Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Eman Abusidu
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Can food preserve culture? The Arab influence on Brazilian cuisine
The migration of Arabs to Brazil from the middle of the 19th century has produced a rich cultural legacy in the country: the cuisine. Arab cuisine is widespread in Brazilian society, with the distinctive and unique flavours of its spices and the quality and variety of ingredients used. You...
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Once again, Brazil appeals for Israel’s help to tackle a crisis
Once again, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has made his country seem weak in front of Israel by seeking help from the occupation state to tackle a national crisis, on this occasion the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the plaudits that Israel is receiving about its vaccination programme (which ignores the Palestinians...
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With high hopes of freedom, Palestinian girls get engaged to prisoners serving life sentences
Manar Khalawi has no doubt that she will meet her fiancé soon. Theirs is not a normal engagement, however, because Osama Al-Ashqar is serving a life sentence in Israel’s Ramon Prison. He was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to eight life terms for leading the military wing — Al-Aqsa...
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Meet the first Muslim federal judge in the world’s largest Catholic country
Ali Mazloum is one of millions of migrants whose story illustrates the determination and success of so many Lebanese refugees. When his father Mohammed arrived in Brazil in 1950, he could never have known that his son would one day become a federal judge. In what is the world’s...
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Even Santa Clause would need a visa and travel permit if he was a Palestinian
While Christians around the world celebrate the days of Christmas as a time of joy and spiritual renewal, the Israeli occupation makes them difficult for Palestinian Christians. Palestine, we should not forget, was the birthplace of Jesus (peace be upon him), and yet local Christians are persecuted there by...
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When a country is named after a tree, you know that it will provide shelter for everyone
A friend once told me that I will never be a stranger in Brazil, because there are people from everywhere living there. Walk along any Brazilian street, and you will find citizens of Japanese descent and European descent. You can eat in an Arabic restaurant, and see a veiled...
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Brazil commemorates International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
Shortly before this year’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, 164 countries voted in favour for the Palestinians’ right to self-determination at a session of the UN Third Committee held on 19 November. Remarkably, Brazil voted to support self-determination for the Palestinians after voting against in two...
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I am 30 years old and have never voted in my country of birth
Following the ongoing saga of the US presidential election over the past few weeks, it occurred to me that I am 30 years old and have never voted in my country of birth, Palestine. In Gaza, where I was born and lived for 25 years, the last election was...
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Brazil votes against Palestine at WHO assembly, Palestinian ambassador to Brazil: ‘This is contrary to what Brazil believes’
It seems that what Brazil’s current Minister of Foreign Affairs Ernesto Araújo said at the Brazilian Senate in February 2020: “There is unfortunately still vast anti-Israel bias in bodies like the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council. I realised that during the last 15 years, up to 80 per...
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When the killer becomes a hero: Brazilian president’s son glorifies heroes of Fauda series
Transferring the Brazilian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is back on the table. This time, however, it’s thanks to Brazilian president’s son Eduardo Bolsonaro in an interview with Israeli Ambassador to Brazil Yossi Shelley, in the series Brazil Needs to Know on his YouTube channel on 24 October. The...
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The integration of the Arabs in Brazil is at the expense of their language and culture
In Brazil today you can see Arabic dishes alongside local fare on the menu; you might hear occasional Arabic names and words; and someone may even greet you with a cheerful “marhaba”. It is surprising how many shops sell Arab products and services and are owned by Arab Brazilians....
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Palestinian and Brazilian children share their hopes and dreams
An exciting project is unfolding between children in Brazil and the Gaza Strip, Palestine, who are exchanging letters to share their hopes and dreams. Conceived by award-winning journalist Angela Bastos, the letter-writing project brings together children from different backgrounds who are united in experience under the umbrella of the...
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Fatima Hussein, the first Muslim woman to be nominated in a council election in Brazil
Although it is quite normal in many places today, Fatima Hussein is the first Palestinian Muslim woman to be nominated as a candidate in a Brazilian municipal council election. She never set out to be the “new face” of the Democratic Party; she always saw herself simply as a...
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‘More than a team, it is an entire people’: 100 years of Palestinian football in Chile
While some Arab countries were celebrating their normalisation deals with Israel and Google was removing Palestine from its maps, Club Deportivo Palestino in Chile was celebrating its centenary. One hundred years of Palestinian identity in a South American country suggests the continued failure of Israel and its brutal military...
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From dentistry to refugee rights: an interview with Brazil’s Bruna Kadletz
In her book and documentary film My land lives in me, Bruna Kadletz weaves a deeply personal journey with stories from refugee camps in Lebanon and Palestine. She believes firmly that when you have humanity in your heart, you start seeing people for who they really are, regardless of...
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Gaza is being left to tackle the pandemic on its own
Since Covid-19 first appeared, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have tackled the pandemic with typical determination. Without delay, they implemented a strict quarantine regime with mandatory 21-day isolation in government-run facilities adjacent to the border posts. This seems to have worked well until last week’s announcement of confirmed cases...
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Israel’s deals to ‘transfer’ Palestinians are simply thinly-disguised ethnic cleansing
It seems that Israel is not satisfied with driving 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and land in 1948, and another 400,000 in 1967; nor with its many massacres of Palestinian civilians. It is, in fact, working to expel even more Palestinians with a view to emptying the land of...
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After Beirut’s blast Brazil hints at withdrawing its peacekeeping mission from Lebanon
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was created by the Security Council in March 1978 to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and restore international peace and security. Since 2006, UNIFIL has been operating in southern Lebanon by supporting land and maritime Lebanese forces in improving their capabilities...
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Gaza’s solidarity with Lebanon is being expressed in blood
I know about pain, and I know when other people are in pain. I have seen it, felt it and lived it many times. Ever since I was born, the Gaza Strip has witnessed Israeli military offensives and incursions. Scenes of death and destruction are the backdrop to my...
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In Gaza where I was born and studied, success is not optional, it’s essential
Palestinian businessman Talal Abu Ghazaleh once said, “I was forced to succeed, I had no other choice.” When I heard this on a TV programme I stopped in my tracks. His words summarise the distinct approach of the Palestinian people, among the most educated identifiable group of people in...
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Brazil’s armed forces should reduce their dependence on Israel, says ex-minister
To read the first part of this interview please click here. With the rise of the extreme right-wing under Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, former ambassador and minister Celso Amorim is speaking out about Brazilian-Israeli relations in light of the current developments in his country’s foreign policy. Amorim was a permanent representative...
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Brazilian–Palestinian relations: The turning point
Interview with Celso Amorim, Brazil’s former minister of foreign relations...
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Will Arab countries support the transfer of the Brazilian embassy to Jerusalem?
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro didn’t wait long to tweet, four days after winning the presidential election, of his intentions to move the Brazilian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Following in the footsteps of US President Donald Trump, Brazil will become the second-largest country after the US...
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Bolsonaro has turned Brazil into Israel’s new best friend
It seems that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was right when he said in December 2018 that the government of Jair Bolsonaro will bring “a new era” in relations between Israel and “the major power” Brazil. The extreme right-wing Bolsonaro has turned Brazil into Israel’s new best friend. It is...