São Paulo – The people of Palestine, whose majority cheers for the Brazilian national team during the FIFA World Cup, will be able to use an accessory symbolizing the ties between their country and Brazil to watch the games this year. The Brazilian Citizens’ Council in Palestine have created a green and yellow keffiyeh to be used by local football fans during the World Cup that kicks off on November 20 in another Arab country, Qatar.
The keffiyeh is a traditional checkered black and white scarf that is a symbol of Palestine. Some are made to be worn around the head but the World Cup keffiyeh was designed to be worn around the neck. “We brought two things together, the colors of the Brazilian flag and the keffiyeh, which is a symbol of the Palestinian resistance, the Palestinian cause,” the council’s chair Fátima Hamayel (pictured above) told ANBA by phone.
Palestine is home to a Brazilian community of around 5,000 to 6,000 people, including people born in Brazil and their descendants. But Hamayel says that this is not the only group that usually cheers for the Brazilian national team during the World Cup but most of Palestinians do, too. “I have noticed the affection for Brazil, the Brazilian team, for years – it isn’t something new,” she says, adding that, beyond football, the Palestinians are really fond of samba, capoeira and Brazilian culture in general.
By using the keffiyeh while watching the World Cup matches, the Brazilian community plans on showing sympathy to Palestine. The pieces are being made by a supplier in Ramallah and sold for USD 5. You can order it until November 20 on the social media of the Brazilian Citizens’ Council in Palestine. The group is open to accepting sponsorship for the initiative. If it comes, the pieces could be distributed for free. “Our dream is being able to donate these keffiyehs,” Hamayel says.
The initiative is supported by the Representation Office of Brazil in Ramallah and arose from conversations with the head of the office, ambassador Alessandro Candeas, about organizing a Brazilian fan club in Palestine during the World Cup. This fan club, called Yalla Brazil, will be fostered by making available a venue where the Brazil team’s matches can be watched together on big screens in Ramallah.
The venue hasn’t been defined yet. Brazil team’s matches will take place at night in Ramallah, and the council is worried that people in the villages cannot participate due to security issues and the escalation of violence against Palestinians, according to Hamayel. But everyone is invited. Palestine’s team is not in the World Cup.
Citizens’ Council
The Citizens’ Council in Palestine consists of seven women. The group is responsible for getting the Brazilians living in the country closer to Brazil’s diplomatic representation in Ramallah. Brazilian citizens’ councils exist in various cities across the globe as an initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assist in the dialogue between the government and the Brazilian civil society that lives overseas and planning actions focused on these groups.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
