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As part of Twinning Project Bahrain- Jerusalem,  Minister of Culture Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, this morning, received on 29^th August, a delegation from the Royal Charity Organization (RCO) led by Secretary-General, Dr. Mustafa Al Sayyad, to discuss the Twinning Project and to be briefed on the results of the RCO’s delegation’s recent visit to the State of Palestine that included meeting the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, visiting a number of Palestinian areas, orphan houses, cultural centers and meeting with the concerned officials with social and cultural development, in the context of protecting the Arabian heritage.

H.E Minister of Culture has pointed out that the cultural and human interactions are represent the real twining project objectives, stressing the need to move forward with regard to the Culture House project. The idea was launched and proposed  by the Ministry of Culture last year, which consists of buying a historical building in Old Jerusalem and, and transform it into Bahrain’s Cultural Centre. The aim of this project is to help protect and preserve the historical Palestinian heritage, given their unique value and to prevent the risk of their  destruction or confiscation.

The move comes as a response to protect historical and archaeological monuments throughout the Arab world, especially in Jerusalem. H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammad, Minister of Culture, highlighted during this meeting the importance of cooperation and coordination in relation to preservation of the region rich history. H.E said “Culture does not belong to any country in itself; it is a universal human common denominator. It is crucial to defend our beliefs, customs and traditions and heritage because they are common to all humans, and thus the responsibility is shared”. 

Dr. Al-Sayed said that the  visit to Palestine had resulted in holding a number of discussions on implementing a number of development and relief projects in health, educational and cultural areas, and added, in line with directives of HM King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and keen interest of H.E  Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, RCO will sign an agreement with the United Nations Development Programme UNDP to help the Palestinians by establishing a Bahraini culture center and library in the occupied city of Jerusalem, in order to activate the role of culture there and to contribute to the protection of the Arabian cultural identity in Jerusalem, thus, the Kingdom of Bahrain is the first Arab country to contribute to the strategy of maintaining the Jerusalem’s Arabian identity.

It is worth mentioning that the twinning Bahrain-Jerusalem project  was launched and proposed by the Ministry of Culture last year, in order to activate the role of culture there and to contribute to the protection of the vital  Arabian cultural identity in Jerusalem.