São Paulo – The Brazilian Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST, in the Portuguese acronym) has included Palestine among the topics of the latest edition of its children’s magazine. The story of a Palestinian girl and boy, Layla and Samir, is featured in the 2012 issue of Revista Sem Terrinha (Little Landless Magazine) and tells a bit about daily life in the Arab country. According to Maria Cristina Vargas, a member of the MST’s Education sector, Palestine is the focus of the movement’s solidarity campaign this year, which is seeking to raise international awareness among its affiliates.
“I am here in Brazil, I am a worker here, but I am a sister of workers around the world, who also experience problems. We are close because we are workers, there is something which draws us together,” says Vargas, explaining what the campaign is about. According to her, the campaign is not meant to be spread; rather, it is intended to let MST members know what is happening in another country. “Palestine is a big challenge for us. Just as the MST is portrayed by the media in a masked-up way, the same holds true of Palestine,” she says.
Revista Sem Terrinha depicts a day in the lives of Layla and Samir, who are siblings. One Friday they wake up early to take a hike, alongside other schoolmates and their relatives, among olive trees, from which olives are extracted and then processed into olive oil. Their house used to be surrounded by olive tree plantations, until the Israeli soldiers came, dropped bombs, destroyed everything, put up fences, and then walls. The landscape has changed.
But once Layla and Samir went to a high place, they were able to see that where there used to be olive trees, Israel built walls for rich and medium-class people who backed its government. Layla told her class at school that her grandfather was very sad to see that the olive trees he helped plant, with his own hands, in times past were cut down. On that Friday, however, the two children were enthused, because along with other locals, they would plant 64 olive trees, one for each year of Israeli occupation.
The story also tells of their euphoria as they were about to plant the trees, and how Israelis clamped down on them. The magazine also includes information on the history of Palestine, its problems with Israel and the historical importance that the region has for Christians, Jews and Muslims. The publication also brings a brief account of the visit MST members paid to Palestine last year. They helped to harvest olives. The magazine also features children’s drawings about the Palestinian kids story, and photographs of the country. The story was written by Marcelo Buzetto, of the MST international relations sector.
According to Vargas, the magazine is published once a year, featuring the issues in which the MST was involved during the period. The purpose is to keep track of the movement and tell its story, conveying it from the perspective of the logic of children. Revista Sem Terrinha is distributed to children who live in settlements and camps, and also has a digital version (see below).
Contact:
Revista Sem Terrinha
Issue #5
Online edition:
http://issuu.com/semterrinha/docs/pdf_rvst_sem_marcas_de_corte/32
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
