Summary
The Palestinian immigrant community of Chicago — at approximately 85,000, presented by Lybarger as the single largest concentration of Palestinians in North America — and the distinct interspatial place formed where Palestine and Chicago narratively cross (Palestinian Chicago — Identity in Exile, PDF p.26, p.41).
Details
- Immigration dates to the late 1890s and began in earnest after the wars of 1948 and 1967; the early migrants, mostly from the Jerusalem and Ramallah regions, established a bimodal pattern of work and return in the mahjar and an interstitial “stranger” position between black and white Chicago (PDF p.35, p.52-53).
- After 1948 families settled permanently, forming an enclave in Chicago Lawn, Marquette Park and Gage Park; after 1967 “new peasant” immigrants “re-Palestinianized” the community, and community life revolved for two and a half decades around cultural centers, locale clubs and charitable foundations of a multisectarian secular nationalism (PDF p.56-57, p.60-62).
- Since the 1990s the community has transitioned in large numbers to the near southwest suburbs such as Bridgeview, secular centers have closed, and mosques have flourished — the Religious turn (PDF p.28, p.41-42).
- The community has faced FBI and Department of Justice probes since the 1970s and Chicago Tribune exposés, and its activists have led protests against the “Muslim Ban” since the election of Donald J. Trump (PDF p.26).
Related pages
Chicago · Palestinian Arab diaspora · Secularism · Religious turn