São Paulo – This Tuesday (29), the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies held a ceremony in honor of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which brought together Brazilian and Arab authorities in Brasília. Deputy Glauber Braga (PSOL-Rio de Janeiro) chaired the formal session.
The Palestinian ambassador to Brazil and dean of the Council of Arab Ambassadors to Brazil, Ibrahim Alzeben, stated the Palestinian people have been resisting the Israeli occupation for over seven decades. “This solemn session explicitly recognizes our rights and our resistance and strength. Our people have resisted with all the means at their disposal, enduring the cruelty of being refugees and the brutality of being colonized,” he declared on the tribune of the Chamber of Deputies.
Alzeben said Palestinians had not lost determination and hope. “I can assure our people will not abandon the struggle for their rights, our independence, and freedom, confident victory will be certain,” he said.
The ambassador stated the Palestinian people would continue strengthening the State’s foundations, recovering national unity, and fighting for full recognition from the United Nations (UN). “We, therefore, demand international protection to start doing justice. And for now, our fight will go on,” he said.
Alzeben said Brazil knows the Palestinians are its friends. “We are friends without borders. We wish Brazil, this friendly country, security, social peace, progress and prosperity, and, why not, to win the World Cup,” he concluded.
Participating in the solemnity were also senator Omar Aziz (PSD-Amazonas), son of a Palestinian; deputy Erika Kokay (PT-Federal District); deputy Fernanda Melchionna (PSOL-Rio Grande do Sul); deputy Paulo Pimenta (PT-Rio Grande do Sul); the head of the Permanent Mission of the League of Arab States to Brazil, Qais Shqair; the president of the Brazil-Palestine Institute (Ibraspal), Ahmed Shehada; the Youth secretary of the Palestinian Arab Federation in Brazil (Fepal), Maynara Nafe; and the member of the International Secretariat of the Palestinian National Committee of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement, Maren Mantovani.
Other entities in support of the Palestinian cause were also represented, such as the Landless Workers Movement (MST), as well as members of the diplomatic corps of Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Lebanon, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Libya, Jordan, Kazakhstan, and Western Sahara, among others. Over the internet, the director of Programs and Campaigns at Amnesty Brazil, Alexandra Montegomery, also participated.
The request for the formal session was authored by deputy Sâmia Bomfim (PSOL-São Paulo).
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
