By Manal Abdel Fattah
Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, received the great Iraqi poet and writer Ahmed Shawqi Abdel-Amir, the new Director-General of the Arab World Institute in Paris, at the headquarters of the League’s General Secretariat.
Gamal Rushdi, the official spokesman for the Secretary-General, stated that Aboul Gheit congratulated Abdel Amir on his selection to lead this important cultural edifice, praising his distinguished career in serving Arab culture in his country and the Arab world.
Aboul Gheit listened carefully to an explanation given by Abdel Amir about his vision for the role of the institute in the next stage, and his plan to strengthen its work in order to strengthen cultural relations between France and the Arab world, combat extremist ideas on both sides, and create a space of cultural convergence and cross-fertilization between two ancient cultures.
Rushdie quoted the Secretary-General of the League as pointing out the accuracy of the current stage in light of the rise of right-wing movements in the Western world, with their hostility to the values of openness and acceptance of others, as well as the bloody war on the Palestinians in Gaza that caused an unprecedented escalation of feelings of anger and a sense of lack of justice in the international system. Among the Arab and Islamic peoples, and the countries of the South in general.
Aboul Gheit stressed that Arab culture is a major contributor to the fabric of global civilization in the past and present, and that the Arab World Institute in Paris is an important center for disseminating this culture that we cherish, and introducing its contributions, strengths and uniqueness.
The official spokesman said that Abdul Amir thanked the Secretary-General for the support provided by the League of Arab States through the Council of Arab Ambassadors in Paris in order to select him for the important position, expressing his intention to enhance coordination and cooperation with the League to achieve everything that would advance joint Arab action.
