The Minister of Culture in the caretaker government, Mohammed Wissam Al-Murtada, announced during the official ceremony held yesterday, Friday, on the occasion of declaring "Tripoli the Capital of Arab Culture for the year 2024," in the conference hall at the Rashid Karami Exhibition in Tripoli, the establishment of a cultural twinship between Tripoli and the city of Jerusalem.
The decision by the Minister of Culture stated: "Jerusalem is a heavenly wound on the flank of the earth, a morning brand on the body of darkness, a dignity that dispels the illusions of the invaders every day, and a prayer that resonates white between Al-Aqsa and the Resurrection. It is, for Tripoli, a stone's throw away from pain, and for Lebanon, a glimmer of hope for liberation; it is, for the people of Tripoli and all Lebanese, the focal point of faces, eyes, and hearts. The Minister of Culture has a pulse, a breath, and an identity, and a daily call to rescue it from the fangs of the snakes' children, the enemies of humanity. Therefore, in the name of national culture, in the name of Tripoli as the Capital of Arab Culture for the year 2024, the first and permanent capital of culture in Lebanon, and on behalf of the people of Tripoli, a decision is made to establish a cultural twinship agreement between the two capitals: Jerusalem and Tripoli, and to start completing all the necessary procedures to accomplish this twinship, after which the implementation will commence on the ground."
Two days prior, Minister Al-Murtada had an online meeting with the Palestinian Minister of Culture, Imad Hamdan, and they agreed on the principle of cultural twinship and its various clauses. Yesterday, at the Rashid Karami Exhibition, the signing ceremony of the twinship agreement was completed, with the Palestinian Ambassador to Lebanon, Ashraf Dabbour, representing his country in signing this agreement, while Minister Al-Murtada signed on behalf of the Republic of Lebanon - Ministry of Culture.
This event received a warm welcome and applause from nearly a thousand attendees, noting that they represented diverse political orientations.
