Anyone who watches Club Deportivo Palestino playing, or sees one of its shirts in official photographs, may think that it is a Palestinian football club. In a way, that’s exactly what it is, and yet it is based in Chile, thousands of miles from occupied Palestine. It is Chile’s own version of Palestine solidarity — on a football pitch.
Chile has the largest Palestinian diaspora community in Latin America; the third or fourth largest in the world. There are 400,000 Palestinian Chileans now in their fourth or fifth generation; the sons and daughters of the pioneers who left the Middle East many years before the events that shredded their native land to pieces.
Please note that the views and opinions expressed in this publication are that of the author and/or contributors, and do not necessarily represent those of MEMO Publishers or its associated brands.