Lebanon canceled a conference in the Netherlands due to the invitation of a Zionist official.
The Ministry of Culture of Lebanon announced that it has canceled the conference due to the invitation of a Zionist official to a conference in the Netherlands, while notifying the Dutch authorities of the strong level of protest.
“Mohammed Wissam Al-Mortaza”, the Minister of Culture of Lebanon, announced on the user account of the Ministry of Culture of this country on the Facebook social network that he opposed holding a conference in the Netherlands due to the participation of a Zionist official.
The Minister of Culture of Lebanon explained in a statement that the country has signed an agreement with the “RMO” museum in the Netherlands and the “Ladin” University, based on which the Dutch side committed to pay 200,000 euros to Lebanon for 400 ancient artifacts on loan. to be able to display these works in the temporary exhibition entitled “THE WORLDS ANCIENT PORT BYBLOS” which is scheduled to be held from October to March 2023.
Al-Mortaza further added that considering that this Dutch museum had previously adhered to all its obligations, the sending of ancient artifacts to the Netherlands was done after obtaining the extraordinary approval of the Council of Ministers of this country.
According to the statement of the Ministry of Culture of Lebanon, it was found that Ladin University planned to hold a workshop on the connection of the Jbeil region with Egypt on 12/09/2022, and it turns out that Downey Ben Tor is one of the people invited to this workshop. He was the director of one of the museums in the occupied territories, therefore the Ministry of Culture of Lebanon immediately contacted the RMO Museum in the Netherlands and announced its objections to this museum.
However, the museum announced that it has nothing to do with the aforementioned workshop and will not participate in it, and on the other hand, Ladin University and the RMO Museum are two separate entities; However, the Ministry of Culture is not satisfied with the position of the management of this Dutch museum and after contacting “Abdul Sattar Issa”, the ambassador of Beirut in Amsterdam and informing him of the position of the Lebanese Ministry of Culture, he emphasizes: “Any normalization of relations that is now intruding through “Exhibitions and workshops are held, it is rejected.”
In the continuation of this statement, it is stated: “He (the Lebanese ambassador) has been asked to take all the necessary measures in order to show this opposition and reject the holding of this conference with the presence of the director of the Israeli museum that was mentioned, so that finally after Obtaining orders from the Lebanese Foreign Ministry in this regard, a strong protest message should be sent to the Dutch authorities and relevant officials of this country.
