Ramallah – Under the applause of Palestinians and Brazilians of Palestinian origin, this morning (17), president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva inaugurated Brazil Street in Ramallah, West Bank, right in front of the mausoleum in honour of leader Yasser Arafat and the Muqata, the seat of the local government.
The ceremony was marked by the strong presence of Brazilians of Palestinian origin who live in the West Bank and Palestinians who migrated to Brazil and then returned to their country of origin. The people were waving Brazilian flags and held posters greeting the Brazilian president. He was met under screams of “Hail Lula, hail Brazil!”
“There are many Brazilians here [in Palestine]”, said Mrs. Ciça, who lived in Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, and returned to the West Bank two years ago. She was in the company of her daughter, Magda, who was born in Brazil, and currently works at the embassy of Argentina.
“There is a Brazilian in every city here,” said Mohammed, who, at the age of fifteen, moved to the state of Rondônia. He is still living in Brazil, but is in the West Bank to visit his parents.
A large part of his relatives, however, are from Rio Grande do Sul, and many support football team Internacional de Porto Alegre, although a few Grêmio supporters showed their appreciation for the team when ANBA touched on the matter of football.
Alongside the prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Salam Fayyad, and the mayor of Ramallah, Janette Mikhael, Lula said that the name of the street “shows the appreciation the Palestinians have for Brazil”. The street itself already existed, but did not have a specific name, being generically known as “Muqata region”.
“First comes the street, then come the Brazilians and investment from Brazil. This street may mean a meeting point between the people of Palestine and Brazil,” said the president.
“The way you were received and applauded here, and although not everybody knows how to speak Portuguese, it is clear that president Lula speaks an international language. Everybody understands the language of Brazil,” said Fayyad.
Many of the signs thanked Lula for his support to the peace process between Israel and Palestine and to the creation of the Palestinian State. The president reiterated that Brazil has always defended peace in the Middle East, “but has never been so focussed on helping reach peace as it is now.”
“The final touch is in the hands of Palestinian and Israeli authorities, but Brazil will do all that it can to build this peace agreement,” said Lula. “[First lady] Marisa [Letícia] and I, in the name of the Brazilian people, felt profoundly thankful and touched by the honours to Brazil,” he added.
“With the support of Your Excellency (Lula) and other friends, we are going to get there (at peace). When that takes place, we will name a street in Jerusalem, our capital, Brazil,” finished off Fayyad. The Palestinians want to make East Jerusalem, now under Israeli dominion, their capital city.
After the Inauguration, Lula, wearing a traditional chequered Arab scarf, the symbol of Palestine, deposited flowers on Arafat’s grave.
*Translated by Mark Ament
