Palestinian Ambassador to Vietnam Saadi Salama (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Thebook “Cau chuyen Viet Nam cua toi" (My Vietnam story) in Vietnamese version, written by PalestinianAmbassador to Vietnam Saadi Salama for nearly five years, was published inearly 2023.
Talking with VietnamNews Agency in Vietnamese language with Hanoi accent, Ambassador Salama said he had come to Vietnamfor the first time as a predestined affinity,then stayed and became closer to the country also due to predestined affinity.
When being awardedwith a scholarship from Vietnam when he was 19, he said he aspired to travel tothe Southeast Asian country not only for Vietnamese study but also for answerto its glorious history in national construction and defence.
While attending the University of Hanoi (now Vietnam National University, Hanoi), his love for Vietnam and its people deepened. Followinggraduation, he worked for Palestine’s representative diplomatic agencies inVietnam, Laos, Yeman, Ghana, among others.
But like a predestined affinity, his life milestones wereassociated with Vietnam decades ago. During1982-1983, he was secretary in charge of information at the Office of thePalestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in Vietnam. From 1989-1991, he was vice ambassador at the Palestinian Embassy in Vietnam. Later, he has served as Ambassadorof Palestine to Vietnam since 2009 and head of the Palestinian diplomatic corpin Vietnam since 2019.
Salama affirmed thathe always considers Vietnam his second homeland. His responsibility is not onlyto foster friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Palestine but also to populariseVietnam as a nation of long-standing culture and peace loving.
His book is a giftmanifesting his sentiment for Vietnam, giving the Vietnamese an insight into aforeigner’s view on the country’s changes. Its English version is due to bepublished in March.
His another projectis rewriting this book in Arabian language to help Arabian people understandmore about Vietnam.
The diplomat alsoused to translate the book “Dien Bien Phu - Five unprecedented prodigious factsin the war history” by Mai Trong Tuan and several poems in President Ho ChiMinh's " Prison Diary" into Arabian language to introduce toPalestinian people and Arabian countries.
Impressed by Vietnam’sintegration process, he expressed his firm belief that Vietnam will continuesucceeding on its own road.
As 2023 marks the 35th anniversary of Palestine-Vietnam diplomatic ties, he wished more jointactivities would be held to nurture Vietnam’s understanding of Palestine’sculture and people and vice versa, contributing to growing bilateral ties.
🗹 Concluding the conversation,Salama said life has changed and is changing with many things that are nolonger the same, but one thing will never change, that is, a part of his hearthas belonged to Vietnam./.
