On 18^th June, the Iraq Britain Business Council joined representatives from the University of Mosul, University of Liverpool, BookAid International, and the Iraqi Embassy to the United Kingdom at the British Library to celebrate the donation of 10000 new books, which will restock the University of Mosul’s library. The library was destroyed in 2015 by the Islamic State, and BookAid International is leading the effort to replenish some of the lost books and academic materials, in both Arabic and other languages.

The event was hosted by Lord Paul Boateng, and its keynote speakers included Alison Tweed (Chief Executive of BookAid International), John Simpson, Professor Lin Foxhall (Dean of the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures and The Rathbone Chair of Ancient History and Classical Archaeology), and Dr Alaa Hamdon (University of Mosul). Professor Dr Kossay Kamalaldeen Al-Ahmady, President of the University of Mosul, was also present, and Christophe Michels and Dr Mai Yamani of IBBC both enjoyed meeting with him.

A particular highlight of the event was hearing Dr Hamdon’s moving retelling of how he was forced to leave Iraq as a refugee in the aftermath of Islamic State’s rise, how news of the destruction of the University of Mosul’s library impacted him, and his efforts in securing new books to replenish it when it is rebuilt in the future. Dr Hamdon compared the university’s library to a lighthouse that guided its students and academics, and was emphatic in stating how being forced to leave effectively robbed him of his home and identity. However, the generosity of BookAid International and its partner charities were instrumental in making his dream of rebuilding and restocking the University of Mosul’s library through the Mosul Book Bridge project a possibility.

Alison Tweed, Chief Executive of BookAid International, was keen to share her own organisation’s perspective. When approached by Dr Hamdon, she said, “We knew we had to act”. In fact, BookAid International was the first organisation to respond to his requests for new books for Mosul. In a similar vein, Lord Boateng commented that “culture liberates us as human beings”, while John Simpson suggested that the best possible revenge to take against Islamic State was rebuilding the libraries they had destroyed.

The University of Mosul is one of IBBC’s member organisations, and we look forward to supporting it in its post-war rebuilding efforts.

For more information on the Iraq Britain Business Council, visit our website at https://iraqbritainbusiness.org/

To contact IBBC for Interviews, registration and sponsorship please contact [email protected]

 

Source: https://iraqbritainbusiness.org