Under the auspices and participation of Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Abo Mowais, the Palestinian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Al-Istiqlal University inaugurated the activities of the first joint international conference of the Palestinian universities, entitled "Challenges of Language and Communication in the Age of Digitization: Issues and Prospects", in conjunction with the southern governorates.
The event included Prof. Dr. Nour Al-Din Abu Al-Rob, the President of Al-Istiqlal University, several Presidents of the Palestinian universities, members of scientific, preparatory, technical, and media committees, and many representatives of diplomatic missions and security, official and civil institutions.
In his speech, Abo Mowais said: "I convey the greetings of HE President Mahmoud Abbas, and his Prime Minister, wishing to come up with important recommendations, mentioning the importance of the Arabic language, which is considered as an authentic language for the Qur’an and a homeland, and discussing the threats of it by globalization and the openness to other languages.”
Also, he added “The Universities contribute to promoting the Arabic language by teaching compulsory courses to all of its students, besides the Faculty of Arts and Humanities which provides postgraduate studies in the Arabic language to graduate distinguished teachers; in the stages of general education, eloquence, and reading, writing, and speaking, in addition to the Palestinian postgraduate programs which play an important role in promoting the status of Arabic culture and language among foreign students.
Furthermore, he added, “We are proud of the Palestinian universities and the contributions of their researchers and faculty members in translating the research into Arabic, and in producing specialized research in the Arabic language that keeps pace with the current development, and examines its impact on technological progress, stressing the ability of the Arabic language to be contemporary with the developments of global discourse."
And, he indicated that the status of scientific research and innovation in the Arabic language is witnessing a remarkable improvement. However, scientific prosperity in light of digitization depends on the production of knowledge, which represents the pillar for achieving the desired development, stressing the importance of preserving identity through the Arabic language, "the key to science, and that its computerization and digitization is the key to a complete knowledge renaissance."
Abo Mowais continued, "We are being killed every day, and we are facing a war of substitution and extermination. Let us support our leadership, be loyal to our martyrs and prisoners, and let us make academics and scientific research a tool of resistance and steadfastness."
For his part, Prof. Dr. Abu Al-Rob, the Chairman of the Conference, welcomed the attendees, praising the importance of this event in bringing together the two parts of Palestine under one umbrella, stressing the relentless pursuit of excellence and creativity in the light of the difficult conditions and the siege by the Israeli occupation and its control of the land, sea, and air outlets, and its repressive policies against our people which include daily suffering, forced displacement, and assault on the Palestinian land and existence.
Moreover, he said” Al-Istiqlal University is keen to create a generation armed with knowledge and the necessary cognitive and training skills, as future soldiers and protectors of the homeland, lives, and property, in line with the lofty message of science and ensuring the building of our institutions at the local and regional levels, which requires a commitment to constructive dialogue and convergence, and everyone should bear his national, scientific and cultural responsibilities.
During a recorded speech, Prof. Dr. Amr Salama, the President of the Association of Arab Universities, expressed his happiness at the invitation and the conference’s vision aimed at uniting Palestinian universities within the largest academic scientific gathering, to consolidating the relations among teamwork, and disseminating the experience on a large scale, considering Palestine the first incubator for academic minds and scientific research, thanking Al-Istiqlal University for providing the community with energies Scientific and linking man to the earth.
In conjunction, Prof. Dr. Salamah referred to the educational and economic initiatives, the digital transformation in the various fields, the trend towards the Arabization of the science of the Arab centers and universities, the activation of the translation movement and digital publishing, and the development of practical solutions to meet the challenges facing the Arabic language.
Prof. Dr. Omar Ateeq, the Chairman of the Scientific Committee of Al-Quds Open University, referred to the role of digital space in enhancing the functions of language represented in the acquisition of knowledge and the advancement of society, which requires the Palestinian universities to adopt a clear strategy that establishes a method capable of supporting the current stage, drawing prospects for the future, and reducing the quantitative and informational gap between Arabic and Western content because the Arabic language represents entity, identity, and belonging.
Also, he noted to design a unified model for the arbitration of research abstracts with high integrity and transparency by specialized committees, besides hosting academic figures from the Arab world to give the scientific national character to the conference. The conference included researchers from 11 Arab and foreign countries, the most important of which are Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Britain.
Through a televised speech, the heads of universities in the Gaza Strip (Islamic, Al-Aqsa, Al-Azhar, Palestine, and Gaza Universities) stressed the role of this conference in unifying the Palestinian political reality, encouraging research cooperation, developing an effective partnership with all Palestinian universities, and exchanging the ideas between researchers and those interested, hoping that the conference will produce fruitful and effective results.
For her part, Dr. Mays Odeh, the head of the Preparatory Committee of the conference, praised the efforts of all the committees who contribute to launching this conference to achieve the desired goals and objectives.
In the end, Mr. Nizam Al-Zamil, the Director of the Individuals and Branches Department at the Arab Islamic Bank, conveyed the greetings of Mr. Hani Naser, the General Manager of the Bank, saying, “The administrative team of the bank believes in the social responsibility, the need to pay attention to higher education issues in particular, and to keep abreast of technical developments and the needs of the global market, by providing digital banking services for customers, and working to launch complete electronic branches, to save time and effort for users.
The conference includes several axes distributed over four sessions on the first day, and seven others on the second day. The sessions discussed several topics such as the challenges of language and digital communication, the use of modern technology in educational institutions, the challenges of language and digital communication in light of the Corona pandemic, cultural pluralism in the context of the digital age, challenges of translation in light of technological development.
The conference activities included an art show presented by the Al-Istiqlal University band, followed by the opening of a book exhibition organized by the Baghdad Cultural Library.