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A Brazilian Thawra: Arab Migrants In the 1932 São Paulo Revolution
Abstract
In 1932, the state of São Paulo revolted against the federal government of Brazil. Among its demands was the promulgation of a new Constitution. Unexpectedly, Syrian and Lebanese migrants joined the revolutionary ranks, participating in a civil war that defined that Latin American country. Arabs donated money and supplies, sewed military uniforms, took up arms, and went to the frontlines. In the newspapers they published in São Paulo in Arabic, they justified their actions as a contribution to a country that had welcomed them when they most needed it. In this paper, I argue that the participation of Arabs in the Revolution of 1932 represents an inflection point in their history in Brazil. Until then, Syrians and Lebanese engaged in long-distance nationalist projects tied to the Syrian and Lebanese nations in the homeland. During the São Paulo revolt, however, they showed a willingness to defend a host country to which they progressively felt attached. In the influential newspaper “al-Afkar,” for example, they often spoke of Brazil as “al-watan al-thani,” or their “second nation.” My paper relies on extensive fieldwork in São Paulo, including periodicals published in Arabic and Portuguese, donation receipts, photographs, memoirs, and a 1933 Arabic translation of revolutionary leader Menotti Del Picchia’s pamphlet “A Revolução Paulista.” Based on these untapped sources, I contribute both to the historiography of Brazil—which has so far ignored the participation of Arabs in 1932—and of the Levant—which rarely considers what Syrian and Lebanese migrants were doing away from the homeland. Furthermore, I add to the growing literature on Arab revolutions, incorporating primary sources from the diaspora.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
Lebanon
Syria
Sub Area
None