Aljazeera.net correspondents
Baghdad- The 25th Baghdad International Book Fair, which kicked off on September 12, with the participation of 600 local, Arab and foreign publishing houses, does not seem to be a mere exhibition for trading or selling books. Rather, it carries a symbolism that was not present in previous exhibitions. This is the first participation of the Palestinian delegation at this time when the Gaza Strip and Palestine in general are suffering from an unbalanced war with Israel.
The highlight of this conference is the Palestinian people breaking the siege on Gaza with books, as the Executive Director of the General Union of Palestinian Writers and Authors, Jumaa Al-Rifai, confirmed that the union’s participation in this conference is a challenge and a message to everyone that Palestinian culture remains and is continuous with its Arab depth.
Al-Rifai told Tel Aviv Tribune Net: “We are very happy to participate in the current session of the Baghdad Book Fair, despite the obstacles we faced in delivering publications from the General Union of Palestinian Writers and Authors to Baghdad.” He praised the efforts of the fair’s organizing committee in overcoming all obstacles to ensure that the publications reached the fair.
Quality participation
Regarding the nature of the participation, Al-Rifai explained that they are participating with publications issued in Palestine, in a step that represents “a challenge to the circumstances, and a message that Palestinian culture remains,” as they aspire to communicate with the Arab world by delivering the Palestinian product that is issued within their lands.
He explained that participation was based on 4 levels of books:
- The first is the literature written by Palestinian prisoners “inside Zionist prisons.”
- The second is for Palestinian writers who were unable to return to Palestine and wrote their works outside of it, but were unable to print them, so the union was keen to print them inside Palestine.
- The third is books that talk about Palestinian heritage, culture and folklore.
- The fourth focuses on the reproduction, revival and renewal of Palestinian culture, by authors such as Noah Ibrahim, Khaled Abu Khaled and Hassan Al-Bahri.
Al-Rifai stressed that the experience was new to them, even though the union was founded in 1966, but he described it as “a unique and authentic experience, in Baghdad, the city of civilization, culture and heritage, and we are very proud of our participation in the exhibition.”
Iraqi media personality and presenter, Renas Ali, stressed that adding dialogue sessions to a cultural festival such as the Baghdad Book Fair has enriched the cultural movement further and created direct communication with the audience, stressing that it is “a positive thing and an important addition to this edition of the fair.”
He added during his interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “The most important thing in such conferences is the turnout of people, which made us feel joy and pride through their direct communication with figures who have their brilliance in writing.”