{"id":407328,"date":"2026-03-26T14:05:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=407328"},"modified":"2026-03-26T14:05:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:05:37","slug":"the-history-of-arab-immigration-for-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/the-history-of-arab-immigration-for-children\/","title":{"rendered":"The history of Arab immigration for children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Brazil\u2019s Arab Community Day was celebrated on Wednesday evening (25) at the headquarters of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong> (ABCC<\/a>) in S\u00e3o Paulo with the launch of the book O mascate<\/a><\/em> [The peddler] (Tabla) by Salem Nasser, with illustrations by Ana Cartaxo. On the occasion, the institution also launched the Map of the Legacy of Arab Immigration in S\u00e3o Paulo, which pinpoints across the city the institutions created and maintained by the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A law professor at S\u00e3o Paulo university FGV, Salem Nasser wrote O mascate<\/em> as a way to show his children and other kids the story of many Arab immigrants who sought a new home in Brazil. The inspiration came from home: he drew on his own father, a Lebanese immigrant, to build the narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Angela
Angela Gandra, William Adib Dib (C) and Mohamad Mourad: S\u00e3o Paulo city hall is engaging with chambers of commerce to develop partnerships<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

During the book launch, the illustrator and Tabla art director, Ana Cartaxo, and he took part in a talk with the publisher\u2019s editorial director, Laura Di Pietro. The author\u2019s three children read the book to an audience of around one hundred people before the signing session began. In his remarks, Nasser said he believes many people will identify with the story he tells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ANBA, he said the release of the book on Immigration Day is a \u201chappy coincidence.\u201d \u201cI think it\u2019s the story of many in the community\u2014almost inevitable. It\u2019s a recurring theme: that we all have a story of venturing into the unknown,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ana Cartaxo recalled the process of creating the book\u2019s illustrations. \u201cI wanted the [visual language of the book] to emerge from my interaction with Nasser. He sent photographs, told stories about the characters. I really like memory [as a working theme], and I moved closer to watercolor, to dilution, to the [relationship between] memory and time, and to photography that gradually fades,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Secretary for International Relations, Angela Vidal Gandra Martins, attended the event and highlighted that S\u00e3o Paulo is a city built by the hands of immigrants. She said city hall is strengthening ties with the chambers of commerce operating in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Salem
Salem Nasser\u2019s children presented the book at the event<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThe Secretariat for International Relations seeks to promote a win-win so we can strengthen companies and traders, what we can bring and take. We want everyone to have jobs and be able to support their families, as in the immigrants\u2019 struggle, and we want to work with the Arab community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president of the ABCC, William Adib Dib Jr., said in his speech that the ABCC itself is part of the legacy the community leaves to S\u00e3o Paulo and to the country. \u201cThroughout its more than seven decades of history, [the ABCC] has played a strategic role in strengthening economic relations between Brazil and the Arab countries, which now stand out as key foreign partners,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The date that celebrates Arab immigration is also the date of Brazil\u2019s first Constitution, enacted in 1824, which S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s famous popular shopping street is named after. That same street hosted a large community of Arab immigrants from the 19th<\/sup> century onward. They initially worked as peddlers, selling a variety of household goods door to door. Over time, they opened their own businesses and settled in the area. Years later, the Chamber of Deputies designated March 25 as the date to celebrate Arab immigration to Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ANBA, Dib said it is \u201cgratifying\u201d to once again be on March 25 alongside the community. \u201cIt is a date celebrating Arab immigration to Brazil, and it\u2019s gratifying to have the launch of a book that brings exactly this narrative. And to showcase a country so prosperous and open to new experiences like these, to show the openness the country offers immigrants to build their story, grow and prosper.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his presentation of the book, Nasser summed up his admiration for those who chose to leave their homelands in search of an opportunity in the unknown and outlined the paths through which the peddler built his story. He expressed admiration for those who ventured to cross the ocean in search of a home and recalled that, in Brazil, many people are descendants of immigrants\u2014of \u201cpeople of great courage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Map shows the legacy of the Arab community<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After the book launch, the ABCC Vice President of Communication & Marketing, Silvia Antibas, presented the Map of the Legacy of Arab Immigration in S\u00e3o Paulo, an initiative showcasing the nonprofit institutions created and maintained by the community in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Silvia
Silvia Antibas launched a map highlighting institutions created and maintained by the Arab community<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The map features, for example, Lar S\u00edrio Pr\u00f3-Inf\u00e2ncia in Tatuap\u00e9, in the East Zone; Mesquita Brasil in Cambuci, in the central region; the University of S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Center for Palestinian Studies in Cidade Universit\u00e1ria, in the West Zone; the Cathedral of Our Lady of Paradise in the South Zone; and Lar Druzo Brasileiro in Santana, in the North Zone. The publication, available in print and online<\/a>, also includes some addresses in the S\u00e3o Paulo metropolitan area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea, Antibas said, came after meetings at the Immigration Museum and with the city\u2019s Secretary for International Relations. \u201cWe want to show in this map everything we are giving back,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ABCC was represented at the event by its Vice President of International Relations & Secretary-General, Mohamad Orra Mourad, Treasurer Mohamad Abdouni Neto, board members and former presidents Osmar Chohfi and Rubens Hannun, and director William Atui.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/em>:
Memories of Arabs persisting in 25 de Mar\u00e7o Street<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Marcelo Brammer\/Arab-Brazilian Chamber<\/div>
Marcelo Brammer\/Arab-Brazilian Chamber<\/div>
Marcelo Brammer\/Arab-Brazilian Chamber<\/div>
Marcelo Brammer\/Arab-Brazilian Chamber<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brazil\u2019s Arab Community Day was celebrated on Wednesday evening (25) at the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce with the launch of the children\u2019s book The Peddler, by Salem Nasser, and of a map portraying these immigrants\u2019 legacy in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2317,"featured_media":407299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46537],"tags":[16170,48399,48478,56276,7848,9525,2267,3401,18158,10080],"class_list":{"0":"post-407328","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arab-brazilian-chamber","8":"tag-ana-cartaxo","9":"tag-arab-2","10":"tag-arab-brazilian-chamber-of-commerce-2","11":"tag-city-hall","12":"tag-community","13":"tag-fgv-en","14":"tag-immigration","15":"tag-map","16":"tag-salem-nasser-en","17":"tag-sao-paulo-en"},"wps_subtitle":"Brazil\u2019s Arab Community Day was celebrated on Wednesday evening (25) at the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce with the launch of the children\u2019s book The Peddler, by Salem Nasser, and of a map portraying these immigrants\u2019 legacy in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407328","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\/2317"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}