Amman - 

Between a novel, a book, a poetry book, and a cultural or knowledge symposium, the Amman International Book Fair's pioneers wander in a vast sea of ​​knowledge and culture.

The exhibition - which was inaugurated by the Jordanian Minister of Culture Haifa Al-Najjar last Thursday and continues until the tenth of September this year - witnessed momentum and diversity in attendance, and toured the corridors of the exhibition - which I called the Jerusalem Gallery, Amman Gallery, and Kuwait Gallery - book lovers and lovers of reading.

About 400 local, Arab and international publishing houses are participating in the exhibition - which preserved the slogan "Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine", either directly or through proxy from 22 countries, including: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Sultanate of Oman and Iraq. , Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, Britain, Italy, China, in addition to Jordan.

The personality of the exhibition, the writer Walid Seif

The exhibition’s management chose the Jordanian writer and writer Walid Seif as the cultural personality of the exhibition, “in celebration of his distinguished literary and dramatic works, and the culmination of his literary and creative career, which was characterized by tireless work and continuous effort,” according to Jaber Abu Fares, director of the exhibition and president of the Jordanian Publishers Association.

Abu Fares told Al Jazeera Net that the exhibition celebrates the writer Walid Seif in appreciation of his efforts to employ the Arab heritage in works that elevate the taste, and present works that record reality and its transformations, and criticize its imbalances according to a vision and knowledge of methodological tools he developed to reach his audience in a simple and clear manner.

The cultural program of the Amman Book Fair includes a special symposium on Dr. Seif that sheds light on this rich and pioneering experience of this thinker, which began since the seventies of the last century in the field of television drama, poetry, translation, theater and scientific research, with the participation of a number of critics, writers and academics.

Momentum in the cultural program

According to Abu Fares, the book fair in this session is witnessing an "expansion and momentum with a diversified cultural program between cultural seminars, poetry evenings, competitions, story readings and theater performances for young people."

The exhibition began its first symposium with a reading of the Arab cultural scene, in which the Jordanian Minister of Culture Haifa Al-Najjar and the Palestinian Minister of Culture, Atef Abu Seif, participated.

In the symposium, Palestinian Minister Abu Seif believes that the Arabs "are failing in collectively presenting Arab culture within an integrated Arab project," which prompted the Arab book to be "outside the global book industry."

Abu Seif stresses the importance of pushing Arab culture to form part of global awareness in light of the decline of Arab civilization and their global presence, by focusing on presenting the Arab cultural product as a true Arab project, presenting the book as a human achievement, and presenting Arab culture as a model to promote the state of integration.

In turn, Al-Najjar spoke about the Arab culture industry, how to define the Arab cultural project, and the role of the thinker in decision-making in the media, politically and economically, adding that the cultural scene was participatory and integrative between the poet, politician, painter and the people of culture as a whole.

She pointed out that in the absence of thought, criticism and poetry, the teacher did not make the teacher an interlocutor or a philosopher, and that the occupation of Palestine and the division of the Arab world had negative effects on the Arab cultural scene, and there was no longer a methodology for science and research, and thus culture declined.

The Palestinian cause is present in the books of publishing houses at the Amman International Book Fair (Al Jazeera)

Sherine Abu Akleh and the assassination of the word

The exhibition's management will hold a cultural symposium today, Sunday, entitled "Media in the face of the bullet," in which Walid Al-Omari, the director of Al-Jazeera's office in Palestine, and the former Jordanian Minister of Information, Samih Al-Maaytah, will speak.

The symposium sheds light on the crime of assassination of colleague Sherine Abu Aqleh, and the Israeli occupation forces' targeting of the word campaign in Palestine and other countries, in an attempt to silence journalists, not spread the truth and terrorize media professionals, according to the organizers.

A cultural symposium was organized last Thursday, entitled "The Arab Journal and its role in shaping the Arab cultural scene," in which the editor-in-chief of the magazine, Ibrahim Al-Mulaifi, addressed the independent editorial line of the magazine, and it dealt with issues of Arab right, the first of which is the Palestinian issue as a central issue, and the magazine is known to cover all Arab countries on its pages.

Jerusalem in the eyes of Kuwait

In this session, Kuwait will be the guest of honor for the exhibition, and tomorrow, Monday, a cultural symposium entitled “Jerusalem in the eyes of Kuwait” will be organized, dealing with the presence of the Palestinian cause in the Kuwaiti novel, Kuwait Post and Palestine, and an exhibition of pictures and stamps bearing the name of Palestine. Issa Dashti.

The program of seminars includes a cultural symposium entitled “Jerusalem and the Hashemite Guardianship” in which Jordanian Minister of Awqaf Muhammad Al-Khalayleh, Secretary General of the Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs Abdullah Kanaan and Representative Muhammad Al-Zahrawi will speak, followed by a symposium entitled “Palestine in the Jordanian Short Story” with the participation of Dr. Muhammad Obaidullah, Dr. Maryam Jabr and the writer Mufleh Al-Adwan and Al-Qassa Siwar Al-Subaihi.

There is a symposium entitled "The Novel in Arab Cinema: Jordan, Palestine and Iraq as a Model" in which critics Adnan Madanat from Jordan, Youssef Al-Shayeb from Palestine and Kawthar Jabara from Iraq.

The exhibition management allocated a cultural symposium entitled "Arar, a symbol of Arab culture 2022."

The scene of political reform in Jordan and the challenges it faces were not absent from the seminar program, as former Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Al-Rifai reviews - in a cultural seminar on Tuesday, entitled "Political Reform" - with the participation of the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Development Ali Al-Khawaldeh, the constitutional amendments and the modernization of the legislative system political reform.

Visitors at one of the pavilions of the Amman International Book Fair (Al Jazeera)

Children, calligraphers and people with disabilities

For the first time in this session, the exhibition management allocated an independent hall for children's activities that includes local and Arab publishing houses, and a hall for children's activities separate from the exhibition and enjoys independence and includes a theater, drawing and reading rooms and educational games.

The exhibition dedicated a corner to the "Color with Hope" association, an association concerned with teaching drawing arts to children with autism, Down syndrome, people with hearing and movement disabilities, cancer patients, in addition to the elderly in the homes of the elderly.