Chile: President Gabriel Boric announces opening of embassy in Palestine

Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced Wednesday that his government will open an embassy in Palestine by participating in a Christmas ceremony with the Palestinian community in Chile, the largest outside the Arab world.

“One of the decisions that we have as a government, I think we had not made it public, I take a risk with this, is that we will elevate the character of our official representation in Palestine. From today’s charge d’affaires we are going to open an embassy during our government,” Boric said.

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Chile has a Representation Office before the Palestinian National Authority in the city of Ramallah, which opened in April 1998.

The Palestinian Territories also have an embassy in Santiago.

Chile and the Palestinian Territories have forged a close relationship since the migration that began in the 20th century. The Palestinian community in Chile today exceeds 300,000 people.

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It is the largest Arab colony outside of the Middle East and coexists with an influential Jewish community made up of some 30,000 members.

In 2011, Chile recognized Palestine as a State and later supported its entry into UNESCO.

Palestinians in Chile have held massive demonstrations to protest Israeli shelling of Palestinian settlements. “It is a town that exists, that resists, that has history,” said Boric.

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“We cannot forget a community that is suffering from an illegal occupation, a community that is resisting, a community that is seeing its rights and dignity violated every day,” he added.

Installed in Chile, Palestinians have been engaged mainly in trade and the textile industry, forming one of the most prominent foreign colonies.

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His descendants have successfully ventured into Chilean politics. In 2018, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas visited Chile and met with then-Chilean President Sebastián Piñera.

The relationship extends to soccer with the Chilean club Palestino, founded by Arab settlers in 1920 and whose matches are followed by thousands of fans in the Palestinian territories.

AFP