![\"Representatives](\"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/catedral-1-1024x667.jpg\")
The work on the collection is currently being carried out by a team from the Edward Said Chair of Contemporary Studies at the Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo (Unifesp), which became a partner in the project with the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong> (ABCC<\/a>) and the University of the Holy Spirit of Kaslik (USEK) in Lebanon last year and assigned a team to process the publications in April this year. Christina Queiroz is a visiting professor at the chair, which is coordinated by political scientist Javier Amadeo.<\/p>\n\n\n When the Unifesp team began working on the collection as part of the project, the cathedral\u2019s books had already been screened and were beginning to be cataloged and digitized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen the Unifesp team took over, the first thing we did was resume the cataloging and digitization of the cathedral\u2019s books,\u201d Queiroz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All works digitized by the project are made available for research on the USEK platform, while the ABCC keeps a backup copy, and the institution or individual who lends a book receives a copy as well as the physical book back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat Unifesp has also been trying to do is identify the research findings,\u201d Queiroz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The identification is carried out jointly by the Unifesp team, which, in addition to Queiroz, includes historian and conservator-restorer Isaac Gabriel Silva, Arabist Pedro Martins Criado and anthropologist Isabella Aquino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe all work together to identify the findings, the gems that have the potential to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge,\u201d Queiroz explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The coordinator said that Habib Masud\u2019s book, for example, is particularly important for understanding the ties between intellectuals from the Arab diaspora in South America and intellectuals in North America. In \u00c1rabes na Am\u00e9rica do Sul<\/em> [Arabs in South America], meanwhile, Jordanian intellectual Al-Badawi al-Mulattam recounts a tour of South America in the 1940s to gather data on Arab immigration in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe book contains information we did not know about, for example, the press and publishing houses that operated in Brazil, printing these books in Arabic or books about Arabs,\u201d Queiroz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Archbishop Damaskinos Mansour said that most of the books in the cathedral\u2019s collection were donated by individuals, usually after a family member dies and leaves behind books in Arabic. He said many of the books donated to the cathedral were taken to Syria, but some remained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe put them in order here and keep them because we believe this is the history of our Arab community, a very important history,\u201d he said. \u201cI turn to these books to learn about the history of the community because many Brazilians, many immigrants born after 1950, do not know Arabic well enough to read these books,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the handover of the books, at a discussion with the archbishop about the project, ABCC Vice President of Marketing and historian Silvia Antibas asked for access to more works from the cathedral\u2019s collection for digitization. She said the project dispels some myths about Arab immigration and shows that many authors and intellectuals came to Brazil as part of the immigration movement. Antibas briefed the clergyman on the project\u2019s progress and praised the way Unifesp is carrying out the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis team is extremely enthusiastic about this history. It moves me deeply,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cathedral received the loaned books divided into three groups: those that do not require restoration or repair, those that would benefit from such work, and the notable finds. The cathedral also received digital copies of the books. The digitization process generated 21,000 images. \u201cIt is the digital book; it is a way of preserving all of this forever,\u201d said ABCC President William Adib Dib Jr. during the handover, referring to the recorded history of immigration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ABCC Director Sami Roumieh also attended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Javier Amadeo also attended the meeting at the cathedral and spoke about an initiative that could expand access to the collection, along with the other Unifesp team members working directly on the project: Christina Queiroz, Isaac Gabriel Silva, Pedro Martins Criado and Isabella Aquino. Also present were cathedral priest Jo\u00e3o Abdullah and Antonio Naime, vice president of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read also<\/em>: Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Meeting](\"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-10-05-at-16.41.28-1024x768.jpeg\")
Genesis of an immigration memory project<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n