ABSTRACT
This contribution explores the Brazilian elite notion that Jews and Arabs are members of a single ‘race’. This linkage was one component of an attempt to create a western European-like Brazilian national identity yet the contradiction between the economic benefits derived from immigrants and elite concerns about colour, religion, and national origin made Arabs and Jews a focus of comment among intellectuals. In spite of finding themselves the targets of prejudice, both groups entered Brazil in significant numbers in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, helping to create exactly the multi-ethnic society elites hoped to prevent.
