Bank of Palestine granted its support for organizing the activities of the Central Athletics Festival that was held at the Jaba’a Secondary School for Girls located south of the city of Qabatiya, under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Sabri Saidam, the Minister of Education and Higher Education. The aim of the event was to honor students participating in athletic championships that were held in the said city.
The activities of the festival were held in the presence of Professor Mohammed Zakarneh, the Director of Education in Qabatiya, Mr. Madi Abu Sheikha, the Director of Bank of Palestine’s Qabatiya branch, Professor Jamal Farhoud, the Director of the Athletics and Social Work Department at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Professor Aref Assayrah, the Director of Athletics at the said ministry, the Mayor of Jaba’a, several heads of departments at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, in addition to civil society and security organizations and parents of students, with the participation of more than 500 students from schools around the city.
The festival’s activities were launched with an opening speech by the Director of Education who praised the efforts conducted by students during the championships, and commended the role of Bank of Palestine and its generous support for the festival as well as its sponsorship of several sports and cultural activities on a national level.
Mr. Jamal Farhoud, the Director of the Athletics and Social Work Department at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, stressed the importance of sports and cultural activities in forming the character of students and developing a new generation that is able to continuously evolve and enrich the Palestinian sports movement with more youth involvement.
Mr. Madi Abu Sheikha, the Director of Bank of Palestine’s Qabatiya branch, addressed the support provided by the bank to the community through the allocation of 6% of its annual profit to support developmental sectors in Palestine through its corporate social responsibility initiatives that incorporate several sectors including education, youth, innovation, health and the environment, sports, culture and arts, women empowerment, the development of economic affairs, and Diaspora relations, all of which form a major part of the bank’s message to push forward the wheel of economic development. Abu Sheikha added that the bank’s support for Palestinian youth stems from its strategic and developmental vision towards this sector in society, which is considered the real wealth for development and advancement in Palestine for their productivity and abundant innovative ideas. Bank of Palestine is considered to be the second largest employer of youth in Palestine.
The festival featured several sports and entertainment activities that were conducted by the students from Jaba’a Secondary School for Girls, Abu Ali Mustafa School for Boys and Sami Taha School for Girls. The event activities were concluded by honoring the winning teams in athletics championships during the academic year 2016/2017 by distributing a total of 110 cups that included the logo of Bank of Palestine.