Mohammed J. Aal-Hajiahmed to speak on libraries in conflict areas

On Wednesday 21 October, Mohammed Jasim Aal-Hajiahmed, director of libraries of the Mosul University, will give a conference entitled "Libraries in conflict areas. The case of Mosul University library before and after the war in Iraq" as part of the official inauguration of the new academic year at the Faculty of Political Sciences and Sociology. The event will take place at 4 p.m. at the faculty's conference hall, and will also include speeches by UAB Rector Margarita Arboix and Faculty Dean Laura Feliu. To attend the event, prior registration is required. It will also be available on YouTube. 

Based on the experience of Mohammed Jasim Aal-Hajiahmed, the recent history of northern Iraq and the current situation in the region will be explained, as well as the role of documentary heritage in war zones. The event is organised by the FAS, the UAB Library Service and the faculties of Art and Humanities, Translation and Interpreting, and Political Sciences and Sociology.

Mohammed Jasim Aal-Hajiahmed was director of the Mosul library before the city was taken over by the Islamic State in early June 2014. Much of the city was destroyed and the library became, during the three years that the Islamic State occupied the city, the center of operations of the Islamists. Finally, in 2017, before Mosul was released, ISIS set fire to the library, causing the destruction of thousands of bibliographic and manuscript jewels.

Mohammed is currently writing his doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Translation and Interpretation of the UAB and lives with his family in Castellar del Vallès thanks to a collaboration agreement signed between the UAB and the FAS - Reception Program for people in search of refuge - and this town.