'Palestino', the football club that represents Palestine from Chile by Lucas Aguayo Araos

Public Story

'Palestino', the football club that represents Palestine from Chile

Copyright Lucas Aguayo Araos 2024

Updated Dec 2023

Location Santiago, Chile

Topics Journalism, Photography

SANTIAGO, CHILE - DEC. 2, 2023: A football club, Palestino, was established in 1920 by Palestinian immigrants in Chile and still competes in Chile's first division of professional football.Recognized as an unofficial Palestinian national team, many of its players have historical ties to the extensive Chilean diaspora.The team adorns black, red, white, and green colors, featuring a map of Palestine on the left sleeve, dating back 75 years before the creation of Israel.Fans wear keffiyehs, a traditional black and white scarves of Palestine, at matches.Apart from followers of Palestinian descent, a substantial portion of the Chilean population supports the club for both political reasons and solidarity with the Palestinian cause.Israel's air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas have killed at least 19,667 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 52,586 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.The war has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory's housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack, while more than 130 hostages remain in captivity.

LUCAS AGUAYO ARAOS / ANADOLU AGENCY

Lucas Aguayo Araos

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