Sammy Clark, Acclaimed Lebanese Singer Versatile in Arabic and English

Sammy Clark (aka) Sami Clark (aka) Sammy Hobeika.
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Clark is most recognised for singing the opening credits for the children’s cartoon Grendizer which was popular in late ’70s to ’90s.

In 2018, Clark performed a rearranged version of the song with Emirati composer Ihab Darwish alongside the Beethoven Academy Orchestra.

“To celebrate 40 years since Grendizer aired in the Arab World, I dedicate this special rearranged medley to all who enjoyed this iconic animation. Together with Sammy Clark with his heroic voice and timeless performance, with his words cheering for our Space Robot Grendizer defending Earth from attacks by intergalactic invaders, I give you this masterpiece to enjoy your childhood memories,” Darwish wrote at the time of sharing the new musical arrangement of the track.

Sammy Clark passed away in Lebanon, on Sunday, February 20th, 2022.

source/content: thenationalnews.com (edited for space)

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The life of Lebanese singer Sammy Clark, who performed in Arabic and English, was celebrated by fans on social media. Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi
Photo: Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi / thenationalnews.com

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LEBANON

UAE becomes World’s Largest Rough Diamond Trading Hub

The Industry convenes for Dubai Diamond Conference 2022.

DMCC – the world’s flagship Free Zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise – today hosted its flagship Dubai Diamond Conference (DDC) held under the theme “The Future of Diamonds”. 

In his opening remarks, Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, announced that the UAE reached the top spot globally as a rough diamond hub, trading over USD 22.8 billion worth of rough diamonds in 2021. The country’s polished segment continues to grow at pace, closing in on the current market leader. 

Since 2015, the UAE has increased its rough diamonds trade by 76%, overtaking Belgium as the world’s leading rough trade hub. The total diamond trade in the UAE grew by 83% between 2020 and 2021, demonstrating both the industry’s resilience and Dubai’s critical role in the global sector. Dubai boasts direct flights to other diamond hubs across the world, including mining countries in Africa and manufacturing centres in India, resulting in a connected supply chain with Dubai at its centre. Additionally, Dubai is home to the two Kimberly Process (KP) offices in the UAE, making the emirate the only entry point for rough diamonds in the country.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, and Chairman, Dubai Diamond Exchange, said: “I am humbled to share that in 2021, Dubai, UAE, became the number one rough diamond trading hub in the world. With USD 22.8 billion in rough trade last year, we are continuing to grow thanks to the trust and support received from so many of our guests here today – we accomplished this together. This major milestone clearly demonstrates the determination of both Dubai and DMCC in advancing the global industry.

DMCC’s Dubai Diamond Exchange is the largest diamond tender facility in the world and home to over 1,100 diamond companies, providing members and industry professionals with state-of-the-art infrastructure, facilities and services to trade with confidence. 

source/content: mediaoffice.ae

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(L to R) Bruce Cleaver-CEO, De Beers, Iris Van Der Veken – Exec Director, Responsible Jewellery Council, Amit Dhamani – CEO & MD, Dhamani Jewels Group and Ahmed Bin Sulayem – CEO & Exec Chairman, DMCC

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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E)

How ‘Expo 2020 Dubai’ Showcases Arab Achievements, Heritage and Ambitions

In 1851, the Great Exhibition set out to bring culture, history and innovations together in one place — London — for the world to see. Since this inaugural world expo, however, more than 85 percent of the global events have been hosted by either European or North American cities.

Some notable exceptions are the expos held in Asia, including Osaka in 1970, Aichi in 2005 and Shanghai in 2010, almost all of which set attendance records. But to date, these major events have been predominantly northern and western hemisphere affairs.

That is why Expo 2020 Dubai has been such a big deal, not just for world expos but also for the Middle East and North Africa region as a whole, with the Arab world occupying center stage for the first time.

As host, the UAE has offered the very essence of Arab hospitality, first by dedicating a pavilion to every participating nation, and, second, by giving every nation its own “national day” throughout the event. Saudi Arabia’s day fell on Jan. 7.

Expo 2020 Dubai has also had a distinctly Arab feel. The site is peppered with traditional Arabic design features, on its sunshades, water fountains and even public seating.

It is a well-known expo fact that pavilion positioning is everything, often indicating a nation’s global significance and its relationship with the host. With masterful design planning, the UAE was able to place participating Arab countries at the heart of the action, giving them greater visibility and prominence.

Naturally, the UAE pavilion is the largest, occupying the prime position. Its immediate neighbor is the impressive, world record-setting Saudi Arabian pavilion, and close by are Morocco, Palestine, Egypt, Kuwait and other Arab countries.

The Saudi pavilion achieved three Guinness World Records for the largest interactive light floor, the longest interactive water curtain and the largest interactive digital screen mirror. But it is not alone in showcasing avant-garde architecture ideas.

While the expo lives up to its theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” it also offers a visible celebration of Arab cultures and nations on a global stage.

Themes celebrating the past are normally divided between the ancient past, such as the Bronze Age settlements of Failaka Island in Kuwait, and the more recent past, before the rapid urbanization of the last half-century.

Indeed, the Arab pavilions go to great lengths to pay homage to the feats and wisdom of past generations. For example, the first exhibit in the UAE pavilion features a stylized desert, with the soft, fine sand of Emirati dunes used as a projection surface for old film reels paying tribute to Sheikh Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE’s founding father. 

In the nearby Vision Pavilion, dedicated to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, a guided video tour begins with the story of his stay with a Bedouin leader in the desert as a child, and the lasting impact that connection with the land made on him as a leader.

In the Saudi pavilion, ancient cultural sites, such as the tombs in Al-Hijr, At-Turaif District and the AlUla valley, are featured in a striking visual tour of the rich cultural history and natural beauty of the Kingdom.

In the Oman pavilion, meanwhile, a focus on frankincense highlights the sultanate’s eye-catching landscape and long trading history.

Far from focusing exclusively on their glorious past, Arab pavilions look to the future. Many have a concrete vision that highlights targets set in order to achieve desired development outcomes.

Saudi Arabia has put sustainability at the heart of its vision for the future, Vision 2030, which seeks to diversify its economy, alongside a pledge to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2060.

Egypt has its own Vision 2030 plan, announced in 2016, which sets out eight national targets aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on an inclusive economy, education and the environment.

In this vein, Kuwait’s pavilion addresses the resilience of its earliest settlements, while a stylized water tower at the pavilion’s center highlights the ways in which humans have carefully managed its natural resources in order to flourish there.

Although Lebanon’s pavilion is much more austere compared with other Arab offerings, its message is a strong reminder of the resilience of its people.

Taken together, Arab participants in Expo 2020 Dubai have made good use of this global stage to highlight their achievements, heritage, ambitions and fortitude. In this sense, the expo can be considered an Arab triumph.

source/content: arabnews.com

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Expo 2020 Dubai has been such a big deal, not just for world expos but also for the Middle East and North Africa region as a whole, with the Arab world occupying center stage for the first time. (AFP/AN Photo)

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DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E)

Yehia Abdel-Tawab, First Ballet Dancer in Egypt

Russian tribute to Yehia Abdel-Tawab, first ballet dancer in Egypt

Yehia Abdel-Tawab, one of the pioneers of ballet in Egypt and the recipient of the Medal of Merit from late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, has been honored by the Egyptian Association of Graduates of Russian and Soviet Universities (EAGRSU) and the Russian House in Cairo for his contribution in strengthening Egyptian-Russian relations through his artistic career.

The EAGRSU and the Russian House held a seminar titled ‘The Ballet in Egypt and Russian Experiences’ earlier this week in honour of Abdel-Tawab, who is a professor of ballet at the Academy of Arts.

The seminar, held at the Russian Cultural Centre in Dokki, was moderated by President of the Association Sherif Gad and attended by director of the Russian Cultural Centres in Egypt Marat Gatin, dean of the Ballet Institute in Cairo Atef Awad, former dean of the Ballet Institute Sherif Bahader, member of the board of directors of the association Samia Tawfik, and Ballet Institute professor Tahani Hassan.

Abdel-Tawab also stressed that ballet in Egypt has a strong foundation, and with the efforts made by the state to build new opera houses, there will be many specialized ballet companies, and called for more cooperation with Russian experts in order to exchange experiences.

Former dean of the Ballet Institute Bahader said that Abdel-Tawab is considered one of Egypt’s first pioneers in the art of ballet, and one of the greatest ballet dancers in the entire world.

“He is also one of the first dancers in double dance in Egypt and the Arab world.”

Professor of ballet Tahani Hassan expressed her pride in her teacher at the Ballet Institute Abdel-Tawab, pointing out that all his students learned from him commitment, as he was accurate in timing and executing movements.

During the event, a documentary film on the history of the art of ballet in Egypt was shown, and Gad presented a certificate of honour on behalf of the association to Abdel-Tawab in appreciation of his great artistic career.

source/content: english.ahram.org.eg

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(L-r) Marat Gatin, Sherif Bahader, Tahani Hassan, Yehia Abdel-Tawab, Atef Awad, and Sherif Gad photo credit of the Russiaan Centre

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EGYPT

‘Aqsa Week 2022’, 2nd edition February 24th – 02nd March, 2022. Al-Aqsa Mosque – Islam’s 3rd Holiest Site.

50 countries to take part in Aqsa Week 2022 to promote love of mosque, raise awareness

A UK-based initiative to shed light on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem has gone global for the second year in a row, with more than 50 countries set to take part, according to organizers.

Aqsa Week 2022, which will run from Feb. 24 to March 2, is being organized by the British-based Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA) — a NGO concerned with defending the human rights of Palestinians and protecting the Al-Aqsa Sanctuary.

FOA said that during the week, which they anticipate to be the biggest one yet, mosques, universities, local councils and parliaments will hold talks, workshops and other activities and educational events to highlight the mosque’s heritage, and bring global focus to its issues.

Aqsa Week, which was launched by FOA in 2017, aims to inform people of Al-Aqsa and its history and significance, as well as the dangers faced by Al-Aqsa and the Palestinian people.

Al-Aqsa is Islam’s third holiest site and is in close proximity to religions sites significant to Jews and Christians, making the area a flashpoint in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Israeli government has on occasion prevented Muslim worshippers from accessing the mosque.

Several of the FAO events will be streamed live on their social media accounts, as well as TV and radio, and they have chosen #LoveAqsa as this year’s hashtag.

source/content: arabnews.com

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Friends of Al-Aqsa illustration. (Twitter)

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JERUSALEM, PALESTINE

Eng. Ahmed Mekky, First Egyptian Appointed the Head of Fiber Optic Connect MENA Council

The Fiber Connect Council MENA has announced the appointment of Eng. Ahmed Mekky, Chairman and CEO of Benya Group, as Chairman of the council for a two-year term, succeeding Mr. Juan Colina. His appointment for this esteemed role, marks the first time an Egyptian assumes this position.

Eng. Mekky has been involved with the council in his capacity as a member of the Board of Directors since 2011, and was nominated for his role as Chairman of the council, in light of his endless contributions to the ICT industry on a global level and particularly for his extensive experience in the field of optical fibers.

Benya Cables, a subsidiary of Benya Group, began with ambitious plans to build the region’s largest optical fiber factory, and is now months away from materializing that reality.

Fiber Connect Council MENA has a mandate to exponentially increase the deployment of high-speed fiber networks, to connect consumers, businesses, governments and organizations, with the products and services needed to enhance quality of life, make a sustainable impact on the environment, boost business competition and develop apps to ultimately transform the way people live and businesses operate.

The Council’s Board of Directors is comprised of a notable cohort of member organizations such as Corning, Prysmian MEFC, OFS, Etisalat, and Oman Broadband. The board was formed in 2011 as an initiative launched by the founding members, and since inception, now boasts a member and partner count over 50 prominent industry leaders.

Kholoud Al-Dergham, Director General of Fiber Optic Connect Council MENA, welcomed the appointment of Eng. Ahmed Mekky as the Council’s new Chairman, highlighting “his expert record and experience in this field as invaluable assets to the Council, as well as a unique opportunity to invest that kind of experience, to accomplish the council’s objectives to expand the use of fiber optics”.

Eng. Ahmed Mekky is one of the most influential and prominent leaders in the ICT sector. In 2017, he founded Benya Group, formerly known as “Fiber Misr Systems,” and its affiliates with the goal of accelerating the Middle East and Africa’s digital transformation.

Prior to that, he launched Gulf Bridge International (GBI) in 2008 to build and operate the first underwater cable network, stretching over 40,000 kilometers and connecting 25 nations.

In 2011, he was appointed to the SAMENA Council’s Telecommunications Committee, and was selected on the Board of Governors (PTC).

Eng. Mekky has received various honors in recent years, including the “Telecom Review” award for best CEO in the area of enterprises offering services in telecom infrastructure for three consecutive years (2019, 2020 and 2021)

source/content: egyptian-gazette.com

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EGYPT

Nasser Al Attiyah Wins for a Record 16th time the ‘2022 Qatar International Rally’ : February 2022

Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah won Qatar International Rally to record a 16th victory at his home event and achieve a stunning milestone of 80 wins in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC) since 2003.

The success was a 28th for co-driver Mathieu Baumel in the MERC and his fifth in Qatar, while Al Attiyahs 80th success as a driver equaled the number of wins achieved last month by French legend Sébastien Loeb in the FIA World Rally Championship.

Oman’s Abdullah Al Rawahi was patient and stayed clear of trouble as chaos ensued around him. He and Jordanian co-driver Ata Al Hmoud were rewarded with a stunning second place in their Oman Rally Team-run Skoda Fabia R2 evo and a useful haul of championship points.

Andorra-based Ulsterman Kris Meeke and co-driver Chris Patterson led after two stages on Friday before rolling out of contention for the win in stage four. Meeke climbed from fifth to third during the final day and then overcame a damper issue on the final loop of three stages to regain third overall and the final place on the podium.

source/content: iloveqatar.net (qatar news agency)

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pix: iloveqatar.net / qatar motor & motorcycle federation (qmmf)

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QATAR

Merryhan Al-Baz First Saudi Female Crane Driver & World’s First Female Crane Driver in Race Competition, ensures safety procedures at E-Prix

Merryhan Al-Baz’ has been taking apart cars and indulging her curiosity in the world of vehicles since she was 13 years old.

This passion for motors and engines, inherited from her father, lead the now 30-year-old to participate in the Diriyah E-Prix 2022 as a recovery marshal last month, becoming the world’s first female crane driver in race competitions.

“No one ever thought a woman could enter this field — the world of mechanics is a male dominated career. Fortunately, in my household, my mother and father always support any talents, ideas, or anything you desire to do,” Al-Baz told Arab News.

Al-Baz explained that there are four types of marshals at the E-Prix; fire, recovery, flag, and trackside. On the ground, authorities saw her capabilities and assigned her to join the recovery marshal team.

Recovery marshals must clean up the circuit immediately after an accident happens in order for a race to continue its course.

Al-Baz is a self-taught mechanic, with her educational background completely different from her career path.
“I actually studied psychology and media in Lebanon, but I see myself in the world of cars,” she said.
Al-Baz registered at an institute in Jeddah to receive a certificate to pursue her career in a more official manner. Her autodidactic reputation earned her a position as an instructor too, and she hopes that she will be able to open her own automobile repair shop in the near future.

source/content: arabnews.com

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Merryhan Al-Baz, 30-year-old Saudi woman with passion for motors and engines, becomes the world’s first female crane driver in race competitions. (Supplied)

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SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi Arabia Declares ‘Feb. 10th – Arabian Leopard Day’

Saudi Arabia has declared Feb. 10 as “Arabian Leopard Day” in a bid to raise awareness of the endangered big cat.

The move, which was announced by the Council of Ministers last month, is part of the Kingdom’s efforts to protect the species, which is now classed as critically endangered, from extinction.

The Arabian leopard is the chief predator in Saudi Arabia and plays a major role in the Kingdom’s culture. But overhunting and a lack of natural prey means there are now fewer than 200 left in the wild.

In December 2020, Prince Badr Bin Farhan, the minister of culture and governor of the Royal Commission for AlUla, established the Global Fund to Protect the Arabian Leopard from Extinction in the Sharaan Nature Reserve. Its aim is to sustain the leopard population and its prey, and protect its natural habitat.

Images of the Arabian Leopard were projected onto buildings and monuments across Saudi Arabia and the UAE on Feb.10.

In recent years, the commission and the National Center for Wildlife have been working on a number of initiatives to protect the big cat. Among these is expanding a breeding program within the Sharaan reserve.

Also, last year, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, launched the nonprofit foundation Catmosphere to raise awareness of the many endangered cat species around the world, including the Arabian leopard.

The Kingdom also works closely with Panthera, which is devoted to the conservation of the world’s wild cat species.

The Arabian leopard lives in high mountains and is native to Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman and the UAE. Anyone found hunting the animal in the Kingdom faces a fine of SAR400,000 ($106,000) — rising to SAR30 million for repeat offenders — and up to 10 years in prison.

source/content: arabnews.com

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The Arabian leopard is the chief predator in Saudi Arabia and plays a major role in the Kingdom’s culture. (SPA)

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SAUDI ARABIA

Arabic Digital Resources of National Library of Israel

In summer 2020, Arab News reported that the National Library of Israel, founded in Jerusalem in 1892, was planning to digitize its large collection of rare Islamic books and manuscripts, as part of a cross-cultural drive to open its digital doors to Arabic speakers in Israel and across the region.

Back in August 2020, Dr. Raquel Ukeles, then curator of the Islam and Middle East Collection at the NLI, said that the library was determined to play a part in eradicating what she saw as the “tremendous amount of ignorance about Islam, about Palestinian culture and Arab culture generally that has real repercussions on the political level.”

It was, she said, “very natural for us to be focusing on and investing in this material, to create space for Muslim culture in Israel and in the broader intellectual life, whether it’s in the Middle East or in the world, to enable greater understanding.” 

The response has been truly impressive.

“The truth is that I’m thrilled to see the massive increase in the use of our Arabic digital resources,” Dr. Ukeles, who is now head of collections at the library, told Arab News a year and a half later.

“It’s so heartening to see that people are willing to cross boundaries in order to gain knowledge.” 

In 2021, more than 650,000 visitors from across the Arab world found their way to the NLI’s Arabic-language website — an increase of 40 percent compared with 2020. There has been a dramatic increase in interest from Saudi Arabia in particular.

Most of the visitors, seeking out not only rare Islamic documents but also other archival treasures including a large collection of historic Arabic-language newspapers, came chiefly from the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Algeria. 

Worldwide, there was a 125 percent increase to 1.5 million visitors to the Arabic site. Within Israel itself, the number of visitors to the site jumped by 250 percent to a total of 620,000 users, while the library’s trilingual Hebrew-Arabic-English site as a whole registered 10 million visits in 2021.

There has been a dramatic increase in interest from Saudi Arabia in particular. In 2021, there was a 30 percent growth in traffic from the Kingdom to the NLI site, with more than 121,000 sessions by nearly 94,000 individual users. About a third of the visitors were women, and 60 percent of the total were aged between 25 and 44.

“When we launched our first digital archive of early Arabic newspapers from Ottoman and Mandatory Palestine in September 2016, we had an annual rate of about 5,000 users for the first few years,” Dr. Ukeles said.

“That number has now increased by about tenfold and, thanks to our talented Arabic digital team, this past year we had 1.5 million total users of our Arabic websites.”

It was, she said, the aim of the National Library of Israel “to allow people to gain access to their own culture and history,” but also “to stimulate curiosity and engender respect about other cultures.”

This seems to be working.

“Users from the Arab world are searching our collections of Arabic newspapers and Islamic manuscripts, but they are also interested in our historical maps and digitized materials about Jewish history and Israel.”

Thanks to technology, the priceless documents at the library are even more accessible online, where they can be seen in exquisite, close-up detail — far better than they would be if viewed in person behind the glass of a display case.

“Technology allows culture and the written word to cross boundaries and reach new places previously inaccessible,” said Yaron Deutscher, head of digital at NLI.

“The fact that so many people from across the Arab world are expressing such a high level of interest in the cultural treasures freely available via the website shows just how relevant these things are, even for the younger generation living in our region.”

Those treasures include some extraordinary documents, including an exquisite copy of Muhammad Al-Busayri’s famous 13th-century poem “Qasidat Al-Burda,” or Ode of the Mantle, written in praise of the Prophet.

Also online are maps, illustrations and photographs, and hundreds of thousands of pages of historic Arabic newspapers from Ottoman and Mandatory Palestine — invaluable “rough first drafts of history” published between 1908 and 1948.

Newspapers and journals from the past “constitute one of the more clear-sighted vantage points for acquainting ourselves with bygone eras,” said a spokesperson for the library. 

“Periodicals are an important resource for scholars as well as a portal for anyone wishing to access history through the words of contemporaries.”

Among the most regularly viewed items are 73 issues of the weekly newspaper Al-Arab, published in Mandatory Palestine between August 1932 and April 1934. Its writers included prominent authors and intellectuals of the day, such as Muhammad ‘Izzat Darwaza, the Palestinian politician and historian whose contributions included the important article, “The Modern Awakening of Arab Nationalism,” and who was interned by the British in 1936.

The 167 issues of the bi-weekly newspaper Al-Jazira, published in Palestine between 1925 and 1927, is another invaluable insight into the politics of the day, while a fascinating snapshot of contemporary art and culture can be found in the rare three issues of the magazine Al-Fajr. Its purpose, as declared in its first edition, published on June 21, 1935, was “to represent all intellectual currents in literature, society, art, and science.”

It was, says the NLI, “a veritable storehouse of knowledge and included diverse writings (and) represented an important stage in the development of Palestinian culture.”

Al-Fajr lasted only two years. Along with many newspapers and magazines, it ceased publishing during the Arab revolt in Palestine between 1936 and 1939, and never returned to print.

One of the oldest periodicals in the digital collection is the daily newspaper Al-Quds. First published in Jerusalem in 1908, the 107 issues in the collection cover the period from then until the end of 1913, offering fascinating insights into the prevailing social and political concerns on the eve of the First World War and the final death throes of the Ottoman Empire.

Social history aside, the most visually breathtaking treasures belong to the more distant past. Many of the documents and books contain unrivaled examples of Arabic and Persian calligraphy and illustrations.

The library attributes the rise in interest in its collections in part to the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreement signed between Bahrain, Israel and the UAE on Sept. 15, 2020, which saw the first Israeli embassy open in Abu Dhabi, and the first embassy of the UAE in Tel Aviv.

In May last year, the NLI signed a historic memorandum of understanding with the National Archives of the UAE in Abu Dhabi, committing the two organizations “to work together in support of mutual and separate goals and for the benefit of the international cultural and documentary heritage sector.”

The NLI said that the collaboration came “amid increased interest in regional collaboration in the wake of the Abraham Accords” and, in a joint communique, the new partners hailed the agreement as “a significant step forward.”

Both organizations, said the NLI, “serve as the central institutions of national memory for their respective countries and broader publics, and in recent years both have launched expansive and diverse efforts to serve scholars and wider audiences domestically and internationally.”

For Dr. Ukeles, the collaboration advanced “our shared goals of preserving and opening access to cultural heritage for the benefit of users of all ages and backgrounds in Israel, the UAE and across the region and the world.”

Dr. Abdulla M. Alraisi, director-general of the UAE’s national archives, said that the collaboration reflects its determination to “spread its wings around the world to reach the most advanced global archives and libraries, to obtain the documents that come at the heart of its interest as it documents the memory of the homeland for generations.”

source/content: arabnews.com

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Ottoman Hajj manual. (Supplied/ National Library of Israel)
Ottoman Hajj manual. (Supplied/ National Library of Israel)

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ISRAEL