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Promoting the Romanian language and the literary creation of Romanian language Israeli writers represent the main goals of the Association of Romanian Language Israeli Writers (ASILR), founded in 1964 in Tel Aviv, says association president Dragos Nelersa.
Thus, Romanian-born Israelis have a book output of over 30 titles to choose from, by the "Familia" publishing house, but also a newspaper and a magazine of their own - the Romanian Gazette and the Family Magazine, said the ASILR president.
"We can say that there is a oasis of Romanian language in Israel, there are people who fight to preserve and keep the Romanian language in Israel. We are knights, sword in hand, who speak Romanian, feel Romanian, far away from the mother country. We are Romanians in our hearts and together we want our children to speak, read Romanian and carry Romania in their souls," Dragos Nelersa told AGERPRES.
The 11th gala "Person of the Year - Book of the Year 2018" awards for an exceptional activity took place on April 18 in Tel Aviv. The event was organized by ASILR, with the support of the Embassy of Romania in Tel Aviv, the Israeli - Romanian Cultural Center in Tel Aviv, the Foundation for the Promotion and Development of Romanian Judaism, the Unitary Organisation of Romanian-born Jews (AMIR). AGERPRES was a media partner.
According to the ASILR president, the event, which saw Ministers Teodor Melescanu and Natalia Intotero, as well as several cultural, academic, university and religious personalities awarded, took place under the slogan "Together - be'Yahad", having as main goal the preservation of the Romanian language and keeping a bridge of friendship between Romania and Israel.
"The slogan of this edition was 'Together United' - be together, celebrate together the Romanian language, feel the pulse of the mother country here, 2,500 kilometers away from its soil. (...) ASILR also organizes annually various conferences and literature debate and promotion events, as well as literary contests. It did us great pleasure to discover the National News Agency AGERPRES, an extraordinary partner, we enjoyed working together and we hope to work just as well in the future," said Dragos Nelersa.
ASILR, which gathers writers, critics and culture people from Romania, has been putting out and circulating annually since 2011 the "Izvoare/Springs" magazine, an anthology of the best works of the previous year, which covers subjects of concern and interest for the modern Israeli writers: the Holocaust, the life and assimilation of Romanian emigrants in an Israel troubled by the Israeli-Arab conflict, but especially the arts and culture that flourish in Israel.
ASILR participates in international book fairs in Israel and Romania. The authors also had their works printed in bilingual publications like Romanian-French or Romanian-Hebrew, providing to non-Romanian speaking readers an idea of Romanian literature.
"Our next project is the 'March of Life', which will take place in Iasi under the leadership of the Rabbi of our community, Iosef Wasserman, who every year puts in efforts to accomplish this wonderful project. Hundreds of Israelis travel to Iasi where they participate together in a march of life for the young generations to not forget the pogroms and all those black years of the Holocaust, for them to know what has happened and for this tragedy to never repeat," explained the ASILR president.
AGERPRES
