June 12 , 2008

Bethlehem University Held the Third Palestinian Literature Conference

The Third Conference on Palestinian Literature organized by the Department of Arabic at Bethlehem University, entitled “Palestinian Women Literature was concluded on Saturday June 8, 2008 . The Conference started on Friday 6 June2008 , and was attended by many writers from Palestinian universities and Galilee and a large number of people interested in literature. One of the goals of the Conference was to honor the renowned author Sahar Khalifa

The Conference was officially opened at 10:00 am with the Palestinian National Anthem followed by a speech by Dr. Moen Halloun , Chairperson of the Department of Arabic, in which he welcomed the audience and stressed the importance of holding this Conference in conserving the Palestinian identity. Dr. Halloun announced that next year at this time, a conference on the Palestinian Popular Literature, will be held .

Brother Robert Smith, Interim Vice Chancellor, welcomed the audience and expressed his happiness for holding this Conference at Bethlehem University . Zahir Kamal, a well-know political, social figure and feminist and the first minister for Women Affairs, director of one of the Unesco avant guard Project in Palestine, the Palestinian Women Research and Documentation Center gave a keynote address to the conference.

Prof. Qustandi Shomali, head of the organizing committee of the conference showed a PowerPoint presentation displaying milestones in the Life and works of Sahar Khalifa. Later, Dr. Ibrahim Abu Hashash read the justifications for honoring Sahar Khalifa and Brother Robert presented Dr. Sahar Khalifa with a special Medal as recognition of Bethlehem University to her contribution to the Palestinian literature and the translation of her novels into 13 languages.

Later Zahira Kamal opened a photo exhibit for the Palestinian Artist Sahar Khalifa and an Arabic Calligraphy exhibit for the Palestinian Artist Yaser Saymeh and a book exhibit to the Qattan Foundation and the Ogarit Center .

The opening ceremony was followed by a reception. Later 30 writers and professors from different Palestinian universities and institutions presented their papers in 6 different sessions in which they tackled three main literary genres: poetry, fiction, drama and the literary trends in the Palestinian Literature in the Diaspora.

Participants in the conference came different places, Sweden (1), Australia (1), Iraq (2), Jordan (3), USA (1), and Spain (1). five from Najah University, two from Birzeit University, five from al-Quds University, four from Herbon University, four from Bethlehem University and two from Ramallah. The proceedings of the conference will be published in a book in the very near future. Palestinian Woman Research and Documentation Center (PWRDC), Qattan Foundation with Bethlehem University are supporting this even.

The Justifications

The Award-honoring Committee, Prof. Qustandi Shomali, Dr. Ibrahim Abu Hashash, Mrs. Zahira Kamal and Mr. Waleed Abu Baker agreed upon honoring Dr. Sahar Khalifa for the following reasons:

1. Sahar Khalifa is a multi-talented Palestinian novelist, intellectual and researcher, active participant in the area of women affairs and literary creativity in Palestine and the Arab world, and was the editor of the Woman Affairs journal for more than six years.
   
2. Sahar Khalifa was able since the beginning of her literary career to discern the dialectic relationship between national liberation and social liberation represented in the freedom of the women from all patriarchal and social restrictions. She perceived that the liberation of women is a basic step towards the national liberation.
   
3. Sahar Khalifa has published until today eight novels and become one of the leading novelists in modern Arabic literature, through her style which combines simplicity and realism, and her daring essay which represents sincerely the human experience sincerely.
   
4. Sahar Khalifa is recognized internationally land nationally; her novels were translated into more than nine living languages and in different editions. Through her narrative form far from the journalistic and media form, Sahar brought international recognition to the Palestinian problem.
   
5. For all the above, Sahar Khalifa is an avant guard, intellectual and humanistic personality, with assiduous creativity associated with her beliefs and accomplishments.
   
6. Consequently Sahar Khalifa is eligible for a Recognition Certificate bestowed upon her by Bethlehem University , which will be added to other awards by Local, Arab and International boards.