(MENAFN- Brazil-Arab News Agency (ANBA)) São Paulo – During his four years as head of Brazil's office in Ramallah, West Bank, Ambassador Alessandro Candeas experienced a variety of social, cultural, and diplomatic events, among many others. These are experiences that are now reaching bookstores in his latest book: Peregrinação e guerra: Anotações de um diplomata na Terra Santa [Pilgrimage and war: Notes of a diplomat in the Holy Land] (Contracorrente publisher).

Now Brazil's Consul General in Lisbon, Portugal, Candeas answered some questions from ANBA about his book and his time in the Arab territory.“It was truly a very impactful experience-being in Jerusalem, in Palestine, in the Holy Land, while also being in contact with Israel, and having lived through the Gaza War during the last two years of my term, which is undoubtedly a very intense experience,” he says about his time at the office. He recalls-and describes in the book-that there had been expectations of conflict since the first half of 2023, which actually materialized at the end of the year.

The conflict that began in October 2023, the diplomat notes, was the experience that most marked him in the region due to the tension and complexity involved in evacuating Brazilians and bringing them back to Brazil. But it was not the only one: Candeas also mentions the itinerant consulates, occasions when office staff traveled to Gaza twice a year so that Brazilian residents there could carry out bureaucratic consular procedures. It was a way to circumvent the restrictions on the movement of people into and out of the territory.

Candeas also recalls achievements during his time at the office, beyond the repatriation of Brazilians. He cites the establishment of a study center for Portuguese language education, the strengthening of ties between Brazilian and Palestinian universities, the creation of a scholarship program for Palestinian refugees, and the promotion of cultural and business relations, including the ratification of the free trade agreement between Palestine and Mercosur in 2024.

The diplomat highlights the organization of Palestinian business missions to Brazil with support from the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC ), an institution that played an“extraordinary” role in these trips. He cites the partnership of the ABCC's then-president Osmar Chohfi and former secretary-general Tamer Mansour.

“I believe the book isn't just a record of the war-it's a record of bilateral relations or the evolution of those relations during my time there, from 2020 to 2024. And I am certain there's enormous potential for further growth. Brazil and Palestine are still far from realizing the true potential of our relationship,” he says, citing various sectors where this growth could occur, in addition to political and economic ties.

Peregrinação e guerra is divided into four parts, examining the origins of the Israeli-Arab-Palestinian conflict, his diplomatic experience in the region, the evacuation of Brazilians in 2023 due to the current conflict, and reflections on humanity and spirituality.

Candeas is the author of articles and books on artificial intelligence, Brazil-Argentina relations, culture, and development. He holds a PhD in Socioeconomics of Development from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris and has served at the Brazilian embassies in Bogotá, Colombia, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as at Brazil's delegation to the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO in Paris, France. Book launch events are scheduled between November and December in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte; Recife, Pernambuco; and Brasília.

Quick facts :

Peregrinação e guerra: anotações de um diplomata na Terra Santa
Alessandro Candeas
Contracorrente publisher
364 pages
BRL 80

Read more:
Palestine-Mercosur: More ratifications expected

Translated by Guilherme Miranda

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