Posted on 05/29/2003 5:48:07 AM PDT by Israel Insider
A mission of Israeli and French Muslims and Jews visited the sites of German Nazi concentration camps in Poland this week, on a tour designed to promote a deeper understanding of Jewish pain regarding the Holocaust and improving relations between the two groups.
Father Emile Shufani, 47, an Arab Catholic priest from Nazareth, created the program "From Remembrance to Peace," comprised of Israeli-Arab intellectuals and educators and Jewish Israelis led by Ruth Bat Shalom. The group seeks to educate Arabs on the Holocaust in order to open paths for renewed Jewish-Moslem dialogue and understanding. In parallel to his efforts in Israel, Shufani created a similar panel in France made up of Imams, Christian clergy and Jewish and Muslim participants.
"A light bulb went off in my head," Shufani told The Jewish Week. "The Holocaust isn't only a chapter past. It's part of the daily life of the Jewish people. It impacts the way people feel and see potential threats. I had the feeling that before we talk about the conflict and the solution of the problem, we needed to do work in another place. And that place was to go to the history of the Jewish people."
After several months devoted to intense study of the Holocaust, the group of 300 Israeli Arabs and Jews, joined by some 200 French Jews and Muslims, embarked on the mission to Poland, which included testimony from Shlomo Venezia, a member of the Sonderkommando in Birkenau.
"I came to take part in the pain of the Jews, and now I feel like I need support," said Nazar Nabiah, an accountant from Shfar'am, after visiting Auschwitz.
"I'm not looking for anything. I am first of all doing this for my people," said Nazir Mjally an Arab journalist. "I want to be able to overcome my pain. We are going backward to better understand Jews, so that at the end of the day we will be able to join hands and march forward to the future. We won't do it in the terms of the ongoing war today. We are ignoring these subjects. We are challenging ourselves to do something new."
While acknowledging the importance of understanding the roots of Jewish pain, some Arab participants drew a parallel to the current suffering of the Palestinians. Nazareth teacher Awwad Nawaf told the Associated Press, "We came here in order to know what happened exactly in order to express our sympathy and solidarity with the Jewish people. We hope this will help us and the Jews to live in good neighborhood, and to understand each other. We hope it can help stop the bloodshed and the cruelty. We are not responsible for the Holocaust, but they are responsible for what is going on now in Israel."
Ayala Sitbon, 55, a Jewish teacher from Jerusalem said, "I don't think you can compare the suffering in the Holocaust to the present violence and bloodshed in Israel." Sitbon said she hoped that the trip could serve as "a start for a change of dialogue" between Jewish and Arab Israelis.
An emotional Fatina Hazzan, an Arab Christian who teaches at a Jewish middle school in Haifa, said after touring the Birkenau death camp, "It's terrifying. The world hurts for what happened here. I heard about it in school, read about it in books, but I didn't expect to see such a thing. Where was the world? My God, 6 million people."
Hazzan says she believes that the key to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict has to begin with breaking down the social barriers that exist between Israeli Arabs and Jews. "We don't know each other. This is the problem. We don't feel each other. We have to learn to eat, drink with each other, celebrate each other's customs, learn each other's history. We hear such horrible things about each other on TV. I am here to feel the pain of the Jews," Hazzan said.
"From Remembrance to Peace" Arab participant Hyam Tahhous explained, "I feel so strange. My head is aching. My shoulders ache. I thought I knew how Jews feel about the Holocaust. This is a start. My hope is that every Arab will know what happened to the Jews here. People need to understand what has happened."
Upon hearing Tahhous's statements, Gina Ross, a Jewish participant, pointed out that she and her family still felt threatened by the danger of the Holocaust repeating itself. "My God, my kids are not safe from this danger yet. This could happen again and again. And when I hear her talk, I think, maybe not. Maybe this won't happen again if enough people have her courage."
11 million. Six million Jews, 5 million others.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.