Holocaust Studies Take Root Among Israel’s Arabs
Can Shoah studies actually help neutralize Arab hatred for Israelis?
Photo Credit: Dara Frank
If the Holocaust was greatly facilitated by world apathy, an opposite trend is now in progress, with Holocaust study programs flourishing in many countries.Even Arab teachers and students in Israel are currently studying the Shoah and its causes.
It’s been three years now since Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies began offering a seminar for Arab teachers in Arab towns. And participating educators are saying positive things.
“A year ago I visited Yad Vashem for the first time,” history teacher Hanan Mahmid of Umm el-Fahm (Israel’s third largest Arab city, between Afula and Hadera) told Ynet, “and I was in shock…. I think Arab students should visit Yad Vashem once a year.” What made her take part in the seminar?