On May 31^st, Prof. Rami Hamdallah, President of An-Najah University, and University President Assistant for Strategic and International Affairs, received in his office at the Old Campus Mr. Bernard Bonnet, Deputy French Consul from the French Consulate General in Jerusalem.

At the beginning of the meeting, Prof. Hamdallah spoke to the guest about the history of An-Najah, its development, the academic programs it offers to students, in addition to its role in providing the local society with a wide range of services through the many scientific centers it has. Moreover, the President discussed the many achievements that the University has made recently such as its recent ranking by the Webometrics which ranked it first in Palestine, fifth in the Arab world and number 1011 internationally.

Additionally, Prof. Hamdallah valued the role that the French Government is carrying out to support the Palestinian people with respect to different areas of life especially higher education. He added that An-Najah holds unique cooperation bonds with the French Consulate and many twinning relationships with various universities in France. The President also hoped that such cooperation would continue in the future and mentioned that the University has already established a French Department to teach French for Palestinian students. He also expressed the University’s desire to expand its relationship with France especially with respect to scholarships to France and joint exchange programs between the two countries.

Mr. Bonnet expressed his pleasure to be at An-Najah and said France welcomes the kind of cooperation it holds with Palestine. He also hoped that such cooperation would continue to flourish in the future to provide the Palestinian higher education sector with more support.

A short documentary film was presented to the guest which introduced him to the University’s history, development and the academic programs it offers to the students in various fields.