Academic Freedom Under Fire: Brazil’s Professor Targeted over Gaza Support
Eman Abusidu | 19 April 2025 | Middle East Monitor
A campaign led by segments of the Zionist lobby in Brazil has launched a series of public attacks against Professor Arlene Clemesha, a prominent scholar of Arab History at the University of São Paulo (USP). Renowned for her academic work and public advocacy in support of the Palestinian cause, Clemesha has become the target of an orchestrated smear campaign following recent public appearances in which she denounced what she describes as “the genocide in Gaza”.
Clemesha is a well-known researcher specialising in Contemporary Arab History, the History of Palestine and Brazil–Arab world relations. She is affiliated with USP’s Department of Oriental Literature and is the author of Marxism and Judaism: History of a Difficult Relationship (Boitempo), now in a newly released revised edition. Clemesha has been actively promoting the new edition through public debates and interviews, including a high-profile appearance on the Ilustríssima podcast by Folha de São Paulo….