Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 30 July, in the Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, on the International Day of Friendship, a flower-laying ceremony was held at a memorial obelisk in honor of the creative heritage of the people’s poet of Uzbekistan Gafur Gulyam, whose 120th birthday anniversary is celebrated this year.

From the Israeli side, the Mayor of Kiryat Gat, Aviram Dahari, Deputy Mayor Yakov Ifraimov, Director General of the Association of Hebrew-speaking Writers Nira Toval, Director General of the Association of Bukhara Natives Ronit Elnatan, as well as representatives of creative and public organizations of the Bukharian Jewish community - natives of Uzbekistan attended the event.

In her speech, Ambassador of Uzbekistan Feruza Makhmudova noted that representatives of more than 130 nationalities proudly call Uzbekistan their home.

“We all live in peace and harmony. In multinational Uzbekistan, the Jewish people have always occupied a special place. The Jewish community has lived and lives in the hospitable land of modern Uzbekistan for many centuries and is part of the common cultural heritage of our country. Friendship between the two peoples was especially evident during the Second World War, when hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees and orphans from Eastern Europe and the republics of the former Soviet Union found shelter in the families of ordinary Uzbeks. During these years, the bright poems of the great humanist of the 20th century, Gafur Gulyam, who stood up for the Jewish people, sounded with particular force. Gafur Gulyam’s poem "I am a Jew", written by him in 1941, is a common unshakable cultural heritage of the Uzbek and Jewish peoples. Gafur Gulyam can rightly be called "the best ambassador of Uzbekistan for all time" in the development of friendly relations between our countries," the ambassador said.

The participants of the event noted that the establishment in 2005 of a memorial obelisk in the Israeli city of Kiryat Gat in honor of the creative heritage of Gafur Gulyamov reflected the deep gratitude of the Israelis to the great poet and the hospitable and cordial Uzbek people.

This year, by decision of the municipality of Kiryat Gat - one of the city squares was named after Gafur Gulyam. This has become a vivid embodiment of the growing ties of friendship and cooperation between Uzbekistan and Israel.

The Ambassador said that at the international scientific and practical conference organized by the Tashkent State Law University and the House-Museum of Gafur Gulyam in May of this year, dedicated to the work of the great son of the Uzbek people, a special badge named after Gafur Gulyam was established.

During the solemn event, the Ambassador of Uzbekistan presented commemorative signs to the mayor of the city of Kiryat Gat, Aviram Dahari, and the poetess Polina Khaimova.

In their speeches, Avram Dakhari and Polina Khaimova expressed their sincere gratitude for the high appreciation of their efforts aimed at strengthening friendship and developing public diplomacy between the two countries and peoples.