KUALA LUMPUR: A Palestinian man and his Malaysian family who were deported from Brazil are continuing their legal battle to challenge the decision by Brazilian authorities to deny their entry into the country.
In a statement today, Muslim M.A. Abuumar expressed his demand for an apology and compensation following his family's unsuccessful trip to visit his brother in Brazil.
"I have just arrived at my home in Kuala Lumpur after an unsuccessful family trip, to visit my brother in Brazil, that was unfortunately hindered by Zionist intervention, clearly due to my academic activities in support of the Palestinian struggle.
"This arduous journey included an unjust decision by the federal police to prevent my entry into Brazil issued upon the orders of an imperialist foreign country that actively sponsors the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza," he said.
Upon arrival at Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo on Friday (June 21), he said, they were interrogated by police about his political views and academic activities supporting Palestinians.
"I was very clear in stating that, as an academic, and as a Palestinian, I believe Israel is an apartheid regime that is committing genocide in Gaza and should be brought to justice, and that this goes in line with international law and the position of the Brazilian government itself.
"After the interrogation session, in which neither a lawyer nor a translator were provided, the security officials at the airport informed me of the federal police's decision to prevent me and my family from entering the country and to immediately deport us abroad," he said.
He then rejected the deportation order and asked for clarification on the reason for the ban, as he held a valid multiple-entry visa and had previously visited the country without any issues.
"I have never broken any Brazilian laws, and I know well that the Brazilian government does not view Palestinian resistance as an act of terrorism.
"By then it was very clear the orders had come from outside the country, from a foreign imperialist power that has a long dark history of meddling in other countries' affairs.
"Over the next 48 hours, with the help of esteemed Palestinian activists, especially the head of the Brazil Palestine Institute, Dr Ahmed Shehada, I fought a legal battle against the unjust police decision," he said.
During their 48-hour detention at the airport hotel, he said, a rushed judicial order confirmed the ban and their deportation outside Brazil.
He claimed that the police presented fabricated allegations of supporting terrorism based on his academic activities supporting the Palestinian cause.
This, he claimed, included his clear position in support of Palestinian rights and denouncing the terrorist Zionist occupation of Palestine.
"Unfortunately, my defence lawyer was not given enough time to refute these baseless accusations and allegations, which simply violate the Brazilian Constitution itself, which stipulates that Brazil respects international law, and the Brazilian law which does not view Palestinian resistance as terrorism.
"For me and the Brazilian activists who support Palestinian rights, the battle is not over yet, and we will continue the legal pursuit to nullify this unjust decision and demand an apology and compensation. I am absolutely certain that justice will prevail in the end," he said.
Earlier, Reuters reported that Brazil deported a Palestinian man and his Malaysian family for being members of Hamas at the request of the US State Department, Brazilian federal police sources told Reuters on Monday.
Muslim M.A. Abuumar and his 7-month pregnant wife, his son and mother-in-law, were detained and barred from entering the country at Sao Paulo's Guarulhos airport and put on a Qatar Airways flight back to Doha on Sunday, the sources said.