São Paulo – The father of Soraya Misleh, communication and press director of the Institute for Arab Culture (ICarabe), was raised at the Palestinian village of Qaqun, currently part of the territory occupied by Israel. He was one of the over 800,000 Palestinians banned in 1948, a story recalled by the book “Al Nakba – A Study on the Palestinian Catastrophe,” written by the ICarabe director and launched in Brazil by publishing house Sundermann.
The book is based on a master’s degree thesis presented by Misleh in 2013 in the program of Arab Studies of the Philosophy, Language and Human Sciences (FFLCH) of the University of São Paulo (USP). It’s divided in two parts: the first presents a historical context on the events that culminated in the deportation of the Palestinians, while the second part focus on Qaqun, one of the thousand of villages destroyed after Israel’s annexation.
“It’s very important to lend visibility to Palestine’s history. Many people talk about it, but don’t know the reality,” says the book’s author, who traveled three times to Israel to do research – but was denied entry in two occasions. Today, according to her, where Qaqun stood, 60 years ago, there’s an archeological park.
In her researches for the master’s degree, Misleh interviewed three people that lived in Qaqun: her father, a refugee that currently lives in a refugee camp in Amman, Jordan, and a Palestinian that currently lives in the West Bank. The work was supervised by historian and professor of Arab history Arlene Clemesha, from the Center of Arab Studies of the University of São Paulo (USP).
Launched near one month ago at the Political Book Fair, held at the Theatre of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (TUCA), “Al Nakba – a study on the Palestinian catastrophe" will be discussed on Friday (14) at the Al Janiah cultural venue, which is held by desdendants of Palestinians in São Paulo. It will be an opportunity to present and discuss the book,” said Misleh.
The meeting will be attended by the author and by Reginaldo Nasser, professor of International Affairs of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). The book, which was published with the support of the Brazil-Palestine Institute, is being sold for BRL 20 (USD 6.30).
Quick facts
Presentation and discussion of the book “Al Nakba – a study on the Palestinian catastrophe", by Soraya Misleh
Friday, July 14, at 7:30 pm
Where: Bar and cultural venue Al Janiah, Rua Rui Barbosa, 269, São Paulo
Admission free
Information at Facebook
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
