Arlene Elizabeth Clemesha

Arlene Clemesha (PhD) is Professor of Contemporary Arab History at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Her research focuses on both Arab contemporary history and the Jewish question, and her books include Marxism and Judaism, history of a difficult relation (São Paulo: Boitempo); Palestine 48-08 (Tehran: DEFC); Edward Said: intellectual work and social critique (Org. São Paulo: Casa Amarela). She has recently dedicated her research to the relations between Brazil and the Middle East, and co-organized the book Brazil and the Middle East: the Power of Civil Society (IRI-USP). Arlene was the Brazilian civil society representative to the United Nations International Network for Palestine (UN-ICNP) from 2005 to 2015. She founded and directed the film festival Images from the East, together with the Iranian Documentary and Experimental Film Centre, and the Brazilian Institute for Arab Culture. She is currently part of the Advisory Board of the Common Action Forum, based in Madrid; and a collaborating member of the organisation Al Sharq, an independent international research network based in Istanbul. She collaborates regularly as a news commentator for the State of São Paulo television broadcaster, TV Cultura. (Source: Lattes Curriculum)