The 21st edition of the International Exhibition of Publishing and Book (SIEL), held until February 22 under the patronage of HM King Mohammed VI, opened Thursday in Casablanca.
Annual event that brings together national and international center of publishing, SIEL offers a rich and diverse cultural program with the participation of 750 publishers, representing 44 countries.
Speaking at the opening of this cultural event, the Head of Government, Abdelillah Benkirane stressed that this show has become a tradition and a cultural event of major who knows a massive influx of both publishers and visitors.
He, in this context, emphasized the importance of the choice of Palestine as the guest of honor this year, welcoming the same historical relationships, spiritual and fraternal solid that bind Moroccan and Palestinian peoples.
After recalling the important role of Morocco in defending the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state, Benkirane stressed the need to achieve real and just solution to the Palestinian cause.
Citing the threat of terrorism and the threat of excommunication which many Arab countries, he said that terrorism and extremism have no future because they threaten life.
For his part, the Minister of Culture, Mohamed Amine Sbihi stressed that the choice of the state of Palestine as the guest of honor this year reflects the depth of historical and spiritual ties that bind Morocco and Palestine, adding that the Palestinian question enjoys unanimity of all components of the Moroccan people.
And further that this choice comes to crown the interactivity between Moroccans and Palestinians in several areas, expressing the hope that this edition can help educate the virtues of reading and to “strengthen the power of culture against the culture of force. ”
For its part, the head of the Palestinian delegation at SIEL Yahya Yakhlef, said that the Palestinian people have highly welcomed the choice by the organizers of Palestine as a guest of honor, adding that the Palestinian people “doomed love , consideration and respect to the King and the Government of Morocco. ”
He said the SIEL is held in the context of major challenges facing the Arab world, including the spread of the spirit of terrorism, excommunication and armed violence and the Zionist extreme right current perpetrating atrocities against the Palestinian people.
He called on intellectuals to confront such theories in favor of spreading the culture of tolerance and cultural diversity and strengthening of democracy, freedoms and human rights.
On this occasion, he was made the awards of the book under 2015 in the categories of humanities, social sciences, literary, linguistic and artistic as well as the price of the translation.
In the category of human sciences, the award was won by Abdelilah Belakziz for his book “Heritage Review” published by the Center for Arab Unity Studies in Beirut, while the price of Social Sciences was awarded ex? Quo Mohamed Barakat for his book “the paradoxes of state governance in Arab countries” published by Al Maarif Al Jadida printing Rabat and Tarik Hassan’s book, entitled “The Arab Spring and the constitutionality: reading in Morocco’s experiences, Tunisia and Egypt, “published by the same publisher.
For the category of literary studies, linguistic and artistic, the prize went to Rachid El Yahyaoui while Abdennour Kharaqui has won the translation of the Book Prize “The spirit of democracy: the struggle to build free societies “Larry Daermond its author.
The story of the Prize, meanwhile, was handed over to Mohamed Barrada for his novel “away from the din, near silence” published by edition Fennec in Casablanca.
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