[3] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas officially launched the celebration of Jerusalem as the Capital of Arab Culture for 2009 at a ceremony in Bethlehem.

Simultaneous ceremonies were supposed to take place in Jerusalem, Gaza, Nazareth and Mar Elias refugee camp in Lebanon.

[5] The blocked events included a soccer match scheduled at a school on Nablus Road, a conference for young women at the Al-Hiya'la Center, and marches in the Wadi al-Joz and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods.

[6] Spokesperson of the Ministry of the Interior Ihab al-Ghussein said that the celebrations for Al-Quds Arab Capital of Culture in March at the headquarters of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Gaza.

This celebration, the only one outside the Arab world, included more than 40 Palestinian artists, among them the hip hop group Ramallah Underground, the folklore dance troupe El Funoun, the Oriental Music Ensemble, visual artist Rana Bishara, and film director Larissa Sansour who presented her film A Space Exodus (reviewed by Professor Helga Tawil Souri).