São Paulo – Palestinians receive this week manifestations of friendship and empathy in several cities across Brazil and elsewhere due to the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People celebrated on Monday (29). On or around this day, the international community expresses its support and wishes for peace for the Palestinians due to the territory issues they face with its neighbor Israel.
In Brazil, the solidarity events include public manifestations as well as book and film launchings. Campinas has seen a program since last weekend with homages from the City Council and the City Hall featuring Ibrahim Alzeben, ambassador of Palestine in Brazil. A concert held on Saturday (27) in Teatro do SESI as part of the Education & Coffee Week paid homage.
In São Paulo, a manifestation in solidarity with the Palestinian cause is scheduled for Monday evening at 6 pm (BRT) in front of the cultural space and restaurant Al Janiah. The venue will also see the launch of the book Sem caminhos para Gaza [No Way to Gaza] by Renatho Costa, Rodrigo D. E. Campos, and Lucas Bonatto Diaz, which had a live-streamed launch for guests last week.
In the city of Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, documentary Palestina: Fragmentos de uma história [Palestine: Fragments of a History] by Marcelo Freire, Waldson Almeida, Jean Carlos and Christian Rizzi will be launched. Ambassador Alzeben will be at the screening, which will take place at 7 pm (BRT) in the Visitors Center of Iguazu Falls. Foz do Iguaçu gathers a large community of Arabs and descents.
Solidary Brazil
“Almost everywhere in Brazil where there’s a Palestinian community, where there’re friends, this will be celebrated,” diplomat Alzeben told ANBA about the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The manifestations of solidarity grow year after year in Brazil, the ambassador says. This year, several cities will see some manifestation, including Manaus, Santa Maria, Bagé, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, and Maringá. In many, the City Councils are the organizers.
“Brazil is a very solidary country in general, not only with Palestine but with all just causes. The Brazilians are a very lively, supportive country with a deep fraternal feeling, so this awareness to humane causes is a trait of this friend people. Everywhere we go, we feel this solidarity with Palestine and all just causes of humanity,” Alzeben told ANBA.
The Representative Office of Brazil in Ramallah, Palestine, has made public a statement on Brazil’s support to a peaceful solution for the conflict in the region. “The search for a peaceful solution to the question of Palestine is essential for the maintenance of international peace and security. As an elected member of the Security Council, Brazil will continue to support all efforts to bring about a just and lasting peace in the region,” the statement says. Brazil will take in January a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council.
International Day
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People was created by the United Nations (UN) in 1977. The UN holds on the 29th a global conversation on the Palestinian question, including in social media with the hashtag #PalestineDay. The celebration was a highlight in the UN Media International Seminar that brought together journalists, diplomats and scholars to discuss the team “Peace in the Middle East.”
In a statement, UN secretary-general António Guterres said the situation in Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, is still a major challenge for the international peace and security. Guterres believe the goal is still the creation of two states: a Israeli and a Palestinian living in peace, with borders based in 1967 and Jerusalem as the capital of both.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
