Nouakchott, (ST) – The Arab-African Literary Summit concluded in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, with the participation of delegations from several countries.
The summit coincided with holding the meeting of the Council of the General Secretariat of the General Union of Arab Writers.
The General Secretariat meetings witnessed practical steps focused on enhancing the presence of the Palestinian issue and resistance literature in Arab narratives in various fields.
The Palestine statement, issued at the end of the meeting, stressed the necessity of pressure to stop the Zionist aggression against Gaza, and to provide international protection for the Palestinian people who are subjected to the most horrific massacres in history.
The statement appreciated the popular action pressuring governments in this direction. It stressed the need to intensify efforts to pressure governments to stop the war of genocide against the Palestinian people and prevent their displacement from their land.
The statement called for the expulsion of Zionist ambassadors from Arab countries and preventing Israeli occupation aircraft from flying in Arab airspace
The statement also condemned the repeated Israeli attacks on Syrian territories, and demanded an end to these attacks.
In the closing session of the summit, the winners of the (Pen and Values) competition were honored, and memorandums of cooperation were signed between the Mauritanian Writers Union and some unions, including the Arab Writers Union in Syria, the Writers Syndicate in Egypt, and the Kuwaiti Writers Association. The heads of the participating unions were also honored.
In turn, the President of the Arab Writers Union in Syria, Dr. Muhammad Al-Hourani presented the Union Shield to Dr. Khalil Al-Nahwi, President of the Mauritanian Writers Union. He stressed the necessity of strengthening cultural relations between Syria and Mauritania.
The Arab-African Literary Summit witnessed meetings between Arab writers’ unions and literary unions and clubs in several African countries, including Ivory Coast, Mali, Gambia, Niger, Senegal, Chad, Nigeria, during which African writers presented their suffering as a result of Western-backed attempts aimed at eliminating Arab culture and Arabic language in their countries.
These unions called on Arab writers’ unions, and cultural institutions in the Arab countries to help them strengthen their Arabic language, root their identity, and preserve it.
In this direction, the establishment of the Arab-African Forum (MAAD) was announced to build bridges of communication between Arab culture and African culture, especially in countries that offer cultural creativity in the Arabic language.
The Council of the Arab Writers Union also unanimously agreed to return the Writers Union in Morocco to the General Secretariat of the Union, more than five years after its membership was frozen, in order to strengthen Arab solidarity and unity of the Arab cultural ranks.
Raghda Sawas