Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network stands in solidarity with Al Janiah, a refugee-run and -organized restaurant and social center in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Al Janiah is not only a central organizing space for the Palestinian community and Palestine solidarity movement in Brazil, but also a space for music, cultural resistance and activism for all struggles for justice and liberation in Brazil and around the world.
In the early morning hours of 1 September, Al Janiah was attacked by a fascist group who approached the doors with sharp blades and threw bottles at the building’s windows. All five of the people involved in the incident – recorded on security cameras and blocked by the Al Janiah security team – have a long history of connection to far-right groups, according to media reports. This is not the first time Al Janiah was attacked – in 2016, military police threw tear gas bombs at Al Janiah that affected workers and customers during protests against the “constitutional coup” against then-President Dilma Roussef.
The attack on Al Janiah by far-right, fascist forces cannot be delinked from the ongoing project of repression, environmental devastation and political attacks being emboldened by the Brazilian government, especially under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro has actively associated his presidency with the Israeli state responsible for the dispossession of the very Palestinian refugees who formed Al Janiah as a critical social space for democratic expression and organizing. The Israeli state has returned Bolsonaro’s support, with effusive welcomes provided to Bolsonaro and the Brazilian far-right by Benjamin Netanyahu and the Zionist regime as a whole. Of couse, Israeli-Brazilian military cooperation predates Bolsonaro, as does the use of Israeli military and surveillance technologies to repress popular movements and marginalized peoples.
Bolsonaro has threatened to label indigenous organizations and popular social movements like the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) as “terrorist organizations,” taking a page out of the Israeli state’s attack on Palestinian resistance to over 70 years of colonization, occupation, apartheid and dispossession. His regime has supported and emboldened racist, misogynistic and anti-indigenous organizations and individuals while promoting free, destructive reign for corporations and wealthy ranchers, policies that have played a significant role in creating the devastating fires sweeping the Amazon. Brazil’s former president Lula da Silva remains a political prisoner, while social movements are coming under official repressive attacks by police and intelligence forces.
Al Janiah is a critically important Palestinian and Brazilian space that belongs to the international movement for justice and liberation, guided by the traditions and struggle of the Palestinian liberation movement. Samidoun has participated in multiple events at and with Al Janiah and MOP@T, the Palestinian Movemnt for All. We extend our strongest solidarity with Al Janiah and urge all supporters of Palestine around the world to support this important cultural, social and political institution’s work.
Follow Al Janiah on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/aljaniah01/ or visit the Al Janiah website at: https://www.aljaniah.com.br/
The statement from Al Janiah follows below:
OFFICIAL STATEMENT
Confirming what has been circulating on various media outlets, Al Janiah- Bar, Restaurant, and Cultural Center, suffered from an attack early Sunday morning (1/9).
Around 3h30 am, a group of five approached the establishment’s main entrance, armed with a knife and pepper spray.
Our security cameras registered in detail the cowardly attack. The members of the group fled in consequence.
No one maintained any injuries; our team managed to contain the attack and all whom were present are in good health.
We will not remain silent in the face of attacks of such motivation, in a context of an ever growing discourse of intolerance and hate gripping the country.
Ever since its birth, Al Janiah is known to be a democratic space, one which puts itself at the total disposal of the defense of political minorities, and hosts refugees. Our history follows in the path of the Liberation of Palestine.
Institutionally, we are taking the necessary legal steps with our team of lawyers.
We appreciate the support received from all corners of Brazil. The destruction of strong and enduring solidarity and the democratic spaces we built will not be an easy task for those seeking it.
From the Palestinian Resistance, we seek inspiration:
“O you who pass between fleeting words
As bitter dust, go where you wish, but
Do not pass between us like flying insects
For we have work to do in our land:
We have wheat to grow which we water with our bodies’ dew
We have that which does not please you here:
Stones… or shame.” Mahmud Darwish
In moments such as this we will remain strong and alert, continuing ahead firm in our necessary struggle in this context of attacks on democracy. Our resistance continues as does our cultural program, in defense of Culture and in celebration of diversity.
Management- Al Janiah.
NOTA OFICIAL
Como tem sido noticiado em parte da imprensa, o Al Janiah – Bar, Restaurante e Centro Cultural sofreu um ataque na madrugada do domingo (1/9).
Por volta das 3h30 da manhã, um grupo de cinco pessoas se aproximou da porta principal do estabelecimento portando uma faca e spray de pimenta.
As câmeras de segurança registraram o momento do covarde ataque. Os membros do grupo fugiram na sequência.
Ninguém ficou ferido, nossa equipe conseguiu conter o ataque e todos os presentes estão bem.
Não podemos nos calar diante da motivação deste ato, num contexto de crescente discurso de intolerância e ódio que acomete este pais.
Desde o inicio, o Al Janiah sempre foi conhecido por ser um espaço democrático, de defesa das minorias políticas e acolhimento de refugiados. Sua historia se liga a luta pela Libertação da Palestina.
Institucionalmente estamos tomando as devidas providências por meio de nossos advogados.
Agradecemos o apoio que temos recebido de todos os cantos do Brasil. Não vai ser fácil destruir a solidariedade e os espaços democráticos que foram construídos.
Da resistência palestina, buscamos inspiração:
“Vocês que passam com palavras efêmeras,
como a poeira amarga, passem onde quiserem, mas
não passem entre nós como insetos com asas
temos o que fazer na nossa terra
temos trigo a criar e regar com o orvalho do nosso corpo
temos o que a vocês aqui não agrada:
temos pedra… e perdiz!” (Mahmud Darwish)
É preciso estar atento e fortes. Seguimos!
Nos mantemos firmes na luta, tão necessária nesse contexto de ataque à democracia. Nossa resistência continua e nossa programação cultural segue normalmente, em defesa da Cultura e celebração da diversidade.
Direção do Al Janiah
-ملاحظة رسمية-
كما ورد في جزء من الصحافة ، تعرض مطعم الجانية – البار والمطعم والمركز الثقافي لهجوم في الساعات الأولى من يوم الأحد.
في حوالي الساعة 3:30 صباحًا ، اقتربت مجموعة مكونة من خمسة أفراد من الباب الأمامي للمنشأة يحملون سكينًا ورذاذ الفلفل.
سجلت الكاميرات الأمنية لحظة الهجوم الجبان. فر أعضاء المجموعة بالتسلسل.
لم يصب أحد ، تمكن فريقنا من احتواء الهجوم والجميع على ما يرام.
لا يمكننا الصمت في مواجهة الدافع وراء هذا العمل ، في سياق الخطاب المتزايد للتعصب والكراهية الذي يؤثر على هذا البلد.
منذ نشأتها ، عُرِفت الجانية دائمًا بأنها مكان ديمقراطي للدفاع عن الأقليات السياسية والترحيب باللاجئين. يرتبط تاريخها بالكفاح من أجل تحرير فلسطين.
مؤسسياً نحن نتخذ الإجراءات المناسبة من خلال محامينا.
نحن نقدر الدعم الذي تلقيناه من جميع أنحاء البرازيل. لن يكون من السهل تدمير التضامن والمساحات الديمقراطية التي تم بناؤها.
من المقاومة الفلسطينية ، نسعى إلى الإلهام:
“أيها المارّون بين الكلمات العابرة
كالغبار مرّوا أينما شئتم ولكن
لا تمرّوا بيننا كالحشرات الطائرة
خلنا في ارضنا ما نعمل
و لنا قمح نربّيه ونسقيه ندى اجسادنا
و لنا ما ليس يرضيكم هنا
حجر .. أو خجل!” (محمود درويش).
يجب على المرء أن يكون في حالة تأهب وقوي. نحن نتابع!
إننا نقف بحزم في الكفاح ، وهو أمر ضروري للغاية في هذا السياق من الهجوم على الديمقراطية. تستمر مقاومتنا وتستمر برامجنا الثقافية في الدفاع عن الثقافة والاحتفال بالتنوع.
إدارة الجانية
