Diaspora is the process in which people emigrate from their country to another, usually due to
political or economic problems, to look for a better life.
Lebanon, a nation of 4 million, and is said to have 15 million in the diaspora all over the globe. Migration has long been a tradition for the Lebanese, whose ascendants the Phoenicians traveled extensively around the Mediterranean establishing trading posts and by some accounts beat Christopher Columbus and the Vikings to the Americas by almost 2,000 years.
civil war and The Israeli attacks on Lebanon, made emigration a must for many. These factors are important in understanding Lebanese Diaspora because Lebanon has a high level of literacy and many people are looking for better job opportunities, and a better life.
A surprising fact known about Lebanese is that there are more than nine million Lebanese in Brazil then in
Lebanon, with an estimated of four million Lebanese in So Paulo the capital of Brazil. Immigration to Brazil started at the nineteenth century to escape from the political issues that Lebanon faced over the past two centuries.There were three waves of immigration to Brazil, in the mid-1800s, between the world wars, and again post-war. Of elected politicians, 10% are of Lebanese origin; Brian Peter Medawar won the Nobel Laureate in Medicine in 1960 for the discovery of acquired immunological tolerance.
Nowadays, Michel Suleiman, the current Lebanese president, is urging the Lebanese community in Brazil to come back to their homeland Lebanon to "build its glory" just like their grandparents ventured by traveling to Brazil and establishing a powerful Lebanese community in it and around the world. The president aims for the unity of the Lebanese Diaspora which will help Lebanon progress rapidly by the intelligent minds and expertise who lived outside Lebanon.
http://www.mideast-times.com/home_news.php?newsid=2403
Very interesting, though it was a bit hard to distinguish where the first website started.
ReplyDeleteThe First website gives very interesting information; a great way to start is to show the history. The Second and Third websites makes me wonder why Brazil? I know that they were escaping, but why did they choose particularly Brazil? And I appreciate that the president wants his people back, but why is it that he only asked those in Brazil? Though the First website stated that "the World Lebanese Cultural Union estimated that some 13,300,000 persons of Lebanese origin were living abroad, the largest numbers in Brazil, the United States, and Argentina"
Keep up, Haneen Alqatanani
thank you a lot my team mate for your supportive comment. actually Lebanese people choose Brazil because of the facilities provided to them, Brazil even provided them a Passport to be a real citizen of the country. Thus President Sulieman in one of the conferences in Brazil Asked them to come back but actually his aim is not just Brazil,all the lebanese out of Lebanon. He thought to start with the big majority of lebanese in Brazil then moving and focusing on other countries :) Sana Nader
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