Ties that Bind: The Gulf Palestinian Community in Toronto

This paper briefly sketches the history of Palestinian immigration to both the Gulf region and Toronto, Canada, weaving in the life histories of five women who are part of the most recent wave of Palestinian arrivals in Canada as a result of the Gulf War. The paper then examines the nature of this newly established diaspora community in Toronto, focussing in particular on: (1) processes of personal adjustment; (2) the ways in which this group of Palestinians is forming a new community in Canada; and (3) the kinds of ties that members of the community maintain to Palestine. This examination augments the ethnographic record of Canadian immigration, complicates traditional notions of immigrants and refugees as poor and/or unsophisticated, and sheds light on the experiences and attitudes of those who have come of age in one area of the Palestinian diaspora. We also see that important differences exist within the Palestinian immigrant community, stemming from the widely varied backgrounds of this group. The process of community formation for this group of Palestinians in Toronto demonstrates how individuals' diasporic experiences are inflected with issues of gender, class, and religion. The material presented here thus suggests one way that social identities may be reconfigured in the context of a multicultural society and its politics.