By Rubens Hannun
For the longest time, the amount of Arabs and Arab descendants living in Brazil had been unknown, and there was talk of numbers that would vary by the millions. Six, seven, ten, twelve, fifteen million. Discrepancies were that great.
But as fate would have it, during the fourteen days spanning from July 22 to August 4, 2020, not only was that number ascertained, but its meaning was put to test and its value was made known.
On July 22, the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce released a probabilistic study conducted by research firms Ibope Inteligência and H2R Pesquisas Avançadas. It saw 2002 respondents interviewed (with a 2 percentage-point margin of error), putting all speculation to rest. The study concluded that Arabs or Arab descendants make up 6% of Brazil’s population, numbering 11.6 million people across the national territory.
Fourteen days later, a disaster struck in Lebanon, an Arab country. The Port of Beirut and much of the national capital were destroyed, claiming dozens of lives, and leaving thousands wounded and homeless. That came as a trial-by-fire of the number revealed two weeks earlier, and it enabled some conclusions to be reached.
The Arab-Brazilian community, primarily of Lebanese and Syrian descent – in that order – was immediately spurred into action, and they began to organize in a tandem effort to address the consequences of the disaster in a bid to enable a better outcome for their brothers and sisters back in Lebanon.
Many of those living in Brazil have family, friends or acquaintances in Beirut. The connections are plentiful. Others are bound by their hearts, the memory and pride elicited by the awareness that the blood coursing through their veins is also the blood of those who have contributed so much to the development of civilization, and more recently to the development of Brazil itself. One needn’t be of Lebanese descent to realize that much: Syrians feel the same way, as do Palestinians, Moroccans, Egyptians, Saudis, and all Arabs living in Brazil.
Pride is a strong feeling. The sense of belonging demonstrated by the survey proved real and came pouring out. A sprawling, solid network was created for people to share information, opinions, suggestions, and donations. People in the community, prominent or otherwise, began to speak up and reach out. Distances didn’t seem to matter. They hailed from every state, from the smallest of towns to the biggest of metropolises, rural and urban, connecting to help.
Those efforts did not come from Arabs and descendants alone; plenty of Brazilians joined the ranks to provide relief through donations in cash, medicine, food, building material, etc. After all, the community is known to be fully integrated into Brazil. Brazilians from all walks of life are proud to have Arabs as their friends, relatives, work colleagues, business partners, family doctors, etc.
With Arabs being 6% of the country’s population, who doesn’t have an Arab acquaintance of friend? Someone who will let them know about the problems that are going on, or someone who’ll invite them out for a kibbeh or sfiha at the nearest restaurant? Because there’s always a restaurant nearby that will serve an Arab dish, and by now it isn’t altogether clear whether the food is Arab or Brazilian.
Moreover, the survey has also shown that the presence of the Arab community is even more relevant from a qualitative standpoint. Accounting for 6% of the Brazilian population, it is an opinion-making community, one that enjoys a higher socioeconomic and cultural standing.
Twenty-nine percent of the Arab-Brazilian community are college-educated; that’s 10 percentage points more than the nationwide average. Forty-five percent of Arab descendants are in the AB income range; that rate is 24% for the total population. That probably explains why the rate of gainfully employed Arab-Brazilians is 6 percentage points higher than that of the general population. For those and other reasons, the voice of this community is heard. They blaze trails and set trends in various fields, particularly in trade, cuisine, the arts, politics, and healthcare.
That has a lot to do with how support was galvanized to provide relief for Lebanon. It became clear that the political class was moved into action. Former president Michel Temer, a descendant of Lebanese Arabs, was appointed by president Jair Bolsonaro to lead a delegation which travelled to Lebanon, bringing donations from businesses and associations – both of which feature an even higher rate of Arabs in leadership positions.
There are Arabs or Arab descendants in the boards of 10% of local and multinational businesses of all sizes in Brazil. That rate is as high as 12% for agricultural businesses. And 26% (one-quarter) of business associations in Brazil are led by Arabs, who make their presence felt by weighing in with opinions, suggestions, and contributions.
Rubens Hannun is president of the research firm H2R Pesquisas Avançadas and was president of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce for two terms.
