Presidential adviser Bouthaina Shaaban on Saturday noted the importance of documenting national history as a way to protect against foreign plots to undermine the “Arab nation.”
In a speech marking 100 years since the signing of the Balfour Declaration, Shaaban, who chairs the Watan Document Foundation’s board of trustees, said that the organization aims at documenting elite figures who have contributed to preserving the homeland’s dignity, in addition to documenting the oral narrative to become a reference to the official written history.
“Our goal is to document the oral historical message to be a reference to the written history,” she said, indicating that the Foundation’s first project will be documenting what Syria has experienced over the past seven years.
“Our dialogue here is objective, clear, constructive and organized to set better bases for the next generation,” Shaaban explained, adding: “Our goal is to come up with features of an Arab strategy to guide the decision makers.”
She went on, saying: “We are concerned about what our nation is passing through and about setting plans for confronting the challenges hatched against us,” adding. “The homelands are the most important as today we are witnessing catastrophic results of what they allegedly called [the Arab Spring] in some Arab countries,” she added.
Shaaban pointed out that the conference aims at tackling the underlying causes which have led Arab nations to their current situation, saying that the issue cannot be attributed to foreign reasons only. She said there are several gaps resulting from lack of transparency and honesty which serve the personal or political interests of some.
She also underlined the importance of enhancing political and intellectual knowledge, calling upon Arab businessmen to support research centers and intellectuals in order to confront the Zionist enemy (Israel), as well as the petrodollar regimes which attempt to distort history and support those who seek to undermine the Arab nation.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
