A Righteous Arab in Nazareth
Charles Johnson
Sun Dec 17, 2006 at 8:51 am PST • Views: 196
Israeli Arab Khaled Mahameed is a brave man: Arab Holocaust centre reaches out.
Khaled Mahameed admits his museum, in Nazareth in northern Israel, is small. But he believes it is unique.
According to Mr Mahameed, it is the first and only Arab run centre for promoting the study of the Holocaust. The museum contains a collection of just 60 photographs depicting the genocide with Arabic captions explaining the scenes. The pictures were purchased from Yad Vashem - the Israeli national Holocaust memorial.
Mr Mahameed firmly believes that it is only by understanding the truth about how the state of Israel was created that Arabs can fully understand Jews and ultimately resolve the conflict between them.
Many Arabs believe that Israel uses sympathy for Jewish suffering during the Holocaust to gain support from the West, Mr Mahameed says. Arab leaders, he says, think that by giving credence to the Holocaust they are legitimising Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
“But when Palestinians learn about the Holocaust they will understand the Jewish people better and can begin to develop a shared history,” says Mr Mahameed enthusiastically.
Unfortunately, as the article makes clear, Mahameed’s tiny museum is the only one of its kind in the entire huge Arab world.
UPDATE at 12/17/06 11:02:18 am:
And even more unfortunately, Mahameed’s motives may not be entirely pure: Missionary man.
Frank says: