by Najat Al-Saied. GATESTONE • May 8, 2022
- The real danger lies not only in denying that the Holocaust took place, but, worse, in rewriting history, especially by those who oppose peace and stability. Their main motive seems to be to perpetuate hatred and hostility so that the conflict — their raison d’être and possibly also their careers — remains continuous and immortal.
- The real dispute in the Middle East is actually between two axes: an Axis of Moderation and an Axis of Resistance (to moderation, non-violence, normalization and peace).
- Nothing, it seems, infuriates extremist groups or the Axis of Resistance more than bringing them face-to-face with such historical facts, and being able to cast aside all doubt about everything that is going on in Israel and that has been so maliciously and falsely reported
- If matters were more peaceful and normal, everyone could go there and see the reality for themselves. This suppression of the truth seems, in fact, the main reason that so many are against normalization and fostering relationships between people across cultural and political divides: they want their own people to see only their version of reality.
- Mohammad Dajani, a former Palestinian professor at Al-Quds University, had a different experience: he still lives in the midst of the conflict. His life is at risk because of the pragmatic position he chose: to solve the conflict rather than to perpetuate it.
- [The Abraham Accords] made the voice of the Axis of Moderation louder and bolder. Supporters of the Axis of Resistance can no longer embarrass supporters of the Axis of Moderation, as they have done in the past, simply by accusing them of treason, or for doing nothing for the Palestinians or the Palestinian cause.
- Peace cannot be built as long as extremism and ideological terrorism exist, and there can be no independent Palestinian state if generations are raised on violence and hatred in the absence of reason and logic.
- Through the new Abraham Accords, which differ from previous models in that they actively promote peace and prosperity for the civil society, there is finally a glorious opportunity for people to see for themselves the reality of the Holocaust, for example, and better understand the dangers of radicalism, intolerance and racism to their own societies.
This year, His Excellency Ahmed Obaid AlMansoori, the Emirati founder of the Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai, led this history-making delegation from the UAE to Poland along with Eitan Nichloss, the newly-appointed ambassador of the International March of the Living in the Gulf States. Such delegations that expose people to historical evidence and facts that counter the radicals’ manipulation of history, could go a long way to having a refreshingly positive influence in helping to solve the conflict still underway in the Middle East. Pictured: The Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai. (Image source: ???? ?????/Wikimedia Commons)<
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For the first time in history, a delegation of journalists, academics and influencers from across the Arab and Muslim world — including citizens from states that have not yet signed peace agreements with Israel, such as Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon – came to see first-hand the horrors of the Holocaust and to promote education and awareness of them in their societies.
The delegation was organized by Sharaka, a grassroots organization based in Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco, and made up of young social activists from Israel, the Arab Gulf States and others in the region who are dedicated to promoting warm ties and citizen-diplomacy. The group learned about the pre-WWII Jewish community, about the Holocaust, including touring the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp in Poland, and then took part in the International March of the Living, also there, an annual event in which thousands march in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
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