{"id":212469,"date":"2019-04-16T07:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-04-16T10:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=212469"},"modified":"2019-06-30T16:58:45","modified_gmt":"2019-06-30T19:58:45","slug":"brazils-nods-to-israel-may-displease-arab-consumer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/brazils-nods-to-israel-may-displease-arab-consumer\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil\u2019s nods to Israel may displease Arab consumer"},"content":{"rendered":"

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 More than any official retaliation, nods from Jair Bolsonaro\u2019s government to Israel may displease Arab consumers and entrepreneurs, affecting trade between that region and Brazil. That is the assessment of the secretary general of the Union of Arab Chambers, the leading business entity in the Middle East and North Africa, Khaled Hanafy (photo above)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to interfere in Brazilian foreign policy, but we can advise Brazilians, because we know the Arab market, we know that consumers and entrepreneurs are very sensitive to this kind of announcement,\u201d said Hanafy to ANBA. \u201cI fear this kind of announcement may harm businesses and trade between the Arab countries and Brazil. Obviously, we are not talking about anything political,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Union of Chambers is the League of the Arab States\u2019 branch for the private sector. The institution\u2019s members include chambers of commerce from all Arab nations and outside the region, such as the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Moving Brazilian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was a Bolsonaro campaign promise but while visiting the country two weeks ago, the president announced only the opening of a trade office<\/a> in the city. Both Israelis and Palestinians claim sovereignty over Jerusalem, and the nod to Israel has caused so much discomfort among Arabs<\/a> that Bolsonaro and the ministers of Foreign Relations, Ernesto Ara\u00fajo, and Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, participated in a dinner with Arab and Islamic ambassadors last week<\/a> trying to clear the air.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
From left to right, Alzeben, Cristina, Bolsonaro and Ara\u00fajo at the dinner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThat dinner was a chance for us to start a dialogue, which we had been waiting since the president was elected. We had already asked for a meeting, which only happened months after the election,\u201d said to ANBA the Palestinian ambassador in Bras\u00edlia, Ibrahim Alzeben, who is also the Council of Arab Ambassadors dean in Brazil.<\/p>\n

According to him, the dinner was served to \u201cbreak the ice after statements that made Arab and Islamic countries uncomfortable.\u201d “It was a good start and we may develop a dialogue from there,\u201d he stressed. The diplomat now expects a formal meeting between Bolsonaro and Ara\u00fajo and the Arab and Islamic ambassadors, a request made over dinner. \u201cWe are waiting for the confirmation. We asked for it to occur before Ramadan,\u201d he declared. Ramadan, the Muslim month when the believers fast from dawn to dusk, should start on May 5 or 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will talk about a topic of interest that concerns us, Arabs and Muslims, and Palestine, since it is directly involved,\u201d said Alzeben. \u201cThey say that the topic of [moving] the embassy is \u2018on hold.\u2019 It is something we want to be discussed and made clear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The ambassador reiterated that Brazil should stay clear from the conflict between Israel and Palestine. \u201cI spoke over dinner that Brazil should stay away from this conflict, because it is a matter that doesn\u2019t concern Brazil. It is an international topic, of International Law. It is a long historical process, not a topic for one government or another,\u201d he stressed. \u201cIt is a matter that is the hands of the [UN] Security Council, the Hague Court, the International Criminal Court, it is not something that one county can solve. Our healthy, friendly advice is to stay away, it is not necessary to meddle in the topic from one side. The whole world is on one side [of the matter] and the United States is on the other,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n

The USA under the government of Donald Trump has moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, automatically acknowledging Israel\u2019s sovereignty over the city. The action was followed only by Guatemala.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make clear that Brazil should stay away from the conflict, not from us. It may be close to Israel, the United States, and the Arabs. May it take advantage of the Arab consumer, the Israeli technology, but away from the conflict,\u201d stressed Alzeben.<\/p>\n

Feeling<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Hanafy (left) and Mour\u00e3o met in January<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hanafy was in Brazil in January when he met with vice-president Hamilton Mour\u00e3o and other representatives of the Brazilian government. Alzeben also met with the VP earlier this year. Mour\u00e3o said in the meeting that Brazil was not considering moving the embassy back then.<\/p>\n

Last week, Ara\u00fajo said the announcement of the opening of an office in Jerusalem to foster businesses with Israel has not affected trade with the Arab world<\/a> but since Bolsonaro was elected, foreign trade professionals, representatives of sectors interested in businesses with the Arab world, and the Arab Brazilian Chamber itself have insisted that the eventual effects will not be felt in the short-term but in the mid- and long-term.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the minister insists in announcing the trade with the Arab world has not been affected, let me tell you a fact: when I was [in Brazil] and met with the vice-president, the announcement made by him and other authorities was positive, and it led to a growth in trade, it led Arab consumers and entrepreneurs to have a positive look on the issue,\u201d said Hanafy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I mean by that is that the Arab market players are very sensitive to authority announcements, particularly those related to Israel. Anyone that wants to speak over this matter should pay attention to entrepreneurs\u2019 and consumers\u2019 response,\u201d he added. \u201cMy advice for the authorities is: please, be careful with the announcements you make about this matter. The problem is saying that the Arab countries will not be affected or that Arab consumers will not be affected. We know the Arab consumer, we know the Arab entrepreneurs, and they are very sensitive,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

Hanafy told that he has recently been to Moscow with a delegation of Arab entrepreneurs and some of them started negotiating importing grains from Russia. \u201cFrom the experience we have with other suppliers from other countries is that when consumers change their preference over some product origin, it is very difficult to come back. And this may affect not only business with Brazil but jobs and small enterprises as well,\u201d he said. \u201cAgain, my advice is: be worried,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rodrigo Rodrigues\/Arab Brazilian Chamber<\/div>\n
Alan Santos\/PR<\/div>\n
Press Release<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The opening of an office in Jerusalem and the possibility to move the embassy may cause a negative response from Arab consumers and entrepreneurs, which may affect trade. This assessment is made by the Union of Arab Chambers secretary general Khaled Hanafy. The Palestine\u2019s ambassador reiterates that Brazil should stay away from the conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1454,"featured_media":212459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[443,2584,5154,268,6251,529,2770,2773,1767,1806,378,537,15788,6515],"class_list":{"0":"post-212469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-foreign-affairs","8":"tag-union-of-arab-chambers","9":"tag-arab-brazilian-chamber","10":"tag-bolsonaro","11":"tag-camara-arabe","12":"tag-ernesto-araujo","13":"tag-ibrahim-alzeben","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-itamaraty","16":"tag-jerusalem","17":"tag-khaled-hanafy","18":"tag-mapa","19":"tag-palestine","20":"tag-tereza-cristina-en-2","21":"tag-tereza-cristina"},"wps_subtitle":"The opening of an office in Jerusalem and the possibility to move the embassy may cause a negative response from Arab consumers and entrepreneurs, which may affect trade. This assessment is made by the Union of Arab Chambers secretary general Khaled Hanafy. The Palestine\u2019s ambassador reiterates that Brazil should stay away from the conflict in the Middle East.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1454"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}