HONDURAS
TEGucigalpA – San Pedro Sula
It was as early as the late 1800’s that the first Palestinians arrived in Honduras. It was the time of the Ottoman empire and many Christian Palestinians felt the pressure that they had to convert to Islam and enlist in the Turkish army. Many took the boat with destination ‘the Americas’ and Honduras turned out to be the final destination. When the state of Israel was created in 1948 many followed. With many more in 1967 (six day war, occupation of Gaza, West bank and the Golan heights) and during and after the two Intifadah’s.
Nowadays its estimated that there are around 200,000 people of Palestinian decent in Honduras, making it probably the biggest Palestinian community in the Western hemisphere. They have been very successful on both an economic and a political level. Almost all are Christians and from the Bethlehem area.