Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Eman Abusidu
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Life goes on during Ramadan despite Covid restrictions in Brazil
Brazil is the world’s fifth-largest country in terms of area and population and has around 1.5 million Muslims who fast during the holy month of Ramadan every year. Coronavirus restrictions on the communal aspects of the month, including prayers, are still in place. As elsewhere, in Brazil, the meal to…
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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 away…
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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 environment.…
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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 struggle…
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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 territory…
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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 to…
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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; there…
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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 of…
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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 have…
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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 whose…
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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 Martyrs’…
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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 largest…
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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 the…
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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 Muslim…
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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 consecutive…
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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 in…
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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 cent…
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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. You…
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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 coronavirus…
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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 Palestinian…
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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 occupation…
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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 their…