Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Eman Abusidu
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Why does Israel ban Palestinian mothers from accompanying sick children from Gaza seeking treatment in the West Bank?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) pointed out in its 2020 annual report that, “All patients and patient companions from the Gaza Strip must apply for Israeli permits to exit the Gaza Strip in order to access hospitals in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and Israel.” Israel’s blockade of the...
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Israel wants to control media output from Gaza, but can’t
In just three words, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza set social media buzzing: “The tower collapsed.” That was how Wael Al-Dahdouh announced to the world that the tower block housing Al Jazeera and other media offices had been bombed by Israel and was coming down. He is well known...
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‘We are the free voice of Palestine’: Brazil and Argentina continue their support of Palestine
The world is continuing to express its solidarity with the Palestinian people, especially following recent events in Gaza and Sheikh Jarrah. Latin America has conveyed a strong spirit of support for Palestine, particularly Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Mosques were lit, flags were raised and people chanted in support on...
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The struggle for our rights in Palestine must continue until the occupation ends
I am a Palestinian. I know about pain. I have felt it, seen it and lived through it many times. Ever since I was born, the Gaza Strip has faced brutal Israeli military offensives and incursions. Scenes of death and destruction are the backdrop to my life, having witnessed...
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Chile’s Club Deportivo Palestino stands in solidarity with Jerusalem
Solidarity with the Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and the people of occupied Jerusalem is being shown in many ways. Club Deportivo Palestino in Chile’s Premier League expressed its solidarity with the team wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh before the game against Colo-Colo on Saturday. The football club was founded in Chile...
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Life goes on during Ramadan despite Covid restrictions in Brazil
In an interview with Jihad Hammadeh, president of the Cinco Pilares institution ICP for humanitarian aid ...
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NASA’s Palestinian engineer gets ready to make history once again
Palestinian electrical engineer Loay Elbasyouni, who was part of the NASA team which sent the Perseverance spacecraft to Mars last month, has returned to prominence as the space agency prepares for the first helicopter flight on Mars later this morning. NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter is just a few hours...
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A second wave of Covid-19 has hit the Gaza Strip with devastating effect
The humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is worsening as health officials report more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases daily. They warn of a healthcare catastrophe under an Israeli-led blockade that restricts medical imports, among many other things. The impact of the pandemic is devastating in such a closed...
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Meet the Palestinian refugee who commemorates Land Day every year in Brazil
On 30 March, 1976, forty-five years ago today, Israeli occupation forces killed six Palestinians as they were protesting against the government’s expropriation of Palestinian land. The events on that day have been remembered ever since as Land Day, and are commemorated annually. The day has come to symbolise the...
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Despite the pandemic and domestic crisis, Brazil maintains its support for Palestine
Brazil is facing the collapse of its health service under the second-highest number of coronavirus infections in the world and the government is in the midst of a domestic political crisis. Nevertheless, it maintains its support for the self-determination of the Palestinian people and their struggle to regain their...
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Young Palestinians in Gaza have shown the way to export inspiration through TEDx
TEDx events provide a unique platform to unleash new ideas, to inspire and to inform. I have always wondered whether the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip could ever organise such an international event one day. I need wonder no longer, though, for last week the TEDx team invited me...
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Despite the hardship, for 2 million Palestinians Gaza is home, and they can’t wait to get back
Two million people live on the sliver of land along the Mediterranean coast of Palestine that we know as the Gaza Strip. They have endured 14 years of Israeli-led blockade; many of their homes have been destroyed or badly damaged; the infrastructure is shaky at the best of times;...
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The ‘soft resistance’ of doctor-cartoonist Alaa’ Allaqta
The Palestinian people have used many tactics in their legitimate resistance against the Israeli occupation which has robbed them of their land, rights and holy places. The use of caricature is one of these modes of resistance which have angered and even hurt the Israeli occupation. The 1987 assassination...
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The Muslim winner of Bake Off Brasil promotes her recipes and her faith
A Lebanese Brazilian Muslim woman who won the first series of Bake Off Brasil in 2015 is now a well-known figure all over the country. Samira Ghannoum won the competition over 13 weeks watched by millions in 20 countries across Latin America. “I am very happy to be the first...
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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...
