“The Palestinian community in Chile has a very long history, and the local community in Santiago is especially well established, so these elements alone mean that Palestinian Chileans stand out, not only in Chile, but also internationally,” says Siri Schwabe in the interview.
Last weekend, 14 diaspora delegations from around the region met in Chile’s capital Santiago in an attempt to strengthen relations, set up networks and work together to push for peace in Palestine, establishing a lobby group of influential community leaders charged with getting Palestine “back on the map”.
Siri Schwabe conducted fieldwork in the Chilean capital from September 2013 to August 2014. Last month she defended her thesis “Promised Lands. Memory, Politics, and Palestinianness in Santiago de Chile”. It explores how politics is practiced, experienced and talked about among Palestinian-Chileans and shows how memories of political events and places in both Palestine and Chile shape diasporic practices and narratives.
