São Paulo – A lawyer and professor from Minas Gerais took on the mission of sharing information on the United Arab Emirates. Wiliander Salomão published four books on the Gulf state, thus enriching the literature on the topic in Brazilian bookstores. He plans on launching an updated edition of his first book later this year.
Salomão is author of the books Discovering the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai: Emirate of the Future. They have all been translated into English and present overviews on the Arab country and its emirates, talking about history, politics, culture, cuisine, economy, education, future and other aspects of the daily life and the formation of the region.
“It is a resilient country that teach us on how to use the state revenue in favor of the population,” the author told ANBA, referring to the history of scarcity lived by the UAE before its economic uprising. “They focused on human resources, on people,” he said. According to Salomão, for the UAE education is a foundation of progress.
The country was founded just over 50 years ago in December 1971. Despite the oil discoveries, investments in diversification have been made and the commodity is no longer the flagship of the economy. The Brazilian author stressed the role of the sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in the history of the country, who as the first president of the UAE said that it was necessary to focus on the people of the country.
Salomão’s history with these books started around six years ago after he met some people from the UAE in his course on International Law. A visit to the country in early 2017 at the invitation of his new friends was the kickstart to write the first book. A Lebanese descendant, the Brazilian author had published books on the Israel-Palestine conflict and was in search of a new topic to focus on.
“These friends welcomed me like a sheik, like I was a their brother,” he said. On that same trip, Salomão brought some books on the country and started reading them. “I found the country fascinating,” he said. The research for the publication took place from 2017 to 2018, and the following year the lawyer published his first book on the UAE, Discovering the United Arab Emirates. It is a book for all who want to know more about the country, covering local history, politics, cuisine and culture.
On another trip to the UAE, nearly three years after his first visit, Salomão decided to write about the emirate of Abu Dhabi, something he already had had in mind. How the sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan changed Abu Dhabi is one of the subjects of the book, as well as oil production, the creation of the emirate from its tribes and its transformation from a fishing village into a metropolis.
The desire to write about the upcoming golden jubilee of the country and Dubai came shortly after. In the book about the 50th anniversary, he talked about the creation of the UAE, how the seven emirates came together to create a country and build the current nation. “It’s to show how a country was formed in the Middle East,” he said. The last book published was about Dubai. “Dubai is the gem, the showcase of the UAE,” he said.
Salomão says that the second edition of his first book, which is expected to come out in October, is basically a new book. It will bring new information like the cultural activities of the Sharjah emirate and the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture. “Other books are likely to come out since it’s a constantly changing country,” Salomão says about the UAE, pointing out that the country is now focused on the next 50 years,
Last week Salomão was in the headquarters of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) in São Paulo for the launch of the newest edition of the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture together with the general consul of the UAE in São Paulo, Ibrahim Salem Alalawi. The writer says that he has the support and the cooperation of the consulate in his work, and he is delighted that Alalawi gifts people with his books to promote the UAE. Salomão delivered some copies of his books to leaders of the ABCC.
Arab ties
Born in the city of Mateus Leme, Minas Gerais, Salomão now devotes himself entirely to the academic career as an International Law professor in the University of Itaúna. A grandson of Lebanese paternal grandparents who came to Brazil, his desire to write about the Arab world was not long in coming in his academic path. “I wanted to understand it,” he said about the Israel-Palestine relation.
The goal was achieved in his master’s, PhD and postdoctoral studies about the Israel-Palestine conflict. His research resulted in his books about the topic. His books on the topic are The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, A Two-State Solution and The Book of Palestine. These books were also translated into English and were published by Brazilian publishing house D’Plácido, which is based in São Paulo. Unlike the books on the UAE, those on Palestine are more focused on legal aspects.
By the end of the year Salomão will launch a book on the United Nations. He also plans on writing a book on the country of origin of his family, Lebanon, as well as other work about the UAE, particularly its past and the history of the Bedouin community. Salomão’s books can be found in bookstores across Brazil, the website of the D’Placido publishing house and digital sales platforms like Amazon.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
