The Cultural Club at Press House holds a symposium entitled "Publishing Houses and the Crisis of The Arab Book"

The Cultural Club at Press House - Palestine (BAS), on Tuesday evening, June 2, 2020, held a symposium entitled "Publishing Houses and the Crisis of Arab Writers" in the presence of a group of active writers in the Palestinian cultural field and young writers.

The facilitator of the meeting, writer, and journalist Mr. Yousri Al-Ghoul, welcomed the audience, indicating the importance of talking about the publishing crisis and the obstacles facing both the writer and the publisher.

From his part, Mr. Jihad Abu Hashish, founder of “Fadaat for Publishing and Distributing‎ House” from Jordan spoke via Skype about the role of the official institution with the support of both the writer and the publisher, because of the injustice to which the publisher is exposed to, in addition to explaining the difference between the printing press and the publishing house, especially in the spread of nonsense to turn some publishing houses into a commercial institution that does not care about the literary product.

He also referred to access to international numbering and copyright, focusing on the importance of having an audit and evaluation committee to produce real work, away from any financial gain.

Mr. Atef Al-Durra, founder of “Dar Al-Kalama House” in Gaza City, spoke about the publisher's need to support official institution, activate local and Arab book fairs, in addition to referring to the barriers of distribution under the suffocating siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, the poor printing and publishing, and the trend of the writers for publication in other countries.

Al-Durra added that “Dar Al-Kalam House” should play and promote publishing and distribution in the Gaza Strip despite all obstacles, and is trying to get out of the siege with the participation of books in the West Bank.

Al-Durra demanded the Palestinian Minister of Culture to work to support the efforts of publishing houses in Gaza to print books worthy of the Palestinian scene.

Mr. Shafiq Al-Talouli, a member of the General Secretariat of the Writers' Union, spoke about the importance of the writer alongside the publisher, and that marketing is also entrusted to the writer, as publishing houses spend a lot of money on auditing, printing, designing and typesetting and they need to earn profits.

He stressed that the Writers' Union is ready to take care of young literature according to financial capacity.

The participations of the attendees during the symposium varied between the demands of young people to develop and support the National Library with the protection of intellectual property rights.

The symposium concluded with participations by the audience, carrying many important points, about the possibilities that "Fadaat House" can offer to sponsor literature in the Gaza Strip, in which Jihad Abu Hashish replied that he is ready to communicate with any Palestinian entity seeking to support distinctive literature