Dam Al-Nakhl Film and a symposium on antiquities of Palmyra in Tokyo

The Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in Tokyo held an event to display the film Blood of the Palm (Dam Al-Nakhl), directed by Najdat Anzour, translated for the first time into Japanese, on the occasion of the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Syrian archaeologist Dr. Khaled Al-Asaad by the terrorist “ISIS” organization.

The event shed light on the importance of the archaeological and historical city of Palmyra through a symposium held after the screening of the film. Assistant Director General and Director of Excavations and Archaeological Studies at the Directorate of Antiquities and Museums, Dr. Humam Saad, Japanese archaeologists Dr. Kyohide Saito from the Kashihara Institute of Archeology in Nara District and Dr. Kosuyuki Matsubara, an expert in architecture and archeology from the University of Tsukuba, participated via video.

In a statement to SANA, Dr. Saad noted that the symposium included a history of Palmyra and the extent of the damage that resulted from the destruction of a number of its archaeological monuments, illegal excavations and looting carried out by ISIS terrorists during their control of the city, in addition to the damage caused to these sites because of the earthquake that hit Syria last February.

He also highlighted the importance of holding external symposiums on Syrian antiquities and the Syrian cultural heritage, especially in Japan, as an opportunity to shed light on them and the attacks, theft and vandalism these antiquities were subjected to during the past years of war.

Dr. Saad said: The Directorate of Antiquities and Museums, before the war, was working with several archaeological missions, including the Japanese mission in Palmyra headed by Professor Kyohide Saito and many other missions that contributed to the restoration of many archaeological sites and monuments.

Dr. Saad also gave a presentation on the efforts made by the Ministry of Culture to limit the damages, and to prepare the necessary studies to start restoring the damaged antiquities and the stages of implementing the restoration operations.

Dr. Saito talked about his personal experience as a member of the Japanese archaeological missions to Palmyra, who worked in the Palmyra cemetery area, expressing his great impact after watching the film, as he was a contemporary of the late Khaled Al-Asaad and worked with him.

In turn, Dr. Matsubara stressed the importance of participating in the symposium as it provides an opportunity to acquaint those who are interested in the reality of Syria with the details of what really happened there, indicating that the sanctions against Syria hinder the work of some Japanese academic groups that are looking for a way to work to protect the Syrian antiquities.

For his part, Chargé d’Affaires of the Syrian Embassy in Tokyo, Muhammad Najib Elji, asserted that the screening of the film and the symposium that followed it contributed in briefing the  Japanese citizens and archaeologists in Japan on the extent of the destruction caused by the terrorist organization “ISIS” and “Al-Nusra” terrorists since the beginning of the terrorist war against Syria in 2011.

The Chargé d’Affaires said: The Japanese citizen wants to know the truth about the events in Syria in light of the misinformation campaigns it is exposed to from the international media, pointing out that the embassy will hold a number of cultural activities to cast light on the Syrian civilization and its tangible and intangible heritage.

The film screening and the symposium were attended by members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Tokyo, in addition to the presence of a number of Japanese news agencies, a number of people interested and specialized in antiquities, representatives of non-governmental organizations and Japanese students studying the Arabic language.

Inas Abdulkareem