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GALASSIA: NAPLES MUST SEIZE OPPORTUNITY, MED FOUNDATION SAYS
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 19 - "Naples is a weak city. It could be a cosmopolitan centre but it continues to fall victim of petty jealousies," Michele Capasso, president of the Naples Mediterranean Foundation, said backing the appeal launched by Italian Ambassador to Cairo Antonio Badini at the 18th edition of Galassia Gutenberg. "Naples risks missing a great opportunity for its future remaining on the sidelines of the ongoing process of Mediterranean integration," Badini said. "Naples has a great responsibility for countries on the southern coast," Capasso said today on the sidelines of the presentation of the new edition of the 'Mediterranean Breviary' by Predrag Matvejevic on the final day of the book fair. "But after over ten years of activities conducted by the foundation I can say that nothing has changed." On the other hand, while many confirmed the need for Naples to do its best to play a leading role in the Mediterranean area, Matvejevic complained of the total indifference of European institutions as regards the southern Mediterranean. "Europe is expanding towards the East, but it is forgeting the South," the writer said presenting the second Arabic version of his book, already translated in 25 languages. "The abyss that has been opened between the northern and southern coasts is very dangerous. During a voyage in France, I saw the degradation of cities like Marseille and Toulon, once big capitals of the Mediterranean." The South must defend itself with the forces of the south, said Matvejevic, who tries to provide one more instrument of knowledge in the complexity and the diversity of the Mediterranean reality with his 'Breviary', first published in Zagreb in 1987.(ANSAmed). 2007-03-19 19:08

 GALASSIA: CAMPANIA GOVERNOR RELAUNCHES ROLE OF NAPLES
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 19 - Galassia Gutenberg welcomed today the president of the Campania region, Antonio Bassolino, who made a trip around the stands. Bassolino received a warm welcome by exhibitors and visitors and paid particular attention to the watercolour exhibition. The organisers of Galassia, being aware of the fact that Bassolino will celebrate his 60th brithday in few days, gave him a chocolate plate with the logo of the exhibition. A Spanish artist, Enrique Flores, offered him a painted moleskin, while other exhibitors offered him books. Bassolino met the region's civil services youth and the participants in the treasure hunt. "I really saw a lot of people, mostly a lot of young men and women," Bassolino commented at the end of the visit, in which he was accompanied by the president of Galassia, Franco Liguori. "A real success. It gives me pleasure as it was me who proposed last year to come to the port. As it became clear with Women's Societies before and with Galassia Gutenberg now, this is a wonderful place, which is becoming a point of reference for many initiatives. It is also a place, which is only now discovered by many Neapolitans. Few years ago we started fighting on what we used to call the Wall of Berlin, which was the separation of the port from the city, that terrible wall that we knocked down to the ground. Yet, everything that was within the port, this wonderful sea station (which would further be improved in the future with new structures), is being discovered only now." "Apart from the praiseworthy initiative of the managers of Galassia Gutenberg, I believe that the place was also important," Bassolino continued. "This would be the wish for bigger and bigger editions in the next years." As regards the criticism on Galassia, expressed today by a Naples-based daily (few exhibitors, low quality), the president said: "We are in a transition period. Several editions have taken place, but this is the first time when the event has come here to the port. The organisers and the institutions interested in books and in the fact that many initiatives happen in the world of books, will have to think carefully in the next months over the matter of relaunching Galassia Gutenberg." "I think that this is the best place and that efforts must be made in the next months to attract more publishers and consolidate relations. It appears that, similar to all transition periods, there are positive aspects and critical points as well." As a response to the complaints raised on a number of conferences, regarding the fact that Galassia is one of the few events in Campania linked to books, Bassolino said: "Just because this is one of the few events of the kind, it is very important to do our best to consolidate and relaunch it." "The relations with the schools is of great importance for me. Thousands of young men and women from a number of Naples schools and from the whole of Campania meet here. This is very important. Consolidating the relation between Galassia Gutenberg and the education world is, in my opinion, one of the fundamental elements of the coming editions," the regional president concluded. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-19 18:01

 GALASSIA: CAMPANIA CHILDREN VISIT PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMPS
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 19 - From Naples to the Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan, from a land which fights the scattering of schools to a land where school is considered the only possibility to save oneself from a fate of poverty and abandonment. This is the route made by the children of two secondary schools from Campania, 'Pansin' of Naples and 'Tilgher' of Ercolano, who went in October with their teachers to the Wihdat camp in Amman, thanks to a project financed by the Campania region and the Banco di Napoli Foundation for helping children. Hosted by the Palestinian families living in the camp - some 100,000 people in all on an area which supposedly can only host 5,000 persons - the children lived in close contact with their Palestinian peers for two weeks. "Gahidàs mom used to kiss me good night," said pupil Francesca during the meeting "Minors and War" organised on the closing day of the 18th edition of Galassia Gutenberg, which was attended, among others, by the regional commissioner of the Foundation, Pier Luigi Lo Presti. "Saly's family did everything so that I didn't miss anything, and really felt at home," Valeria added. Pleasantly surprised by the enormous warmth with which they were received by the families of the Palestinian refugees, the children from Campania noticed how important family affections and religion are in their everyday life. "Very loving to mother and sister, Saly always found time to pray five times a day," Valeria said. Those young refugees had less obvious feeling of belonging to the Palestinian people. "The adults and the more well-off classes have a more developed sense of homeland," said Federica who through her school came into contact also with a private school in Amman attended by the children of well-to-do families. "The perspectives are more limited in the refugee camps, more than anything they yearn to study and consider school the only means to rise from their condition." It is an idea of school that is not very widespread among Campania and Italian youngsters, who nevertheless found many points of contact with their Palestinian peers. "I went out with them on a tour around Amman, we went to the most westernized areas, but also in the Arab zones," Davide said. "They have more open minds than us, very rich children go out with less well-off friends. This is not the case with us." Davide described them as more "globalized" than young Italians, informed about the global events through 'Al Jazeera' and the other Arab satellite channels thanks to the unfailing satellite dishes perched on the roofs of all the houses in Amman. "They are not prejudiced against us, they are very expansive, in this resembling Neapolitans, they fear our prejudices against their culture and religion," Federica explained. Her testimony, together with those of the other children, was published by the latest issue of the bimonthly magazine 'Progetto Campania'. Living in an adult world divided between those who have integrated in Jordan's social and professional spheres and know the Palestine only on worn-out geographic maps and those who do not leave refugee camps, the children of Wihdat who have been guests at the two secondary schools in Naples, will return there between April 28 and May 4 as part of the closing meeting of the European project Comenius which helps intercultural exchange between schools. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-19 17:29

GALASSIA: NUMBER OF VISITORS ON THE RISE IN NEW LOCATION
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 19 - A 20% increase in the number of visitors compared to the 2006 edition and a location, the Maritime Station, finally approved of both by the public and the exhibitors. This is the main news for Galassia Gutenberg 2007, the book fair which closes today with the presentation of the latest edition of the Mediterranean Compendium by Predrag Matvejevic, which has already been translated in 25 languages. These results mark a turning point in the history of an event which in the past years has sparked controversy and has experienced various operative difficulties. However, if Galassia seems to have set out on the road to revival, this does not seem to be the case with Naples and its Mediterranean calling which the book fair has tried to support and relaunch during the latest editions. Yesterday the Italian ambassador to Cairo, Antonio Badini, a diplomat expert in Mediterranean issues, said the city should make important strategic decisions as soon as possible. According to the ambassador, these choices are indispensable in order to avoid a situation in which Naples, instead of strengthening its crucial role in the centre of the Mediterranean, becomes marginalised and misses a great opportunity for development offered by the process of integration of Mediterranean countries. On Sunday at Galassia, which attracted great public interest, Egyptian writer Salwa Bakr denounced the condition of women in the Arab Islamic world. "The issue of the condition of women in the Arab world is not a religious but a political problem," the writer said at the presentation of her latest work, titled The Legend of Atiya. Political repression creates the conditions which allow the spreading of the conservative interpretation of Islam. In Egypt, just like in other Arab countries, women still risk the death penalty for having extramarital relations, Salwa Bakr said. The other events on Sunday included the presentation of the book Fratelli di Sangue (Blood Brothers) by Nicola Gratteri and Antonio Nicaso, which deals with the 'ndrangheta, and the Arab version of Nostro Mare Nostro, written by the president of the Mediterraneo Foundation, Michele Capasso. The first comments of publishers who displayed their books on the stands of the recently renovated Maritime Station are positive. ''Finally we are taking part in a real book fair," many of them said, recalling the difficulties experienced at the 2006 edition, hosted at the beautiful but completely unfit Castel dell'Ovo. However, there is still a lot of work to be done, as the head of the fair, Franco Liguori, admitted. First, the city must learn how to valorise the Maritime Station, and second it must be able to respond to those publishers who have asked that Galassia grows further to offer Naples a book fair that satisfies the cultural demand of its citizens. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-19 12:45

GALASSIA: DELAY IN BUILDING SOUTH MEDITERRANEAN CONNECTIONS
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 19 - The creation of a Euro-Mediterranean free trade zone represents a great opportunity for Italy's South, which should take full advantage by developing infrastructures, the transports councillor of the Region of Campania, Ennio Cascetta, told journalists on the sidelines of the presentation of the book 'Sulle Rotte del Mediterraneo. L'Italia e i Corridoi Euromediterranei di Trasportò (On the Routes of the Mediterranean. Italy and the Euro-Mediterranean Transport Corridors), by Francesco Russo which took place during the 18th edition of Galassia Gutenberg book fair in Napoli. "So far the port has developed autonomously, in accordance with a corporate policy. Now it is necessary to create an integrated system through an interregional strategy which relates ports, interports, railways and motorways," the councillor said. With regard to this, the region of Campania can represent a model for the whole of southern Italy with the two interports already operative, in Nola and Marcianise, and a third, in Battipaglia, under construction, according to Cascetta. Southern Italy has remained far behind in establishing connections with the southern Mediterranean, Cascetta said. "Today, paradoxically, North African countries are much more related to the ports and airports of Central and Northern Italy than with those in the South. It is necessary to fund the 'start up' of connections with the South Mediterranean," he added. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-19 12:05

GALASSIA: MATVEJEVIC TO GIVE PARTING SPEECH AT NAPLES FAIR
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 19 - The 18th edition of Galassia Gutenberg at the Maritime Station in Naples closes this afternoon in the Amerigo Vespucci Hall, with a presentation by the famous Bosnian author Predrag Matvejevic of the latest edition of his Mediterranean Compendium and its translation in 25 languages. The publishers attending the book fair expressed that thye were happy with the new location of the event, the bigger rooms and the better services for exhibitors and visitors. "The first results are very satisfying. Those attending increased by some 20%, a visible improvement," the president of Galassia Gutenberg Association, Franco Liguori, said. The initiatives which received the widest acclaim include 'bookcruising,' the new bookcrossing formula which will be used in many trips towards Mediterranean ports. The first 500 volumes have already been labelled at the fair. Authors like Fabrizio Coscia (Notte Abissina - Abyssinian Night, Avagnano), Ernesto Ferrero (L'Anno dell'Indiano - The Year of the Indian, Einaudi), Angelo Cannavacciuolo (Acque Basse - Shallow Waters) have given their latest books to the 'Onboard Library'. The books in the cruise library also include Lettere contro la Guerra (Letters against the War) by Tiziano Terzani (posthumous winner of Galassiàs Mediterranean Award), classics such as La Pelle (The Skin) by Curzio Malaparte, and many novels of Italian authors from the 20th century, from Anna Maria Ortese to Nicolo Ammaniti, as well as books for children of all ages. The events on the last day of the book fair, which will close to the public at 6pm local time, include a discussion on the Cultural portal of the Region of Campania at 10am local time in Christopher Columbus Hall with the participation of Ilaria Lazarin, the young star of Un Posto al Sole (A Place In The Sun). At 10:30am, in Bartolomeo Diaz Hall, minors and war will be discussed. Il fascino dell'illegalita (The Fascination of Illegality) will be discussed with writer Maurizio Braucci at noon. At 4pm local time in Robinson Crusoe Hall the Campania Region equal opportunities councillor, Rosa D'Amelio, will attend the meeting "Books on the Market, the Market of Books. The Travelling Library". (ANSAmed). 2007-03-19 10:43

GALASSIA: ARABIC VERSION OF BOOK ON MEDITERRANEAN PRESENTED
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 19 - The aim of the book 'Nostro Mare Nostro' by Michele Capasso, whose Arabic edition was presented yesterday at the 18th Galassia Gutenberg book fair in Naples, is to offer a Mediterranean journal about the Intifada, the Barcelona Process, migration, tourism, the dialogue between culture, the alliance of civilisations. "The book is the result of 15 years of work carried out by the Mediterraneo Foundation, which was born from a vision of the Mediterranean which is different from that of Club Med or of the German archaeologists who discovered the remains of Troy. Ours is a Mediterranean defined by its contradictions, by hard work but also by the joy of communication and cross-cultural understanding," Caterina Arcidiacono, vice president of the foundation, said. This trip through the geography, history, traditions, politics of the Mediterranean has attracted the attention of Egyptian writer Alaa Al Aswani, author of the bestseller The Yacoubian Building, who wrote the preface, "a book in the book". According to Al Aswani, the 300 stories told by Capasso in Nostro Mare Nostro are related to a single final objective, focusing attention not only on cultures but on people, on a "new humanism," in order to build a future of peace and mutual respect in the entire Mediterranean, forgetting stereotypes and misunderstanding. The presentation of the book was also attended by Arab editor Ahmed El Zayady, of the Dar El Shorouk publishing house, one of the most important publishers in Cairo. 2007-03-19 10:30

GALASSIA: NAPLES RISKS MISSING MAJOR OPPORTUNITY, BADINI
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 18 - Naples runs the risk of missing a major opportunity for its future remaining on the sidelines of the ongoing process of Mediterranean integration, Italy's Ambassador to Cairo Antonio Badini said at the presentation of his book 'Guidelines for Renewed Dialogue between Cultures' at the Galassia Gutenberg. Renowned expert in Mediterranean affairs and former director for Mediterranean at the Foreign Ministry before heading the Italian embassy in Egypt, Badini was surprised by the "apathy" that Naples ¿ a city with so strong Mediterranean roots ¿ demonstrates towards the Mediterranean. "The North African countries came to understand that they cannot maintain the status quo and have taken the road of integration," the ambassador said. "Countries like Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Jordan are making enormous progress." Naples could be at the centre of this process exploiting "its natural vocation and gaining enormous advantages from this fact," Badini said. But it seems nothing similar is going to happen. "The city remains outside the integration processes," the diplomat said. "It fails to present adequate projects and it seems paralysed in a provincial dimension, closed inside itself. The people fail to respond to the appeals. An event like the Galassia Gutenberg has offered many possibilities that have not been seized." If Naples fails to make a turn, it is inevitably destined to "leave the Mediterranean stage". (ANSAmed). 2007-03-18 17:56

GALASSIA: POLITICAL ISLAM IS ENEMY TO WOMEN, SALWA BAKR
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 18 - The feminist movements have failed both in the Arab World, where women are still forced to wear a veil and continue to be the subject of violence, and in the West, where they are considered "a piece of meat". The leftist ideas have also failed, in Russia, in Italy and in the Arab World, not succeeding in providing an acceptable alternative to the model imposed by the American capitalism. This is the opinion of Egyptian author, feminist and human rights activist Salwa Bakr, who attacks Muslims and Western people, Saudi Arabians and Americans, Capitalists and Communists, and also writes books in which the political and social themes remain hidden between the lines of a refined lyricism which prefers the method of short story rather than the political pamphlet. "The women's issue in the Arab World is a political rather than a religious problem," Bakr said at the presentation of her latest novel 'The Legend of Atiya' (published in Italy by Jouvence) organised in Naples by Arabic language and culture expert Isabella Camera D'Afflitto within the 18th edition of the Galassia Gutenberg. "The fact that Coptic women in Egypt live in the same conditions like the Muslim women is yet another proof of that." The enemy to fight is the "political Islam", according to Bakr. The political repression creates the necessary conditions for the spread of a conservative interpretation of the Islamic religion. "The reactionary movements, mostly Saudi Arabian, funded with American 'petrodollars'," said the Egyptian writer pointing out the culprits. Atiya, the main character of the novel presented post-mortem through the voices of those who knew and loved her, is just like Salwa, a strong and courageous woman. She lives peacefully with her husband with whom she has not made love for two years and with her daughter, who announces joyfully hers upcoming marriage and says she will continue with her university studies concentrating mostly on her professional future. "There are many strong women in the Arab World. In Egypt 22% of the families, mostly in the villages, are supported by women," she said. But still, despite the fact that the constitution sanctions it, men and women have no equal rights. In Egypt, just like in other Arab states, women still risk death penalty for having extramarital relations. "When I was locked up in a women's prison, I came to know many women who were there for killing their husbands frustrated from the violence they suffered," said Salwa, who has also written a book on her experience in prison. Of all stories she heard in prison, Salwa was most impressed by the one of a woman imprisoned because she confessed she murdered her husband forced by her family, which wanted to save her brother, the real culprit. "In Egypt it is better to sacrifice a woman's life, which is considered useless, than a man's life," Salwa said. But according to Maria Ida Gaeta, director of the House of Literature, who chaired the meeting, the issue of women in the Arab World is part of a context in which the lack of freedoms and fundamental rights damages men too. The debate on feminism in the West is different because the scenario there is democracy. In Egypt in particular, the repression of the regime is directed towards intellectuals, artists and the opposition in general. According to some researches, 90% of all Egyptian writers have ended up in prison. The only exception is Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz. The arrest and the four-year sentence for a blogger shocked the international community and triggered the criticism of Egyptian novelist Alaa Al Aswany, author of the bestseller 'The Yacoubian Building' and guest of honour at the Galassia. "This is a political case," he said. "The blogger's sentence is an attempt by the Cairo regime to create a precedent, which will serve as a warning for all those who oppose Mubarak's government." Salwa Bakr finds the issue with the blogger unacceptable although "the Internet is not the right instrument to fight against the regime". "Setting illiteracy aside, most of the people in Egypt hardly even know how a computer looks like. They need to move the fight to the political field. To the real politics, the one that is made on the squares, on the streets, between the people." (ANSAmed). 2007-03-18 17:34

GALASSIA: EGYPTIAN WRITER CONDEMNS BLOGGER ARREST
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 18 - "Anyone trying to say 'we've had enough' is arrested in Egypt,' was the comment of Egyptian writer Salwa Bakr on the case of the blogger, who was arrested and then sentenced to four years in prison by an appeal court in Alexandria for having "insulted Islam" and "defamed" President Hosni Mubarak. A woman writer, a feminist, a political activist, Bakr, who has also spent a brief period in prison, is not surprised by the umpteenth arrest in Egypt to the detriment of the fight for democracy and human rights. "In Egypt and all across the Arab world we are experiencing a deep political crisis," she told ANSAmed on the sidelines of the presentation of her latest book as part of the 18th edition of Galassia Gutenberg, which is under way in Naples. "The lack of democracy derives from the presence of an oppressive regime but it is also a consequence of the economic and social differences between people," she added. Although backing the fight of blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman, the writer does not consider the "blog" the most effective way to promote democratic issues in Egypt. "In my country there is a very high rate of illiteracy. Not to speak of the Internet: the majority of people do not even know what a computer is," Bakr said. Therefore not the online "diary" but politics is the only suitable instrument to support democracy. "The real politics, however, politics that is made on the streets, among people," she added. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-18 16:20

GALASSIA: ISLAM; TURN OF WRITERS TO SPEAK - BADINI
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 18 - Enough with the cultural mediations of the so called "orientalists", it is writers and their books, who should speak. Antonio Badini, Italian Ambassador to Cairo, formerly responsible for the Mediterranean Directorate of the Foreign Ministry, is deeply convinced of that. Scholars and professionals should no more be the only ones to "interpret and screen" the phenomena of the Arab-Islamic societies in order to narrate them to Westerners. In order to avoid the spreading of commonplaces and dangerous stereotypes it is necessary that these societies should directly tell of themselves also through the works of their intellectuals. A long-time diplomat with particular passion for the problems of the Mediterranean, Badini presented today at Naples's Galassia Gutenberg literary show his book 'Lineamenti per un rinnovato dialogo tra le culture', now translated also in English and Arabic. In a forthright manner he warned: "We have to become aware, as Mediterranean peoples, that we are victims of strategies external and foreign" to our cultures, which are carrying out a very dangerous cultural "desertification" in this region. According to the diplomat this process risks to definitively wreck that cultural dialogue that is "an essential instrument for preventing tensions." But Badini warned also against the dialogue as an end in itself, which turns into an "empty slogan", a kind of "morphinisation" of the issues on the agenda. "The dialogue should be carried on at those political and institutional forums, where decisions are really taken and interventions could be made in the evolution of the relations between peoples and nations," Badini said. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-18 15:42

GALASSIA: KARIM METREF PRESENTS 'CARAVAN TO BAGHDAD'
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 18 - Algerian novelist Karim Metref presents a picture of Iraq, more humane, multireligious and full of hope and will for rebirth in his book 'Caravan to Baghdad', published by Traccediverse Publishing and unveiled on Saturday at the Galassia Gutenberg book fair. The book, accompanied by Bruno Nerìs photographs, tells the story of Metref's six-month stay in the city of Baghdad, which "wanted to build peace, where the people started to address the institutions and there was hope that the American occupation could bring something new after all". We are in the early 2004 and Karim Metref describes a panorama similar to the one he saw in post-civil war Algeria, in fact "those who wanted to create a disaster succeeded" the Algerian novelist, who lives in Turin for ten years now, told ANSAmed. In his book-journal, Karim Metref, volunteer with the NGO 'Terres des Hommes', tells the story of his mission to build a centre for homeless children in the heart of Baghdad. "This was a dream come true, which lasted only four years due to the total anarchy in the city," he said. "I would want anyone to understand that the Iraqi resistance today is not only al Qaeda, but there is also a popular resistance in reaction to the occupation. Not everyone can be classified politically," Metref said. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-18 14:26

GALASSIA: LIBYAN AUTHOR AL KONI FIGHTS AGAINST OIL
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 18 - He is a Libyan but fights against the countries exporting oil. Lives in Switzerland but writes about the desert. Fights against hunting, speaks of vegetarians and supports the Kyoto Accords. Ibrahim Al Koni, considered by many the Arab author most worthy for the Nobel Prize, has warned about the possible "curse of the oil" since the 1960s. "According to a Tuareg legend, one day the countries exporting oil will be swallowed by the vacuum of their wells," the Libyan writer said at a meeting organised by Arabic language and culture expert Isabella Camera D'Afflitto within the 18th edition of the Galassia Gutenberg currently underway in Naples. "Becoming rich with no efforts will certainly lead to depreciation of the moral values." This battle against oil and unrestrained economic development has caused many difficulties to Al Koni. "We, the writers, can only warn about the imminent catastrophes and only the politicians can prevent them from happening," he said. Environmentalist and animal rights activist, in his novels he longs of the mystical society of Tuareg, whose members live in the desert. "Most of the people believe that the nomadic people do not create civilizations, but the Jewish and Arab civilisations were both born by nomadic populations," the Libyan writer said. The subject of the Tuareg, which are a sort of independent front against the regime of Muammar Gaddafi and prefer to die of thirst in the desert rather than to move to the aridity of the cities, is very delicate in Libya. "A Bedouin, who is used to living in absolute freedom, will not survive in the city which is the kingdom of slavery," Al Koni said. The subject of the desert is linked to another theme very dear to the Libyan author: water. The story of a girl, who has never seen, felt or perceived rain, is among Al Konìs best works. The day when the girl dreams of being swept away by a pelting river is also the day she meets her death. "Death is freedom. Absolute, mystical freedom," said Al Koni. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-18 12:41

GALASSIA: EGYPT; AL-ASWANY DEFENDS IMPRISONED BLOGGER
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 18 - For the Egyptian regime the phenomenon of the "bloggers" is really "a nasty headache" and it was in order to give an example to everyone else that Abdel Karim Suleiman was sentenced by a court in Alexandria to four years of prison under the accusation of having insulted Islam and defamed Mubarak. Egyptian writer Alaa Al-Aswany, author of the best seller The Yacoubian Building, was forthright in commenting on the case of the young Egyptian blogger reported by all major international media. "This is clearly a political case," Al-Aswany pointed out speaking on the sidelines of Naples's Galassia Gutenberg literary event, where he is a guest of honour. "The young blogger has only expressed his opinions and you cannot punish people for that: it is unacceptable that he should become the victim of a political case," the writer added. Al-Aswany explained that from the point of view of the Egyptian regime this was at least initially an "easy victim" because the blogger was neither a journalist nor a writer, nor a personality famous in any way. "But now everyone, outside Egypt too, know him and the case risks to turn into a boomerang for the Mubarak government," he said. Abdel Karim Suleiman, 22, a former law student, who is better known on the web by the nickname Karim Amer, was arrested in Alexandria on November 7 and was the first blogger to have been sentenced in Egypt for his writings against the regime. The first instance verdict had caused a wave of protests by numerous human rights organisations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-18 11:56

GALASSIA: BOOKS ONLY INSTRUMENT AGAINST PREJUDICES, TENSIONS
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 18 - Books strengthen the immune defences against simplifications and slogans that fuel intercultural tensions between the southern and the northern coast of the Mediterranean, is the opinion of Italian Ambassador to Egypt, Antonio Badini, who pointed out the importance of "literature as a source of knowledge" on the occasion of the awarding of the Mediterraneo Book Prize as part of the 18th edition of Galassia Gutenberg, which is under way in Naples. "Books rather than cinema help imagine places and human experiences that we can easily feel as ours," the diplomat said. "Reading Mahfouz I did not find any difficulty to imagine his stories set in Romés Borgo neighbourhood or on the streets of Naples and Palermo," he added. Egyptian writer Alaa El Aswany, author of the best seller The Yacoubian Building, agreed over the closeness between the two coasts of the Mediterranean, a closeness often transmitted by books and literature. "For me there is no division between Arabs and Westerners, there is a division between human beings and non-human beings. According to me the non-humans include the extremists from both coasts, the dictators, the imperialists killing innocent people. We human beings should remain unite and work in order to make this world better," he said. But the dialogue between the two coasts of the Mediterranean risks remaining a dead letter if concrete actions are not put in place. In this sense the Mediterraneo Book Prize, set up by Naples's Fondazione Mediterraneo and awarded today to Giuseppe Conte, attending the awarding ceremony, and to the memory of Tiziano Terzani, aims at contributing to the development of translations of Arabic works and to the popularisation of the already translated ones through the support to publishing houses. "The northern coast of the Mediterranean too often ignores the variety of literatures and thought present in the Arab world," Egyptian Arabist Dounia Abourachid, who coordinated the prize, said. The awarding ceremony was also attended by Michele Capasso, President of the Fondazione Mediterraneo, Arabist Isabella Camera d'Afflitto and Maria Ida Gaeta, head of the jury and artistic director of the Massenzio International Literature Festival. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-18 11:36

GALASSIA: PUBLIC TV FAILS TO CAPTURE CULTURE DEMAND
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 18 - "The problem of the public television service is that it fails to capture the demand for culture that is coming from society," RAI Educational director Giovanni Minoli said on presenting his book 'Heroes Like Us' at the 18th edition of the Galassia Gutenberg held at the Stazione Marittima in Naples. "We need to look at the flourishing of philosophic, economic and mathematical festivals as well as at the long lines of citizens in front of exhibitions or history lectures like the ones held in the auditorium in Rome," Minoli said. "Television must be a natural multiplicator of this demand, but unfortunately public television service fails to do so." Minoli, who was nominated by RAI's board of directors for the post of director of RAI 2, presented to the Galassia audience a video taken from his programme 'We Are the History' on the subjects of the book, the stories of victims of red and black terrorism in the 1970s and 80s. "I will soon take Oscar for the best TV programme," he said answering the audiencés compliments. "My team and I produce a high-quality product, some 250 hours of historic documentation, and we are number one in Europe in this. All members of the RAI board informed me in a written form that 'We Are the History' should be broadcast at a better time because when this happened on RAI 2 and RAI 3 the ratings exceeded the expectations and the networks benefited. I will pick up the Oscar for the best TV programme in a while, but despite that no one ever takes any decision in this regard." (ANSAmed). 2007-03-18 11:18

GALASSIA: NAPLES MUST ASSUME LEADING ROLE IN MEDITERRANEAN
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 17 - Naples can and should play a leading role in the process of development in the Mediterranean area but in order for this to become a fact it needs to make quick and important choices without pursuing the logic of consensus, according to participants in a meeting on the future of Naples between the Mediterranean and Europe held at the Galassia Gutenberg book fair. Naples Culture Councillor, Nicola Oddati, the president of the Naples Industrial Union, Gianni Lettieri and the secretary general of the Italian Workers Union UIL Campania, Anna Rea, spoke of the future of Naples in the Mediterranean context, discussing its problems and potential. Oddati underlined the need to define a clear framework for the choices to be made and said that political indecision today is one of the main obstacles which the city must overcome to assume the "leading role" which it can and should play in the Mediterranean. Tourism, ports and logistics are the main sectors which can help relaunch Naples which, however, together with other big Euro-Mediterranean cities should also press the EU turn to the Mediterranean the attention currently focused to the North and East. The culture councillor also put forward the possibility that Naples will run for the European culture capital in 2019. Perhaps Naples will not be the capital of the Mediterranean, Rea said in turn, but "surely it is a very important crossroads of trade and cultural dialogue. For the city to seize the opportunities offered by the Mediterranean it is necessary however to define a clear "strategic plan." The president of Naples' industrialists is of the same opinion, and he said that Naples' main fault today is its inactivity. "Forty years passed and nothing moved in Naples," Lettieri said. The moment has come to make specific and rapid choices which come via political consensus and show what Naples should be in 10 years, Lettieri believes. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-17 18:03

GALASSIA: LEONARDO'S LOOK TOWARDS EAST ON DISPLAY
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 17 - A never seen Leonardo is the one proposed at the Galassia Gutenberg book fair which dedicates an exhibition to the great artist titled 'Per darti de le cose qua di Levante', showing Leonardòs interest for eastern culture. The exhibition, curated by Marco Versiero in cooperation with the Orientale University of Naples and the Centre of Mediterranean Cultures Studies, goes deeper in all aspects, artistic, literary, technical, cartographic, allegoric, under which the versatile artist da Vinci looked to the east, in an interest which occupied most of his life and which at a certain point was going to lead him to Turkey at the court of Sultan Bayazid II. In the areas of the Stazione Marittima station, which hosts the Galassia Gutenberg until March 19, the exhibition is developed in five themes: Florence Precedents, The Imaginary Voyage, The Voyage to Make, Faces of the Mediterranean and Allegories, unfolded on an ideal map which includes Turkey and Asia Minor, Mesopotamia and Armenia, Cyprus and Israel, Egypt and Tunisia. Twenty giant posters of notes and projects, designs and drawings by Leonardo are exhibited, with the visitor who can be led by explanatory panels on the various materials on display. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-17 17:56

GALASSIA: LIFE LEARNING MUST BE UNIVERSITIES' THIRD MISSION
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 17 - Learning which lasts a lifetime is the third mission of universities, after teaching and research. This was the topic of a conference held today at the Naples book fair Galassia Gutenberg, attended by the Universities Minister, Fabio Mussi, and the Public Administration Reform Minister, Luigi Nicolais. "Life learning for adults has not become a priority for the system. We need to promote and information campaign. The third mission of the university, after education and research, is the spreading of knowledge outside its walls," Pasquale Ciriello, rector of the Orientale University of Naples, said. Minister Nicolais repeated the importance of professional updating in public administration. "In finance we have created an agency for public administration training which unites all schools with the same purpose," Nicolais said. Nicolais added that in this field there needs to be a close relation with the university and a radical change in the relationship with the educational NGO Formez and telematic schools. "In the healthcare and justice sectors we need to work to enter the digital era," he added. "A model for precarious and low-cost work is suicidal. The population is ageing and we need to make people capable of working longer," Mussi said. Mussi indicated three objectives for permanent learning. "In the first place this is a framework law which indicates the guiding lines and a working programme. Then, there should be agreements between ministries and regions, agreements with social partners, associations and universities to promote centres for permanent learning," he said. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-17 17:21

GALASSIA GUTENBERG: BJORN LARSSON ABOUT SEA AND FREEDOM
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 17 - Bjorn Larsson has chosen naples' Galassia Gutenberg to present his latest book, published by Iperborea, 'Need of Freedom' where for the first time he speaks of himself and of his courageous life. The Swedish writer and sailor, who had already written a story dedicated to the port of Naples, dialogued with the crowd of young people gathered at the literary Café Corto Maltese on the theme of 'sailing', chosen by the 18th edition of the Neapolitan fair. "I'm very connected with this city and with Italy in general," said the writer, symbol of modern literature dedicated to the sea. "I wanted to write a novel on the illegal immigrants who arrive in your country, but I have not managed it yet." "Writing and sailing have a common denominator: uncertainty, the writer said, the theme of freedom has always been the red line which has connected by novels. Freedom can be gained only having it, I believe." Born in Jonkoping in 1953, professor in French Literature at the Lund University, philologist, writer and a passionate sailor, Larsson is one of the Swedish authors best known in Italy, mainly for the extraordinary success of 'Long John Silver'. "A character very much like me," he says. After 'The Celtic Ring', Larsson published again with Iperborea 'The Port of Crossed Dreams', 'The Eye of the Evil', 'The Wisdom of the Sea' and 'Inga's Secret'. In 'Need of Freedom' the author tells chronologically and in themes his life, from childhood, the sad death of his father, at sea, to the great loves of his life, his adored daughter Catherine, but also the draft dodging which cost him 5 months in prison, up to the six years he led a Spartan life aboard his beloved boat without a telephone, television and any modern convenience. Larsson, who wrote for the first time a French book, said he does not like the definition of Swedish writer. "I reject the idea that our identity is ascribable to nationality," he explained, "in Italy I see that all are very careful, even of being natives of Piedmont, Lombardy or Rome. A writer however should have an open identity, blood and land do not matter. When I write, I always hope that my book can change the life of the reader and also mine." (ANSAmed). 2007-03-17 17:05

GALASSIA: INTERNET IS A BEAUTIFUL SEA ONLY FOR SAVVY SAILORS
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 17 - Like the simultaneously frightening and beautiful wine-dark sea described in Homer's Odyssey, the internet can simultaneously represent a risky storm-ridden journey and an infinite site of learning. This was one of the themes addressed in "The sea between communication and knowledge" session, sponsored by the Treccani Encyclopaedia, in the context of the 18th edition of the Galassia Gutenberg book fair currently going on in Naples. "At the dawn of Mediterranean civilisation, there was a fierce battle between human beings and the sea," the President of Treccani, Francesco Paolo Casavola, said. Even in Jesus' Palestine, fishermen did not have a respected social role because the sea was not considered an important place. This changed when the sea became a path for communication and thus a source of knowledge," Casavola said. The figure who symbolises this notion of the sea is Ulysses, as described by Dante in Canto 26 of the Inferno. Ulysses dared to go beyond the limits of the human knowledge in his quest for "virtue and learning". Now we have the same quest for learning as that of the king of Ithaca. But like him, we risk getting eaten by the waves - that is, by new technologies". This is exactly where the role of things like encyclopaedias step in. "Our challenge is to offer the best and most sophisticated tools to enter the sea of knowledge, taking account of the fact that knowledge - its form and content - are subject to continual transformations". Citing the 'American lessons' of Calvino, "after twenty years this is still the best clue to understanding our time. The speed which characterises access to knowledge makes the need of a guide for navigation all the more urgent". In this sense, new technologies and books must work together, and the Treccani encyclopaedia - as Casavola was keen on underlining - can act as a check in the sea of knowledge and represent a guarantee of quality rather than quantity. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-17 12:59

GALASSIA: NAPLES IS PROTAGONIST OF MEDITERRANEAN CULTURE
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 17 - Travelling through the Mediterranean - whether it is sailing with a boat, or with a book and through cultures - is the theme of this year's Galassia Gutenberg book fair, which was inaugurated yesterday in the Maritime Station in Naples. Around 146 bookshops and publishing houses set up stands at the four-day festival, which is taking place in a 5,000-square meter structure built in the 1930s and recently restored. This is the 18th edition of the book fair, and it is the first time that it is taking place in the Maritime Station, which is after all an appropriate setting. "Sailing for us is a great metaphor, and books are our rudder," the organiser of the event, Francesco Liguori, commented. The guest of honour was the young Egyptian writer Alaa El Aswany, who wrote the best-selling novel Palazzo Yacoubian, which tells the tale of daily life in the most populated Arab country. "I am a strong believer in the idea of a Mediterranean culture," El Aswany said. "Literature is an important instrument which teaches us to be more tolerant, and to consider other people as human beings rather than as stereotypes". The Egyptian writer received a prize from the Fondazione Mediterraneo, a Neapolitan organisation which promotes cultural exchange in the area, and is one of the partners in the fair. "Alongside goods and travellers, cultures travel too," the President of the Foundation, Michele Capasso, said. "Only through dialogue can we guarantee peace". The rector of the Orientale University in Naples, Pasquale Ciriello, said that "when we understand that there are other cultures in the world other than our own, we will have taken significant steps forwards". The chief editor of ANSAmed, Enrico Tibuzzi, spoke of the "spirit of Toledo," that is the cultural openness of the Spanish city in the Middle Ages, when it was governed by Arabs who translated the Koran alongside Christians and Jews. At the inauguration representatives of national and local institutions sent their messages: the director of books of the Cultural affairs ministry, Luciano Scala, the Vice President of the Province of Naples, Antonio Pugliese, the cultural councillor of Naples' municipality, Nicola Oddatti, and the councillor of Territorial policies in the Campania region, Gabriella Cundari. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-17 11:52

GALASSIA: DAYS OF MEMORY DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD, MIGLIORINI
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 16 - Increasing numbers of memorial days in Italy and worldwide do not help resolving the Middle East problem and even worsens it, provoking rifts and divisions, Luigi Mascilli Migliorini, head of the graduate courses on the Mediterranean at the L'Orientale University. Migliorini focused on the necessity to free ourselves from history during the opening conference of the XVIII Edition of Galassia Gutenberg in Naples. Looking back to the past does not help resolve the Middle East question. Israel had better focus on the search for a new identity as Italy did at the end of the World War II, the professor said in his speech at the conference 'From Education to Dialogue' organised by ANSAmed. A deep reflection on 'days of memory' as things which may risk increasing rifts and divisions rather than unity is needed, Migliorini said. Daniel Ben Simon, an Israeli journalist with the daily Haaretz, agreed with the necessity to face the past in a more constructive and fruitful way. Six million books are published every year in Israel. One fourth of them are history books about the Holocaust, the diaspora and persecutions undergone by the Jewish people. And this is a good way to use historical facts for political purposes, Ben Simon said during his speech. We need to be free from history, from that history in which we mourn and complain about the past, he concluded. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-16 17:49

GALASSIA: ANSAMED FORUM, SCHOOL VITAL FOR PEACE
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 16 - Cross-cultural dialogue needs to start at school. If children do not learn to respect those who are different from them, it will be impossible to build peace. This was the message that emerged from the conference "From education to dialogue, the primary role of school," organised by ANSAmed in the context of the Naples Galassia Gutenberg book fair. Roundtable speakers included Israeli Haaretz journalist Daniel Ben Simon, the Egyptian Tarek Mahmoud, of the MENA press agency, Italian literature professor Mohamed Moktari, of the Mohamed V University in Morocco, and two Italian history professors, Luigi Mascilli, who teaches at the Orientale in Naples, and Franco Cardini, a specialist in the Middle Ages, who teaches at the University of Florence. Two teachers from Jerusalem's mixed Arab-Israeli school Hand in Hand were also present. Moderating the discussion was ANSA's deputy director, Giulio Pecora. All of the speakers agreed that reading newspapers is only worthwhile if one has the instruments to understand them. These tools are taught in schools, churches, synagogues and mosques. The conference opened with a touching video of a mixed Arab-Israeli school in the village of Wadi Ara, near Jerusalem, managed by the Hand in Hand organisation. The video showed how in a playful and peaceful setting, children of two cultures and two genders can play together, learn one another's languages, and learn to care for one another. "The Torah says that Jews and Arabs are brothers," an eight-year-old girl said, with John Lennon's 'Imagine' song playing in the background in Arabic and Hebrew. "At first I was afraid of Jewish kids, but then we became friends," another student commented. "I decided to send my child to this school when one day she said to me 'I hate Jews'," a Palestinian mother explained. For the Jewish teacher Neman Gyan, who was present at the conference with an Arab colleague, "we are trying to give children a new way of thinking, based on sharing". According to the Moroccan professor Moktari, "schools and universities can help create citizens of the world able to engage in cross-cultural dialogue. To avoid hate one muse learn how to be discerning and develop a critical eye when confronted with the media. That's the only way young people can build a world based on dialogue". Franco Cardini, an expert in Islamic studies, stated that "in schools, only the war-torn period of the Crusades is discussed. But the centuries of the Crusades were also a period of expansion of commerce in the Mediterranean. How can we criticise Arab teachers for giving a negative view of Jews, if we do the same?" Cardini also provocatively stated, "I don't believe in tolerance but in mutual learning experiences. The more you learn about a culture, the chances are, more yoùll learn to appreciate it". Italian historian Luigi Mascilli Migliorini said: "Let's free ourselves from history, and crying over the past. I think that the situation in Israel can only move forward if we stop looking to the past, and start trying to build a new identity". The Israeli journalist Ben Simon explained that in his country, there are five educational systems, and the secular one is in place for 60% of Israel's students. The other systems are ultra-orthodox, extremist, Arab Israelis, and Russian immigrants. "How do you teach the '48 war to the 20% of Israelis who are of Arab origin? Israelis see it as a war of liberation, while Arabs see it as a catastrophe. It is extremely difficult to speak to everyone and promote peace in a country in which we do not share common values''. A similar situation is true in the Arab world, according the MENA journalist Tarek Mahmoud. "Societies are divided, and curricula change from country to country. We cannot have peace without education, but this is not sufficient in the Arab world. Changing curricula is not enough: we need to change mentalities". The roundtable ended with a promise made by ANSAmed. "The critical views discussed today in Naples will live on every day on the website of our agency, www.ansamed.info. We will create a forum dedicated to education in which intellectuals, professors and teachers of the whole region will be able to exchange views". (ANSAmed). 2007-03-16 17:18

GALASSIA: ARABS-JEWS COEXISTENCE POSSIBLE, ASSOCIATION SAYS
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 16 - A version in two voices, one male and one female, one in Arabic and one in Hebrew, of 'Imagine', the song symbol of pacifism in the 1970s, is the soundtrack of the video made by the 'Hand in Hand' association screened during the conference 'Dall'educazione al dialogò (From Education to Dialogue) which opened the 18th edition of Galassia Gutenberg in Naples today. A specific and moving testimony of the work which the Association has been promoting for some ten years operating three schools for Arab and Israeli children, the video tells the experience of the most recently established of the three institutes, the school set up two and a half years ago in the Arab village Wadi Ara. "The Torah says that Jews and Arabs are brothers," an eight-year-old girl says while the screen shows a class who repeat first the Hebrew alphabet and then the Arabic one. "In the beginning I was scared by the Jewish children, then we became friends and now I enjoy staying with them, talking," another girl from the school says. Jewish and Palestinian children from 6 to 12 years attend the three Hand in Hand schools. "Even outside school the children go out together, sleep over at one another's places, share experience," said Neman Gyan, who represented the association at the conference together with Maysa Asali. "I decided to enrol my family in this school when my daughter told me one day 'I hate the Jews,' a Palestinian mother tells in the video. It is difficult to say what future these children will have, once they grow up and have to face in a direct way the labour market and the complex reality which surrounds them in general. "We cannot know that with certainty but what we do have is providing the children with a different perspective, a perspective of sharing," Gyan said. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-16 15:06

GALASSIA: MEDIA NEVER UNDERSTOOD TOAFF BOOK, CARDINI
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 16 - Ariel Toaff's book has not been understood completely due to the superficial approach of the media towards it, Professor Franco Cardini said criticising the press, which he considers the main culprit of the "whirlpool of misunderstanding" created around "Blood of Easters. European Jews and Ritual Homicides" the novel by Toaff, son of Elio Toaff Rabi emeritus of Rome and professor at the Bar-Illan University of Jerusalem. Speaking at the conference entitled 'From Education to Dialogue', which opened the 18th edition of the Galassia Gutenberg in Naples today, the historian underlined the danger of the ignorant and partisan media. "Education comes before information," Cardini said, adding that there was an enormous gap between the scientists' community and the broad public which should be patched up through adequate mediators "in this case more educated means of information". "Anything can be discussed in the Academy if there are the adequate analytic instruments, but when this knowledge is presented to the audience it is necessary to have the right mediation," Cardini said. Toaff has underestimated this need, Cardini said. "Not everyone know, for example, the liturgical horror of the blood in the Jewish tradition especially in the Christian culture, which is based on the liturgical value of blood," he said. "Tolerance is a negative concept, which tastes like patience. I believe in knowledge. Only knowledge can save us from conflict." (ANSAmed). 2007-03-16 15:00

GALASSIA: ANSAMED FORUM; RELIGIOUS UNITY COMES FROM HISTORY
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 16 - The word peace in Jewish and in Arabic is the same: shalom in Jewish, salam in Arabic. Even the original word that identifies the Jewish people and the Arabs is the same and it means: "people that wander in the desert". This was the point stressed today by professor Franco Cardini in his opening speech at the conference titled 'From education to dialogue, the primary role of the school', organized by ANSAmed within the 18th edition of the Galassia Gutenberg Fair Book. Cardini underlined the deep brotherhood and affinity between Jews and Arabs. "The contraddictions are not in the history of the relations between the Arab, Jewish and Christian world. Contraddictions are in our way of understanding history", Cardini added. Expert in the history of the crusades, the professor underlined the necessity that textbooks give a right interpretation of the phenomenon. "The crusades and the anti-crusades - he said - were not a war of religions but a war between people deeply religious and integrated". On the problem of diversity and affinity between the Western world and the Arab one was also debated by professor Mohammed Moktary of the Mohammed VI University in Morocco. "A real dialogue with the other cannot be realized - he said - if we don't recognize our prejudices first. The meeting with diversity is a source of richness". According to Moktary, the educational process should be intercultural. "Textbooks are not enough - he concluded - an on-going and constant dialogue is needed". (ANSAmed). 2007-03-16 13:14

GALASSIA OPENS WITH CONFERENCE ON TEACHING TO DIALOGUE
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 15 - In order to build peace in the Middle East and on the coasts of the Mediterranean it is necessary to start from school and textbooks educating children in dialogue and understanding. This is the sense of the conference of ANSAmed, ANSA's arm for the Mediterranean, which tomorrow, March 16, will start a long series of events envisaged as part of the Galassia Gutenberg Naples book fair. 'Dall'educazione al dialogo, il ruolo primario della scuolà (From Education to Dialogue, The Primary Role of Schools) is the title of the meeting, which will feature speeches by Arab, Jewish and Italian teachers, researchers and journalists. The initiative will be held at 1030 at the Stazione Marittima. ANSA Deputy Director Giulio Pecora will be moderator. Israeli Haaretz newspaper's leader writer Daniel Ben Simon will introduce the problem from the Jewish point of view while Tarek Mahmoud, journalist of Egypt's MENA news agency, will explain the Arab view. The Islamic precepts contained in the textbooks will be examined by Mohamed Moktary, professor of Italian language and literature at the University of Rabat, while Luigi Mascilli Migliorini, professor of modern history at Naples's Orientale University, will present the intercultural dialogue experience gained in Campania. The most famous speaker is Middle Ages historian Franco Cardini, a great expert of the Mediterranean and the Islamic world, who will tell of the meetings and clashes between Christianity and Islam during the centuries. During the conference, the 'Hand in Hand' initiative of a joint Israeli-Palestinian organisation of Jerusalem will be illustrated. The organisation teaches children of the two communities Arabic and Hebrew in a school and offers joint study programmes. Two teachers, Neman Gyan and Bwerat Maisaa, will deliver speeches. Since 2004 ANSAmed has been organising at Galassia Gutenberg conferences on the themes of information and culture in the Mediterranean. Two years ago it brought to Naples Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir, who was later killed in a bombing. Tomorrow morning as part of Galassia Gutenberg, which will be officially opened in the afternoon by local authorities, a meeting will be held at the headquarters of Fondazione Mediterraneo to present Egyptian writer Ala Al-Aswani, author of the best-seller The Yacoubian Building, with the Mediterraneo culture prize award. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-15 19:12

GALASSIA: BOOKCRUISING LAUNCHED,BOOKS SAIL THE MEDITERRANEAN
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 15 - Bringing books across the Mediterranean Sea on a cruise ships so that the voyage, apart from being a source of entertainment, recovers its original meaning of discovery and knowledge. This is, in a nutshell, the meaning of the 'bookcruising' initiative made by the Galassia Gutenberg Association in cooperation with MSC Crociere presented this morning aboard the 'Musica' flagship moored at the Stazione Marittima station in Naples. The initiative is part of the 18th edition of the Galassia Gutenberg book fair that opens tomorrow under the theme of 'sailing.' Three hundred were the books collected during the presentation today. "Some 150 books were brought by writers and intellectuals," the president of the Galassia Gutenberg Association, Franco Liguori, told ANSAmed on the sidelines of the conference. "Another 150 have been donated by the Culture Ministry." The books of the 'bookcruising' range from novels to poetry collections and will continue to be collected during the book fair in the special area called 'boarding library'. The books will become part of the libraries already present on board of all the MSC ships but will be distinguished by a symbol in order to reconstruct their route. "The idea is that the tourists borrow a book, read it and then seize the opportunity to leave another which has a special meaning for them," Liguori explained. It is a means to export Italian culture in the world, MSC commercial director Leonardo Massa said. The Italian books donated by cruise passengers and travellers will go to enrich the libraries on board which already offer a wide range of books in English, German, French and Spanish, languages spoken by most of the passengers of MSC ships. "From a commercial point of view our preferred areas for development are France and Spain and in general 70% of our ships are positioned in the Mediterranean," he explained to ANSAmed. The Lirica ship will cruise on the route Tangier-Malaga-Valencia from the second half of 2007, while the ports of Trieste and Ancona will be included in the stages of the MSC cruises from October. "Naples remains the throbbing heart of our activities both from a logistic point of view, with the headquarters here, and as regard to tradition," Massa added. "This is the reason why we decided this year to be a partner of the Galassia through the bookcruising initiative," he said. "We aim, with our ships, to carry culture around the Mediterranean, trying to make our guests experience the sea as an element which strengthens relations between the peoples." Writers present at the conference included Naples-born Angelo Cannavacciuolo who donated his book 'Acque basse'. The writer launched an idea on the cruise-reading pair. "I would like to invite the writers on board the cruise ships to present their books. I could board in Naples and disembark in Palermo, for instance," he told ANSAmed. "I believe it is an efficient way to draw people closer to reading." (ANSAmed). 2007-03-15 16:36

GALASSIA GUTENBERG: ANSAMED CONFERENCE ON DIALOGUE ON FRIDAY
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 14 - Textbooks need to teach children the value of dialogue, otherwise it will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve peace in the region. This consideration, expressed by a Middle Eastern diplomat some time ago, was cited by Naples' mayor Rosa Russo Iervolino in her presentation of the ANSAmed conference, 'From education to dialogue, the primary role of school,' part of this year's Galassia Gutenberg book fair. ANSAmed, the ANSA's arm for the Mediterranean, has been organising an event within Galassia since 2005. In that year, ANSAmed invited the Lebanese intellectual Samir Kassir to discuss freedom of the press. Kassir was later barbarously assassinated in Beirut. In the 2007 edition of the book fair, ANSAmed has decided to speak not only about media, but to focus on the problems which young generations need to face to confront and overcome ideological, cultural and religious barriers which separate the populations living in the Middle East and North Africa. But the point is also to present positive experiences and suggest new paths to follow. Teaching dialogue is not an easy thing to do, and the topic bridges everything from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to understanding Islamic rules surrounding the veil. Numerous authors and experts from across the region have been asked to comment on this particular theme. Daniel Ben Simon, a well-known editorialist of the Israeli daily Haaretz, will deal with the question, presenting a panorama of the situation in one of the most controversial areas of the region. Tarek Mahmoud, a journalist of the Egyptian press agency Mena, will present an Arab point of view and show the experience matured in a country which in recent years proposed itself as a mediator between Arabs and Israelis in the attempt to take steps towards peace. Mohammed Moktary, who teaches Italian language and literature at Rabat's Mohammed V University, will speak about the Islamic tenets taught in Moroccan school textbooks. Luigi Mascilli Migliorini, professor of modern history at the Orientale university, will speak about the role played by Naples and the Campania region in spreading a culture based on dialogue among young people. The historian Franco Cardini will discuss the various phases which brought to the ideological and political fragmentation of the Mediterranean area. Two teachers from Jerusalem's Hand in Hand school, Neman Gyan and Bwerat Maisaa - one of whom is Arab, and the other Jewish - will present their institution's innovative plan for peace. In this school, Jewish and Palestinian children are in fact taught both Hebrew and Arabic and follow the same programme of studies. The moderator of the debate, which will kick off at 10:30am in the Cristoforo Colombo hall, will be Giulio Pecora, deputy director of ANSA, and the organisation's head of international relations. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-14 17:43

GALASSIA GUTENBERG: 2007 EDITION IS A JOURNEY AMONG CULTURES
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 14 - Sailing among books, sailing among cultures, sailing among peoples and counties, especially those of the Mediterranean, so close and connected to Italy - the fair of the book and multimedia of Naples 'Galassia Gutenberg' has chosen this year sailing as a leitmotif. The event opens doors on Friday, March 16, at the completely restored Maritime Station. In the 1930s halls of the building, next to the Molo Beverello and in front of the Maschio Angioino, stands of publishing houses and libraries will be arranged and conferences and round tables will be held until March 19. The organisers, the Galassia Gutenberg Association, and the many partners in the events, presented the fair at a news conference this morning. The guests of this year's edition, the 18th, include Egyptian writer Alaa Al Aswany, author of the 'The Yacoubian Building' who will receive on March 16 an award from the Mediterraneo Foundation, and Swedish writer-sailor Bjorn Larsson who will present his new book 'Need for Freedom' (Iperborea). Authors Ibrahim al-Koni (Libya) and Salwa Bakr (Egypt) will speak of the literature of the Middle East at the 'Arab Caffe'', while Croatian novelist Predrag Matvejevic will present the new edition of his 'Mediterranean Breviary' on March 19. The 'Mediterraneo del libro' will be given to Giuseppe Conte and to Longanesi publisher for the books of Tiziano Terzani. Galassia will also give the floor for the adventures in boat of Giuseppe Cederna and Giovanni Soldini and for the "notebookers", the designers of the trips. A group of young Neapolitans will tell of the city under the Vesuvius and Goffredo Fofi will pay homage to Polish war correspondent Ryszard Kapuscinski who has recently died. ANSAmed, ANSA's news agency dedicated to the countries of the Mediterranean which is based in Naples, will organise on March 16 a conference on the theme of education to dialogue which will analyse how and how much textbooks influence the peace process in the Middle East and on the ability of the young people belonging to different Mediterranean cultures and religions to create dialogue. On the same day sociologists Derrick de Kerckhove and Alberto Abruzzese will speak of the "future which we already have." Universities Minister Fabio Mussi will take part in a meeting on permanent education on the next day, March 17. The special initiatives at Galassia include the 'train of the books', organised by the Leggere magazine, which on Saturday will bring to Naples from Rome writers and readers among readings and debates, and the 'bookcruising', the marine version of 'bookcrossing.' MSC cruise passengers will be given books to read and leave later on the ship to invite other cruise passengers to read them. Holders of library cards and the Unico weekly/monthly travelcard will get a discount on the entrance ticket (5 euro). "Galassia Gutenberg is the most important event for discussion and relaunch of the culture of the book," the Campania regional councillor for social policies, Rosa D'Amelio, said. "We are a little behind on these themes in Campania and should use all opportunities to catch up." ANSA deputy chief Carlo Gambalonga spoke of the ANSAmed conference on Israeli and Palestinian school books, hoping for "a new education which will begin from school and make the Mediterranean no longer a sea that divides but a lake that unites." Galassia Gutenberg president Franco Liguori illustrated the novelties of this year's edition, while the Mediterraneo Foundation president Michele Capasso presented the Arabic edition of his book 'Nostro mare nostro', on the history of the foundation. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-14 17:34

GALASSIA GUTENBERG: NAPLES ORIENTALE UNIVERSITY AT BOOK FAIR
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 13 - The Centre of Mediterranean Cultures Studies at the Orientale University of Naples will take part in the 18th edition of the Gutenberg Galaxy book fair, to be held from Friday to Monday at Stazione Marittima. The centre will support the process of spreading knowledge and cultures of the Mediterranean and offer new occasions for reflection on the very topical subject of otherness and identity. Sailing is the theme of this year's edition: it is about sailing towards the 'other' and committing to understanding the largest cultural context that designs the imagery of individuals and populations, sometimes referring to the category of 'We' and sometimes to the category of the 'Other'. The presence of the Centre of Mediterranean Culture Studies - opened at the University of Naples on January 17 - will be a particular opportunity for meeting different cultures and traditions, with the purpose of demonstrating the multiple nature of the Mediterranean region. The centre, whose scientific activities are focused on the fields of anthropology, geography, history, philosophy, religion, language, and literature, will be present with different initiatives including a photographic exhibition entitled 'Leonardo da Vinci: Geography of Memory, from the Mediterranean to the Orient', a presentation of the book 'The Other in the Arab Culture' (Mesogea) by Arab authors, and a presentation of the volume 'Sailing the Mediterranean. Reflections, the Oriental'. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-13 14:53

GALASSIA GUTENBERG: 800 READERS AND WRITERS ON TRAIN TO FAIR
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 12 - A train of book fans, as many as 14 carriages, of which one entirely focusing on children, with 800 passengers, including readers and writers, on board will leave from Rome on March 17 for Naples' Galassia Gutenberg, the major book fair in Southern Italy, whose 18th edition is held at the Maritime station. The initiative, which already has found many supporters, is promoted by the magazine 'Leggere: Tutti'. The train will leave at 0815 local time from the Termini station and will also stop at Latina and Formia. During the trip passengers will be able to talk to authors such as Luciano De Crescenzo, Silvio Perella, Giovanni Russo and many others while the central carriage will offer readings, lectures and animation. The library with works of the authors participating in the trip will be placed on the stand of 'Leggere: Tutti' at Galassia Gutenberg. The train will also offer a photo exhibition 'Raise Your Eyes and Look', dedicated to the popular quarters of Naples, Forcella and Sanità. In the afternoon the company Tirrenia will open exclusively for the passengers on the train the exhibition of Giacinto Gigante 'The Colours of Campania'. The programme was presented in Rome by Sergio Auricchio and Giuseppe Marchetti Tricamo of Agra Editrice and Franco Liguori, president of the association Galassia Gutenberg. This year the book fair focuses on the theme of sailing and voyage and offers a rich Mediterranean section prepared in collaboration with ANSAmed. "It is a real pleasure for me to welcome this initiative on the occasion of the 18th edition of the Galassia Gutenberg book fair, a project which already has been fixed into the national publishers' panorama," Rome mayor, Walter Weltroni, said greeting "the train of readers". "This is an initiative which is trying to offer an enthralling experience both from educative and from emotional point of view in the atmosphere of fruitful interchange between readers and writers, using the trip as an instrument to create an unprecedented context for exchange of ideas," he added. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-12 12:35

GALASSIA GUTENBERG: ANSAMED CONFERENCE ON DIALOGUE
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 1 - What do textbooks teach students living in Mediterranean countries about other Mediterranean countries? How do Arab textbooks tell the story of Israel? How do Israeli texts depict the Palestinian Territories? The need to answer these questions led ANSAmed to organise a conference, 'From Education to Dialogue, the Important Role of School,' which will take place on Friday March 16th, on the opening day of the 18th edition of Naples' Galassia Gutenberg book fair. The fair will run from March 16th through March 19th at the Maritime Station in Naples. The section on the Mediterranean was organised for the first time in 2005, when ANSAmed invited Lebanese intellectual Samir Kassir, who was later barbarously assassinated in Beirut, to discuss freedom of the press. This year, Daniel Ben Shimon, a well-known columnist of the Israeli daily Haaretz, Tarek Mahmoud, a journalist of the Egyptian news agency MENA, Mohamed Moktary, a professor in Italian language and literature at the University of Rabat, and Luigi Mascilli Migliorini, a professor in modern history at Naples' L'Orientale University, will speak of the importance of education in the peace process. Historian Franco Cardini is also invited to contribute to the debate. Thanks to the cooperation of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Observatory, Noha Khatib and Yochanan Eshchar, who teach Arabic and Hebrew at the education centre Hand in Hand, will also be present. They will illustrate a pilot initiative launched in Jerusalem, whereby Jewish and Palestinian children in the same school are taught both Hebrew and Arabic and take part in the same plan of study. The conference will be moderated by Giulio Pecora, who is ANSA's deputy editor-in-chief and the head of the agency's international relations. The ANSAmed event is part of the Mediterranea section of Galassia, which focuses on the culture and complexities of the countries of the Mediterranean. The Naples fair has included this Mediterranean focus as part of its programme for the past three years, making the city a centre for larger debates and reflections, which stretch beyond those directly connected with the world of publishing. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-01 16:20

GALASSIA GUTENBERG: EGYPTIAN AL-ASWANI WILL INAUGURATE FAIR
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MARCH 1 - Egyptian writer Ala Al-Aswani, author of the bestselling novel 'The Yacoubian Building', will inaugurate the 18th edition of Naples' Galassia Gutenberg book fair, which opens on Friday March 16th. Ala Al-Aswani will receive the Mediterraneo Award, which in the past has been awarded to the Nobel Prize winner Naghib Mafhuz, to Queen Rania of Jordan, to singer-songwriter Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) and to the Iranian Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. Michele Capasso of the Mediterraneo Foundation will also give the 'book prize' to Giuseppe Conte and to the Longanesi publishing house, in memory of Tiziano Terzani. Even Galassia Gutenberg will receive a prize in the new section on book fairs in the Mediterranean. The activities are part of a Mediterranean section of Galassia, run in collaboration with ANSAmed. This part of the fair is organising a conference titled, 'From Education to Dialogue, the Importance of School'. The annual 'Arab Cafe'', organised by Isabella Camera D'Afflitto, will be attended by Libyan writer Ibrahim al-Koni, Egyptian writer Salwa Bakr, the journalist and feminist Maria Ida Gaeta and Maria Avino. Other fair events include Ala Al-Aswanìs presentation of the Arab edition of Michele Capassòs 'Nostro Mare Nostro', which tells the tale of the Foundation. The fair will also host a meeting with Predrag Matvejevic, who will present his Mediterranean Compendium in 25 languages. An exhibition promoted by the Centre for the Study of Mediterranean Cultures is dedicated to 'Leonardo da Vinci: Writing and Images from Memory's Geography, from the Mediterranean to the Middle and Far East'. (ANSAmed). 2007-03-01 15:57

GALASSIA GUTENBERG THIS YEAR IN NAPLES HONOURS KAPUSCINSKI
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, FEBRUARY 19 - The 18th edition of Galassia Gutenberg (Gutenberg Galaxy), the most important book fair in southern Italy, will take place between March 16 and 19, at the Maritime Station in Naples, with this year's event paying tribute to prominent reporter and traveller Ryszard Kapuscinski. The tribute to Kapuscinski, who died recently, has been prepared by Goffredo Fofi. This year's edition of the event will include a presentation of the new novel of author and sailor Bjorn Larsson, accounts of the travel adventures of Giovanni Soldini and Giuseppe Cederna and an entirely Neapolitan reading dedicated to the most enchanting of mermaids, Parthenope. The theme of Galassia Gutenberg 2007 is "navigation", and the sea and voyages will be discussed with writers and sailors such as Swedish Larsson, while Cederna and Giovanni Soldini will speak of passions and adventures aboard boats and sailing ships. The section "Travel Notebook", with author Ernesto Franco and Mario Griffa, Cristophe Verdier, Enrique Flores and Stefano Faravelli, focuses on islands, lighthouses, coasts and marine landscapes. The myth of mermaids is discussed in the latest book by Maurizio Bettini and Luigi Spina who together with Meri Lao travel to their places. Antonella Cilento, Iaia Caputo, Maurizio Braucci, Peppe Lanzetta, Valeria Parrella, Fabrizia Ramondino, Antonio Franchini, Silvio Perrella, will take part in readings, performances, meetings focusing on Naples. The section dedicated to the Mediterranean again will again be central to the event, including various initiatives in the four days of the fair, among them meetings with authors from the Middle East such asLibyan Ibrahim Al-Koni and Egyptian Salwa Bakral, who will take part in an Arab Literary Caf' prepared by Isabella Camera D'Afflitto. On the opening day, Galassia Gutenberg will host an international conference on information issues organised by ANSAmed. Many initiatives have been prepared in collaboration with Mediterranean publishers organised by the Mediterraneo Foundation and the guests will include writer Predrag Matvejevic, who will present the new edition of his Mediterranean Compendium (published by Garzanti), which has been translated in 25 languages. On March 17, the day focusing on universities, the fair will host the national conference of the Italian Education Ministry (MIUR) in collaboration with Conference of the Italian Universities Rectors (CRUI) with the participation of ministers Fabio Mussi and Luigi Nicolais. The conference is organised by Galassia Gutenberg with the support of the Region of Campania and the European Social Fund, in collaboration with the municipality and province of Naples and will be attended by experts representing the whole book sector, publishers, book agents, librarians. The 18th edition of Galassia Gutenberg is related to the Civilisation of Women, an event promoted by the equal opportunities department of the Region of Campania, scheduled for March 4-7. (ANSAmed). 2007-02-19 10:13

NEW PAGE FOR GALASSIA GUTENBERG 2007 IN NAPLES
(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, DECEMBER 5 - To navigate using fantasy through look and sight - this will be the theme that the 18th edition of Galassia Gutenberg, the fair of the south of the book and multimedia, will strive to give the visitor between March 16-10 at the Expo congress complex at Naples' Maritime Station. For Franco Liguori, president of the Galassia Gutenberg Association, "the theme of navigating was chosen as one key of reading to tackle more issues - one can navigate on water, in time, in the physical and virtual space and also in the Self. At sea one uses pilot's books, maps, compasses, lighthouses. In physical space we use the hearing and the sight." The relation with the city of Naples and the sea, after the success of the previous edition at Castel dell'Ovo, is reinforced through the choice of the location. The new and functional spaces of the congress complex of the Maritime Station, which guarantee the availability of the event and the efficiency of the trade fair area, have been chosen to host the literary festival. The "Mediterraneo" section was reconfirmed as part of the 18th edition. Since 2005 that section, thanks to cooperation of AnsaMed, the L'Orientale University Institute and the Mediterraneo Foundation, is one of the fixed meetings in a book fair which has opened to the cultures, religions and contamination. Galassia Gutenberg will also be connected to "Civilisations of the Women", an event promoted as part of the Women of March of the equal opportunities council of the Campania Region, which will be held at the Maritime Station between March 4 and 8. The line of continuity between the two events will be shown within the programme of the Galassia with meetings and initiatives on women's publishing, writing and languages. Organised by the Galassia Gutenberg Association with the support of the Campania Region, the event relies on a committee of experts which comprises all the representatives of the of the chain in book publishing, from editors to booksellers and to big libraries. (ANSAmed). 2006-12-05 20:28