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.

Professora Dra. de História Árabe do Curso de Árabe do Departamento de Letras Orientais da Universidade de São Paulo. Doutorado (2003) e Mestrado (1998) pelo programa de pós-graduação em História Econômica da Universidade de São Paulo. Pesquisadora Visitante na University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (2001). Atuou como representante da sociedade civil brasileira na United Nations International Coordinating Network for Palestine (ICNP-UN) de 2005 a 2015, e na direção do Centro de Estudos Árabes da USP, de 2008-2017. Fundou e dirigiu o festival de cinema Images from the East, em conjunto com o Documentary and Experimental Film Centre do Irã e o Instituto de Cultura Árabe. Atua hoje no conselho do Common Action Forum (Madri) e colabora com a organização Al Sharq, baseada em Istambul. Sua pesquisa está centrada na História árabe contemporânea e os conflitos no Oriente Médio.