The University and a Number of Institutions in Nablus Participate in the 4th EuroNablus Conference in Italy
11 October 2010
Between the 2nd and 5th of October 2010, An-Najah, along with a number of local and international institutions participated in the 4th EuroNablus Conference which was organized in Naples, Italy. Participants from the Palestinian side included: Dr. Saed Al-Koni, University Vice President for Administrative Affairs, Mr. Ala Abu Dheer, Acting Director of the Public Relations Department at the University, in addition to Engineer Adly Yaish, Mayor of Nablus, Mr. Abdel Afo Aker, International Relations Officer at Nablus Municipality, Engineer Nasser Arafat, Director of the Civil Society of Nablus Governorate, Mrs. Janet Michael, Mayor of Ramallah, as well as Ghazi Hanania and Ghattas Bosheh, Council Members at Ramallah Municipality.
From the international side, several representatives of a number of European cities, such as Stavanger in Norway, Lille in France and Naples in Italy with which Nablus holds twinning relationships, also participated in the conference. Those participants included: Marie Pierre Bresson, Deputy Mayor for International Cooperation, city of Lille, France, Anndi Lomeland, President of Nablus Society, city of Stavanger, Norway, Shafik Kurtam, President of the Palestinian Community of Campania Region, Naples, Italy, Professor Massimo Marrelli, Rector of the University of Naples Federico II, Souzan Fatayer, Representative of the Scientific Committee of the EMBSO, and Luigi Mascilli Migliorini, Director of the EMBSO Summer School.
The conference was opened with a speech by Dr. Raffaele Porta, President of the Euromediterranean and Black Sea Observatory (EMBSO) in the city of Naples, Italy. Porta spoke about the importance of the historical relations that connect the European cities with the Palestinian ones. He also expressed those cities' commitment to continuously show solidarity with the different Palestinian cities and also called for the reinforcement of such relations between schools, universities and municipalities on both sides of the Mediterranean.
The conference included the discussion of a number of topics related to twinning relationships, how to develop them and the study of possible joint development projects. Major topics included: "EuroNablus: an example of European networks of cooperation", "EuroNablus: State of art on current activities and proposals for future programs of the network partners", "Strategic planning of cities under military occupation: Nablus and Ramallah as models" in addition to other topics that aimed to activate the relationships between Palestinian and European cities and support joint projects between them.
Dr. Al Koni spoke about An-Najah and the possible ways to develop relationships with other universities in Europe as well as the importance of inter-cultural dialogue in reinforcing mutual understanding. Mr. Abu Dheer spoke about the right to education, the historical progress of this right and the difficult conditions that Palestinian students experience everyday while trying to get the education they need. Engineer Arafat presented a video display that described situations in Nablus over the last decades and spoke about the ways to develop Euro-Palestinian cooperation.
A meeting was also organized between the participants and the students attending the EMBSO Summer School in which they discussed several issues related to the conference's focus.
The conference also included signing a cooperation agreement between Ramallah and Naples municipalities. During this meeting, Rosa Iervolino, Mayor of Naples, delivered a speech in which she expressed her support of the Palestinian people and its various institutions. A number of tours were organized for the participants to a number of significant locations in Naples including the Science Museum at the Science Center, Naples Museum and Naples Municipality.
The conference was extensively covered through media and attracted a lot of attention in Italy. A number of recommendations and commitments were presented at the end of the conference that focused on carrying on joint projects that aim to strengthen relationships between the Palestinian and European cities in addition to implementing various projects in the cultural, academic and scientific fields.
