At its meeting held in Doha, today, Tuesday, the Council of Ministers of Culture of the Islamic World chose the Palestinian city of Hebron as the capital of Islamic culture for the year 2026.

This came after the meeting devoted to discussing the renewal of the cultural reality in the Islamic reality at the summit of culture ministers hosted by Doha.

The government had commissioned the Ministry of Culture two years ago to form a national committee headed by Minister of Culture Atef Abu Saif to prepare the file for nominating Hebron as the Capital of Islamic Culture for the year 2026, in order to shed light on the attempts to Judaize the city, steal its heritage and antiquities, and change its Arab-Islamic identity.

Abu Saif said that making such a decision is of great importance because it means that the Islamic world, considering Hebron the capital of Islamic culture for the year 2026, will focus its efforts on cultural work in the Holy City, and through this, programs, plans and visions will be presented that strengthen Islamic identity in the city and combat all policies of erasure. And the removal, replacement, and replacement that the occupation authorities are trying to establish in this city, which witnessed important historical and national events in the history of our Palestinian consciousness and the history of the Arab and Islamic nations.

Abu Saif added: “We have a great responsibility to present what is happening in Hebron to the Islamic world to tell them a clear message that preserving the holy places requires effort from all of us and strong interventions in order to preserve the Palestinian identity in this city.”

It is noteworthy that Jerusalem was the capital of Islamic culture in 2019 and the capital of Arab culture in 2009, and Bethlehem was the capital of Arab culture in 2020.