32nd

Edition6 - 16th November 2013HAMZAT WASSLHAMZAT WASSL

Articles published in the (Hamzat Wassl) Express the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of SDCI

Vol (10) 15 November 2013 Designed by: Abdullah KhalifaEditorial: Afkar, Sana, Shazya and Moutovo

3 4 6 7Translates three novels Lack of children’s book

You are invited to visit the official website of Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, member of supreme council and ruler of Sharjah www.sheikhdrsultan.ae

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UAEBBY to sponsor International Children’s Book Day 2015

the side lines of the Sharjah International Book Fair. Taking place from the 10th to the 14 of November at Maraya Art Centre in Al Qasba, the workshop was presented by celebrated graphic artist Rafael López, whose 2008 poster Voz Unida was selected by the Obama/Biden campaign as an official poster at Artists for Obama and whose children’s books have won 2 Americas Awards and a Pura Belpré Honor.

Speaking about the UAEBBY’s sponsorship of ICBD during her visit to the workshop, Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, UAEBBY Patron, said: “Each year a different national section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is given the opportunity to sponsor International Children’s Book Day, and the UAEBBY is very proud to have been awarded the honour of sponsoring the 2015 celebrations. International Children’s Book Day is an opportunity for us not to only celebrate

The UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY) has been selected to be the international sponsor of the 2015 edition of International Children’s Book Day (ICBD), an annual celebration that aims to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children’s books. The announcement has been made on the side line of the ongoing Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF)

Work on the diverse range of activities and events being planned for ICBD 2015 are already underway. In addition to selecting the theme for ICDB 2015, the UAEBBY is also tasked with inviting a UAE author to write a message to the children of the world and producing the official ICBD poster, which will be used to promote International Children’s Book Day across the globe.

Commencing its preparations for ICBD, the UAEBBY have organised a five-day poster design workshop, being held on

the wonder of reading, but also to reach out and impress the importance of reading within the community at large and we are looking forward to share our message and our love of books with the people of the UAE, the region, and the world.”

The workshop will not only give aspiring and established illustrators the opportunity to work with the award-winning Rafael López, but also the chance to see their work used by the IBBY in its international campaigns, as the best poster will be selected to be the official 2015 International Children’s Book Day poster. The workshop also mark the start of the UAEBBY’s ‘Warsha - Etisalat Award Workshop for Children’s Books’ – a groundbreaking initiative by the Etisalat Award for Arabic Children’s Literature that aims to find and nurture a new generation of talented Arab authors, illustrators and publishers of Arabic children’s books.

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The publishing of the books in Malayalam– a language spoken by 38 million people in the world with most of them concentrated in the Indian State of Kerala –aims to fulfil the needs of academicians, researchers and readers in universities and research centres in India and the world who are interested in historical books written by His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah.

His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan is well known for his passion for history, and this is why his historical books are supported by historical documents certified with Arab and foreign films. He also diligently verifies the accuracy of information and events included in his books and novels.

The ‘White Sheikh’, originally published in Arabic in 1996, tells the story of events that took place in early 19th century. It narrates

Al Qasimi Publications has released Malayalam versions of three novels authored by His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, during its participation in the 32nd edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF 2013), currently running at Sharjah Expo Centre.

Sheikh Sultan’s three novels were translated and published in Malayalam, which is spoken by most of the population of the south-west region of India.

The novels are; ‘The White Sheikh’ (in Arabic ‘Al Sheikh Al Abyad’); ‘A Memorandum for Historians on the Innocence of Ibn Majid’, (in Arabic ‘Bayan El Muarikheen Al Majid Fi Barat’at Ibn Majid’); and ‘Deep-Seated Malice’;(in Arabic, ‘Al Hiqd Al Dafin’).

the tale of an American boy, Johannes Hermann Paul, who found himself sailing on board the ship,Essex, coming from Salem city in the Unites States of America. The ship finally landed on the coast of Oman in the Arabian Peninsula. The boy lived in Dhofar where he was adopted by Sheikh Mohammed bin Aqeel, who hails from a high-profile Alawite family, and wasa reputed merchant in the Red Sea. Sheikh Aqeel taught the American boy Arabic and maritime science and called him Abdullah. When he grew up, he succeeded his adoptive father and became a Sheikh in the Dhofar Province. Abdullah was known for his courage, fairness and humbleness, to the extent people called him ‘The White Sheikh’. His eventful life is magnificently captured by the author.

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Al Qasimi Publications translates three novels by Dr Sultan bin

Mohammed Al Qasimi to Malayalam

Lack of children’s book reviews cause parents to choose wrong books

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The difficulty experienced by parents in UAE and the region in choosing the right books for their children can be traced to the absence of information and reviews done on children’s books in newspapers and magazines. Speaking at the 32nd Sharjah International Book Fair, Zakaria Ahmed Eid, cultural, educational and media consultant at Al Yaqadha Arab Library in Ras Al Khaimah, said that parents and children have to go to book fairs in the emirates to get the right books but the limited time for them to do so prevents them to get all the books they need.

“If you look at Guardian and The Daily Telegraph in London, they have a section on children’s book reviews, a specialist answering to the daily queries of parents on the kind of books their children need, and a wide selection of books recommended for children at a particular age,” he said.

He expressed sadness for not finding the same in the newspapers and magazines

parents, they would tell them to go away for they were busy.

Abbas said this attitude of some parents demonstrate to their children that reading books is not important for they cannot give them time to explain and help them understand what they are reading. “This is one of the reasons children hate reading their books. This should be corrected, and Al Yaqadha Arab Library is trying to help them by holding four programmes for children during this 32nd SIBF.”

The four lecture-programmes of the Al Yaqadha Arab Library in this SIBF are “Teach Yourself Thinking Skills,” “What To Do When Your Child Does Not Want To Read”, “Teach Your Child How To Think”, and “How To Choose The Right Books For Your Child”.

in UAE and the region. “This is very strange. Newspapers and magazines never mention about children’s books. Thus, parents have the problem of choosing appropriate books for their children. You cannot even find a column being ran by a child specialist, who can answer questions on this matter,” he said.

He also said that the Quran and all well-known thinkers in the world, have encouraged all to read. Abbas Mahmoud Al Aqqad, one of the most famous thinkers in the Arab world, is a voracious reader and encouraging parents to teach their children to read. Abbas stopped schooling after finishing the primary grade, but he equipped himself and wrote, “I like reading for I have only one life, and I am not satisfied with this. I want to double my life by reading.”

During the lecture, several students said that they were discouraged in reading at home because when they approached their

Pros and Cons of Social Communication Discussed

With digitalization rapidly increasing in today’s world, it has become essential to discuss the role of internet in the publishing and writing field. Hussein Al Wad, a Tunisian academic, poet, critic and novelist, and Samar Shishakli, a Syrian writer, were on hand to discuss the effect of social networking sites during the forum titled “Social Communication and Literature: A Quest for Dreams and the Desertion of Sites” on November 12, at the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF)

Al Wad started off by saying “at the very beginning of these sites, users went there mainly to exchange ideas on cinema, music, and literature, and then they slowly started putting their own texts.”

He then described the various forms of literature available online now such as past

which is the internet.

She criticized the inability of publishers to meet up with today’s demands of readers, saying that the youth have gotten used to getting information easily and with little effort, so they wouldn’t want to retreat, and that the only way left is going forward. Giving an example of the Arab Spring, she dicussed how blogs played such a big role in motivating young people and getting ideas across. She remarked “If you had asked someone back in 1500’s to imagine the effects of a printing press which came in 1900’s they wouldn’t have been able to. It is the same here. We can’t decide the effect of internet on the future.”

records of old authors and writers, inclusion of their literary works, some original texts, texts which are included to maximize reader interaction with the authors, and blogs.

Many social networking sites have a pre-set amount such as Twitter only allowing 140 characters, therefore this limited space has given way to shorter text and to short stories, which is how there is a control on the information, Al Wad said. He also compared the pro’s and con’s of these sites, citing examples such as how it has led to unlimited knowledge, and new forms if literature, but also that there is not much depth in the literature, and that there is not much censorship by the authorities.

Samir Shishakli then spoke about the dangers of intellectual property and copyrights being stolen in this new unmarked territory

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Arab media turning into property of advertisers

The Arab media promotes advertising interests at the expense of community issues and values, said a professor of journalism from Cairo University.

“About 65 per cent of financial resources in both the government and private owned media come from advertisers, so they play to their tune,” said Dr Awatef Abdul Rahman, the Head of Journalism Department in the Media College at Cairo University.

“Most of the advertisers are American and Jewish-run multinational companies spread around the world. This financial power is complemented with news agencies of which the Arabs don’t own any.”

She was Wednesday featuring in a discussion titled; “Arab New Media: The Supremacy of Finance,” in the ongoing 32nd Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) which concludes on Saturday, Nov.16.

prominently in the Arab Media.

“Most of the soaps and drama are American which are promoting their agenda at the expense of the core cause of Palestinian question that is so central to the Arabs.”

Kamel Youssef agreed that “capitalism is killing media with mission and community ideas.”

He cited the defunct Al Arabia Magazine and Emirates Today (a magazine not a newspaper) both were in the United Arab Emirates.

“Whenever businessmen were approached to have a hand in support of the magazines, they would ask where their benefits were.”

Aisha Al Aajel who wrote an MA thesis on electronic interaction on the websites of UAE Arab newspapers said the “new media has brought a lot to us but not for us.”

“It is like the advertisers are paying the salaries of media practitioners,” she said. One of the participants, Usama Mur complimented her idea by saying that “apart from Lebanon, most of the media professionals have in the Arab world have been reduced to writing as stenographers or to attract advertisements or simply as mercenaries serving different regimes.”

Other panellists included the Head of Media at Sharjah’s Department of Culture and Information, Aisha M. Al Aajel and Dr a writer, Kamel Youssef. They were chaired by Mo’men Ahmad.

“In this setting,” said Dr Awatef, “we have to be careful on how we protect the Arab culture and values that are skilfully replaced with the media that is obsessed with sports, entertainment and drama.”

She said she was dismayed that the Palestinian cause is no longer featuring

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Autism Encyclopedia on Display at SIBF

Dubai Autism Center (DAC) educates visitors of Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) about autism. “When DAC participated in SIBF 2005, visitors were not familiar with the term Autism. They asked the DAC staff, what is autism? They didn’t know the word, either in Arabic or English,” says Yousef Al Dhafer, Project Manager at the Dubai Autism Center.

He added that visitors used to ask questions like, are the autistic children are normal like us? Do they have special powers?” Many also ask about what caused autism,

On the shelves this year is the recently published Autism Encyclopedia, compiled by the Center. The resource defines terms, reviews the evolving history of the condition, and recounts success stories of people with autism, including those of celebrities.

The Dubai Autism Center has been hosting an exhibition stall at SIBF for the past 8 years, to educate the public on their specialized services for children ages 4 to 18.

a question currently debated in the medical community.

Due to a successful education campaign by the Center, and growing awareness globally, book fair visitors in 2013 have come to the stall with different kinds of questions. The public is looking for new publications, and want to find out the latest research as well as read new books on the topic. “We are here to educate people, to explain the disease and tell them how to work with their children,” Al Dhafer explains.

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