São Paulo – A young entrepreneur from Pelotas, Brazil, has developed a business to nourish the Brazilian support to the Palestinian cause. Ali Mahmoud Yousef Amer, 17, established in January Al Baraka, an online store that sells products with symbols from the Arab country in Brazil. Part of the revenue goes to civilians caught up in the conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Al Baraka sells items likes Palestinian football jerseys, traditional headdresses called keffiyeh or hattah, as well as items with the name of Palestine and other references to the country like necklaces, pendants, t-shirts, sweatshirts, caps, posters, flags, and stickers. There are also some products used by Muslims like hijab – the head coverings used by women – abaya – a robe-like dress worn by some women – and prayer rugs.
Amer designs the products and commissions them to a supplier in China via drop shipping, a form of retail business in which the seller transfers the orders and their shipment details to the manufacturer. “The quality is very good,” he says about his current supplier. His future plan, though, is selling products made in the Arab countries, including in Palestine itself, and broaden the range of items offered.
Amer says that the idea for the business came to him last year, when he had to undergo surgery and was bed-bound for a long time, with long hours to thinks. When he saw similar businesses that had room to improve, he drew inspiration from his brother’s experience with drop shipping and his own love for Palestine to implement the project. “So that Brazilians can have something to show their support to Palestine,” he says.
He says most customers aren’t Arabs or Palestinians living in Brazil but Brazilians. “You see that this isn’t just a business but something you are doing for a country, too,” he says, meaning the support to Palestine he promotes. Despite being born in Brazil, he is Palestinian as he is the son of Palestinian parents. He sends 10% of the revenue to Palestine via humanitarian groups and family acquaintances.
In Palestine and Brazil
The history of Amer and his family is closely tied to Palestine. His father Mahmoud Yousef Ali Amer moved to Brazil at 19. After a few days in São Paulo, he went to south Brazil, moved around some cities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul like Uruguay-bordered Chuí, and then he settled in Pelotas, where he now owns a department store and two electronics stores.
The businesses were developed in Brazil, but his ties with Palestine weren’t broken. In fact, they remained strong as ever over the years, so much that Mahmoud married a fellow countrywoman and made sure his children – four boys and one girl – spent long periods in the West Bank to live with their family, learn the local culture and follow the Muslim religion. Mahmoud himself and his wife usually spend months at a time in Palestine.
Mahmoud’s dream is that his children take over business in Pelotas so that he can have more time to spend in his native land. But his daughter is still very young, the older sons are studying for other professions, and Amer has a strong desire to be in Palestine. “We have family there, uncles and aunts, cousins – it’s different,” he says. Knowing that he has a cause to defend for the sake of his countries strengthens his ties with the region, too.
Mahmoud told ANBA he loves Brazil and sees it as its second homeland. “I would never consider moving to Palestine to never return,” he says. “Both are my homelands,” he says, stressing that he wants to be spend time in both countries. Father and son are concerned and outraged about what Palestinians are currently facing in Gaza.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
