The Message of Israel's rebirth is important

A perfect reason why we should continue spreading the word about Israel's humble beginnings.

We - a Muslim-Palestinian social scientist, and a Jewish-American historian - believe there are many reasons why it's important, even essential, that Arabs learn about the Holocaust and Israel's rebirth. Entire chapters of history have been expunged from the curricula that Arab governments teach their students. This is particularly true of the Holocaust.

So methodical, so vicious and so exhaustive was the Nazi effort to exterminate the Jewish people that a new word was coined to describe it - "genocide." All genocides before and since are judged against the Holocaust.

But what little Palestinians, and Arabs more generally, know about the Holocaust is often skewed by the perverted prism of Arab popular culture. If Arabs knew more about the Holocaust in particular and genocide in general, perhaps some Arab voices would be more forceful in trying to stop similar atrocities.

We should urge Palestinians to learn about the Holocaust and Israel's rebirth so they can be armed with knowledge to reject the comparison between the Holocaust and the Palestinian issues they complain about.

With all the suffering Palestinians have endured, their struggle with Israel is still, at its core, a political conflict, one that can end through diplomacy and agreements. The Holocaust was not a political conflict: the very idea of a "Nazi-Jewish peace process" is absurd.
Written by:
(Mohammed Dajani Daoudi and Robert Satloff - International Herald Tribune)
Originally posted by Israel Alert