The "cultural genocide" of Palestine, debated at an international summit in Madrid
About thirty countries will meet next week with the aim of launching "concrete instruments" for "cultural reconstruction"
Madrid"Any genocide also implies a cultural genocide". With this premise in mind, Madrid will host a summit next week focused on the "cultural reconstruction" of Palestine. Thirty ministerial delegations and organizations such as UNESCO and the Arab League will meet on July 15 and 16 in the Spanish capital to address the consequences of the "attempted destruction" perpetrated by Israel and will seek formulas to contribute to the survival of the heritage, cultural institutions, and Palestinian artists threatened by the conflict. The Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, host and promoter of this ministerial conference, along with Palestinian authorities, has emphasized that the objective is to "create an international alliance" that will launch "concrete instruments", both "political" and "financial", "to support Palestinian culture", following the model created for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Urtasun has argued that culture "is not a secondary condition, but an indispensable one", that "it cannot wait for the emergency to end", and has advocated for the importance of protecting Palestinian identity and cultural creation. In a joint press conference this Wednesday, the Ambassador of Palestine to Spain, Husni Abdel Wahed, thanked the Spanish government for its support in sustaining a culture, the Palestinian one, which "is millennia-old" and "extremely rich", and which has been "a constant target of the occupying power's policies". In addition to the meeting between representatives of the Culture Ministries of the thirty countries – including France, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Austria, Uruguay, Mexico, Algeria, and Egypt – which will take place next Thursday at the Reina Sofía Museum, there will also be other events with members of the Palestinian cultural sector, such as Basel Adra, director of the documentary No other land, an Oscar-winning film, who will participate in the inauguration, the day before, at the Prado Museum.
In addition, the two days prior to the institutional working day, July 14 and 15, a citizen's forum open to the public will be held, also with the presence of Palestinian artists. The Thyssen Museum and the Círculo de Bellas Artes will host round tables, shows, traditional dance and Palestinian embroidery workshops, and a recital of contemporary Palestinian poetry. Urtasun said she hopes this initiative will represent a "turning point" for the collective future of the Palestinian people, and wished that the second edition of this forum could be held in Ramallah, because "it cannot be normalized that it is held in Madrid and not in Palestinian territory".
