Syrian research by Dr. Khaled Kiwan wins competition of Arab and Islamic efforts to serve Jerusalem

Syrian archaeological researcher Dr. Khaled Kiwan won first place in an international research competition organized by the General Authority for Youth and Culture in Gaza and the Strategic Initiative Center Palestine – Malaysia under the title “Arab and Islamic Efforts to Serve Jerusalem” and its results came out on Wednesday.

The competition, which was announced last April, aims to highlight the official and popular efforts of Arab and Islamic countries to serve the cause of Jerusalem through research and study, and work to draw attention to the risks to this city. It also aims to enhance awareness of the importance of scientific research in studies related to the Palestinian cause, and to strengthen Palestinian, Islamic and Arab national belonging towards the issue of Jerusalem.

The competition witnessed the participation of 53 studies in Arabic and English, presented by researchers from Palestine, Egypt, Algeria, Syria, Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen and Iraq. The competition covers “political and legal”, “scientific, cultural and historical”, “media”, “social and popular” and “civil and non-governmental organizations” domains. It was selected and evaluated according to high quality standards.

Regarding the research paper  that he presented and was given first place  , Kiwan noted to SANA reporter that he participated in the competition with a research paper in the scientific, cultural and historical field, entitled “Documenting ancient Palestinian coins and Arab efforts to strengthen the Palestinian identity”. His research aimed at shedding light on the Arab-Palestinian issue and confirming that it will remain forever in the conscience of every Arab person and proving the Palestinian people’s right of their historical presence in their land.

Kiwan indicated that the research presented scientific material that relied on documents and archaeological and historical evidence to prove the Palestinian identity and the culture of its cities, which have preserved their names since ancient times, despite the attempts of the Zionist occupation to Judaize them and the Zionist claims that they are rightful owners there.

Dr. Khaled Kiwan, is a professor of ancient coins at the universities of Damascus and Aleppo and dean of the Faculty of Arts in Al-Suwayda in 2021 and director of Damascus University branch in Al-Suwayda currently. He has many books and articles in the field of coins and classical antiquities in Syria, Arab and international journals. He previously worked in archaeological excavation and restoration in the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums. He held the position of assistant head of the Antiquities Division in the Department of Antiquities of Rural Damascus, and he was an assistant secretary at Damascus National Museum between 2001 and 2010. He worked as an excavator and director of several excavation missions in archaeological sites in Syria. He previously published a number of researches on Jerusalem coins in 2009 in the Cradle of Civilizations magazine on the occasion of Jerusalem, the capital of Arab culture, in addition to his contributions to many researches and articles in Zahrat Al-Madaien magazine, Al-Quds International Foundation

Inas Abdulkareem