São Paulo – A survey commissioned by the embassy of Oman in Brasília shows that Brazilians have positive views about Arabs and theirs descendants that live in Brazil, and about the Arab countries. The survey was carried out by the company H2R Advanced Research and presented on Monday (28th) night during the inauguration ceremony of the festival Cultural Days of Oman in Brazil, at Sérgio Cardoso theatre, in the city of São Paulo.
In all, 741 men and women were interviewed from all age groups and different socio-economic profiles and from all regions of the country. Other 120 people talked more specifically about theirs perceptions about the Arab nations.
According to the survey, the majority of those surveyed described the Arabs that live in Brazil as hard workers (97%), respectful (93%), perceptive (92%), entrepreneurial (91%), educated (91%), studious (90%), intelligent (89%), ethical (89%), good people (88%), happy (86%), friendly (85%), honest (85%), trustworthy (80%), parsimonious (72%), extroverted (57%), modern (57%) and emotional (54%).
“The image of the Arab for the Brazilian is a very good one, a very friendly one. The majority of the items placed on Arabs are very positive”, said Rubens Hannun, president of H2R and vice-president of Foreign Trade of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. “Even that they are ‘cheap’, which is a tradition”, he added, drawing laughter from the audience.
Other findings of the survey show the level of integration of the Arab community in Brazilian society. Although 75% of those surveyed have said that Arabs and their descendants preserve features of their countries of origin, 88% said that they like Brazil, 82% that they are considered, in fact, Brazilians and 79% that they are well integrated to local society.
The vast majority also answered that they would accept an Arab in their family, participating in their professional life, business and social interactions.
About the influence of Arabs in Brazil, 57% answered that they contributed to trade, 42% to cuisine, 21% to the economy, 11% to health sector and 11% to the arts. In these terms, Hannun mentioned, for instance, that for a long time Brazilians eat Arab dishes in their daily lives, such as kibbeh, esfihas and tabbouleh.
“Few people cites negatives items such as extremism, wars and terrorism”, said the executive. However, 65% of those surveyed answered that the Arabs face some type of prejudice for reasons such as culture, physical appearance and religion. A curious statistic is that Brazilians believe that the Arab community in the country is mainly Muslim, when, in truth, is mainly Christian.
The survey reveals also that 68% of those surveyed would like to visit an Arab country, with the most cited nations being Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.
In the imagery of those surveyed appear from bucolic images of the desert to high-rises of the Gulf’s modern metropolis, besides the people’s religiosity, architecture and cuisine, but also negative concepts such as religious fanaticism and gender inequality.
“Deep down, this research is an account of the Arab presence made by Brazilians”, said Hannun to ANBA. “It tells that the Arabs come from liked [by those surveyed] countries – that seduce –, countries with important natural and cultural resources, and admired for their modernity”, he added.
According to him, the survey also tells that, in the view of those surveyed, Arab immigrants arrived in Brazil, established themselves, contributed for the country’s development, but didn’t lose their cultural heritage, although they became integrated and, in fact, Brazilians.
To Hannun, the fact that the vast majority of those surveyed have said that they would accept an Arab in their most close circles “shows that this link is very strong”. The community of Arab origin in Brazil is estimated to have more than 10 million people.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
