As part of the ongoing diplomatic efforts between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel, the former has decided to teach the Jewish holocaust in its primary and secondary schools, a move that Israelis are describing as “historic”.
The recent announcement was made by UAE’s Embassy in the United States (US). Note here that US, a close ally of Israel, had a pivotal role in the signing of the Abraham Accords that bridged the gap between the Emirates and the apartheid state.
The Embassy, in its statement, said that the syllabus about the mass killing of 6 million Jews in World War II will be formed in partnership with Israel’s formal holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, based in Palestine’s Jerusalem.
Also, the announcement comes two years after the signing of the Abraham Accords and the creation of a Holocaust museum in Dubai in 2021, making it the first and only one in the Arabian peninsula.
In addition, the newly-appointed Foreign Minister of Israel, Eli Cohen, and US’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt, lauded UAE’s decision to introduce the holocaust in its primary and secondary schools’ curricula.
Pleased to see this important step by the United Arab Emirates. Holocaust education is an imperative for humanity and too many countries, for too long, continue to downplay the Shoah for political reasons. I commend the UAE for this step and expect others to follow suit soon. https://t.co/2r8qGp3lSp
— Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt (@StateSEAS) January 6, 2023
It is ironic that Israel, having such a tragic history, is involved in systematically wiping out Palestinians to further advance its territorial and ideological gains in the region.
