include such an upbeat atmosphere as that introduced by the Chilean-Palestinian leader, as the current discourse on Palestine is one that is saturated with a deepening sense of political failure, disunity and betrayal.

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