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Holocaust researcher asks Yad Vashem to recognize first Arab Righteous Gentile By Amiram Barkat Khaled Abd al-Wahab, a well-to-do Tunisian farmer who died in 1997, is the first Arab to be named as a candidate for a Righteous Gentile award from Yad Vashem. The request to award him such recognition was submitted by Dr. Robert Satloff, an American Jewish expert on Arab and Islamic politics, following his research on Arabs who saved Jews during the Holocaust. Yad Vashem officials declined to speculate on the chances of the request being approved, but did note that it meets all the formal requirements, at the heart of which is testimony given before her death by a Jewish woman who was saved by al-Wahab. In an interview with Haaretz, Satloff said he hopes that his research will help break the "conspiracy of silence" in the Arab world surrounding the rescue of Jews during the Holocaust. Satloff, a Middle East expert and the executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, started his research in 2001, following the attack on the World Trade Center. "The attacks prompted me to decided to combat Holocaust denial in the Arab world, because in my opinion, this is a primary source of friction between the West and Islam." Satloff feels that the traditional methods for learning the lessons of the Holocaust "have gone bankrupt" in the Arab world. "I searched for a new approach, and the idea was that if there were Arabs who saved Jews during the Holocaust, this would be the most positive response to Holocaust denial." Advertisement Satloff believes that his research will help release the study of the Holocaust in the Arab world "from the lies, myths and poisons." But some Holocaust researchers in the United States are skeptical. Prof. Deborah Lipstadt, for example, feels that "Satloff is being a bit naive here. It is strange that the highly respected executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a well-trained historian should have convinced himself that history could serve as an antidote to irrational hatred," Lipstadt wrote last month in her blog. Over 21,000 Righteous Gentiles have been recognized to date and of them, around 60 are Muslims, most of them from Bosnia and Albania, who saved Jews. But there is not a single Arab among them. According to Satloff, "more than half a million Jews lived in North Africa under Nazi occupation or their allies. They experienced the same persecution as European Jewry did, except for the Final Solution. It is not logical that throughout this entire process, not a single case has been uncovered to date of an Arab who saved a Jew." The answer to the mystery was discovered in the research. "Firstly, we, the historians, did not really make an effort to look for Arab rescuers. Only a year ago, Yad Vashem issued a study booklet on the Holocaust in Arab countries. The other half of the story is that the Arabs did not want to be found. I had the impression that at some point it became unacceptable to be a rescuer of Jews. Too many people reacted negatively to the fact that their parents rescued Jews. I met two grandchildren of the mayor of Tunis, Si Ali Sakat, who saved Jews. They told me they know the facts, but the version that they heard was that their grandfather saved German soldiers and not Jews." Satloff managed to track down a few personal stories. "There were amazing stories. The imams of Algiers issued a religious ruling prohibiting Muslims from participating in schemes acquire property stolen from Jews. There were quite a few people who risked their lives to save Jews." But for the purpose of gaining recognition from Yad Vashem, Satloff lacked eyewitness testimony from a Jewish survivor. Anny Boukris, a 73-year-old Jewish woman from Los Angeles, provided the breakthrough. In a letter she sent, she described how Abd al-Wahab rescued her and 24 relatives from their hiding place and hid them on his farm until the end of the German occupation. Boukris, who was 11 at the time, related that al-Wahab risked his life when he stopped a German officer from raping her mother. Luckily for him, Satloff managed to obtain detailed testimony from Boukris just weeks before she died. He then traveled to the farm and interviewed witnesses who verified Boukris' testimony. The director of Yad Vashem's Righteous Gentile department, Mordechai Paldiel, said yesterday that the material provided by Satloff indicates thorough research. "We certainly thank him for bringing this case to our attention." The research findings were published two months ago in the book, "Among the Righteous: Lost Stories of the Holocaust's Long Reach into Arab Lands." The Holocaust Museum in Washington will translate portions of the book into Arabic, Persian and Urdu and will publish them next month on its Web site. Last week, Satloff visited Egypt as the guest of the U.S. State Department and presented his findings to journalists and ambassadors representing Arab League member countries. Satloff feels that in the Arab world there is today a willingness to deal seriously with the Holocaust, specifically because of the statements of the president of Iran and the Holocaust denial conference he initiated. According to Satloff, "the major phenomenon in the Arab world is the relativization of the Holocaust, with statements such as there is no difference between the Holocaust and the Nakba ["The Catastrophe," used by Palestinians to describe the events surrounding Israel's establishment] - they were all crimes. The study of the Holocaust is intended first of all to prevent genocide. If the Arabs learn more about the Holocaust, their reaction to the genocide in Darfur and to massacres elsewhere will be much quicker and more effective." Bookmark to del.icio.us   State policy Olmert approves plan for 750 new homes in West Bank settlement of Givat Ze'ev. Sticking to his story Director of 'Jenin, Jenin' swears there are no falsehoods in his movie.   1.   It is a good start 11:33  |  Bandar Michaels 23/01/07   2.   Liberal Lies 11:35  |  un-pc 23/01/07   3.   Fragmented article 11:38  |  sh 23/01/07   4.   BANDAR MICHAELS. "all Native Jewish Hebronites were saved" 12:16  |  PETER SM 23/01/07   5.   LONG OVERDUE! ...Shows Known Revisionist Tendencies. 12:30  |  Proud Pal Defender 23/01/07   6.   Do your research Peter SM 12:34  |  Bandar Michaels 23/01/07   7.   Bandar....and Peter.. 12:44  |  Jack 23/01/07   8.   #2. What A RATIONAL tought from you...... 12:53  |  Benjamin 23/01/07   9.   Good start, but a lot more to do.. 12:55  |  Bainem 23/01/07   10.   Veritas Vos Liberabit / The Truth will make you free 13:02  |  Joseph 23/01/07   11.   BANDAR MICHAELS.I read a British policeman`s account 13:03  |  PETER SM 23/01/07   12.   "As time goes by " 13:09  |  Marge 23/01/07   13.   WRONG APPROACH! ...Stop Trading Upon/Using The Holocaust! 13:22  |  Proud Pal Defender 23/01/07   14.   #5 ASND PAT HISTORY CATCHES WITH HYPOCRISY 13:23  |  paul harris 23/01/07   15.   P.P DEFENDER.You people use the Holocaust to falsify history 13:46  |  PETER SM 23/01/07   16.   BETTER THAN Nothing! ...Satloff Is To Be Commended--SLIGHTLY. 13:48  |  Proud Pal Defender 23/01/07   17.   What about the Late Maroccan KIng?!!!! 13:54  |  BenAbuzaglo 23/01/07   18.   Re: Bandar Michaels and peter SM 14:16  |  D. Hirod 23/01/07   19.   should have what? 14:21  |  sh 23/01/07   20.   Spanish Inquisition 14:41  |  Historian 23/01/07   21.   Jack, you better differentiate between Native Hebronite Palestini 14:58  |  Bandar Michaels 23/01/07   22.   The real reason why on Arabs are recognized 16:01  |  Gee 23/01/07   23.   Righteous Arabs 16:28  |  zznhl 23/01/07   24.   un pc # 2 16:28  |  Chaval 23/01/07   25.   Forget 1929 17:30  |  jew 23/01/07   26.   Acknowledge one and all 17:34  |  * BEN JABO 23/01/07   27.   Arab protection of Hebron`s Jews is a MYTH 18:10  |  * BEN JABO 23/01/07   28.   poor arabs 18:12  |  David 23/01/07   29.   #25 Jew in Jerusalem 18:12  |  * BEN JABO 23/01/07   30.   un pc should hold a conference 18:17  |  Ploni 23/01/07   31.   More proof Israel is less apartheid... 18:42  |  Polybios 23/01/07   32.   Response 18:54  |  un-pc 23/01/07   33.   mohamed V if morocco in 1941 19:05  |  benabou 23/01/07   34.   What about the Hebron Muslims who saved Jews? 19:22  |  Ellen 23/01/07   35.   Remark to Benabou 19:49  |  Jean-Paul Doguet 23/01/07   36.   Anyone who saved Jews in 40-45 should be honored, incl. Arabs 19:59  |  Sara 23/01/07   37.   Palestinians have aided in other ways? 20:09  |  by stander 23/01/07   38.   To un-pc # 32 20:11  |  charles 23/01/07   39.   Hate as a survival tool. 20:24  |  Najdt 23/01/07   40.   31 - Apartheid the Big Lie 20:25  |  Bruriah Sarah 23/01/07   41.   Were you responding to me Bruriah #40? 21:39  |  Polybios 23/01/07   42.   Look out un-pc! 22:00  |  Tipton 23/01/07   43.   Arabs are as human as anybody else 22:35  |  Mike Israel 23/01/07   44.   The most arrogant, condescending award ever! 23:08  |  Veritas 23/01/07   45.   #35 French North Africa 23:14  |  * BEN JABO 23/01/07   46.   Bandar Michael S. 23:57  |  Gitl 23/01/07   47.   AS TIME GOES BY.TO THE HAARETZ TEAM 00:44  |  DANNY 24/01/07   48.   #35. France wanted Moroccan Jews deported 01:19  |  Semsem 24/01/07   49.   no holocauste in north africa 01:49  |  demonastir 24/01/07   50.   #2 "Liberal Lies" 03:29  |  Czarkazem13 24/01/07   51.   Righteos Gentiles 07:40  |  observer 24/01/07   52.   Mr Spielberg, make a success movie of Mohamed 5 heroism 14:06  |  dov maimon 24/01/07   53.   Holocaust in Tunisia 19:54  |  Edith Shaked 24/01/07   54.   And the Next Time 06:23  |  Elliot Bergman 10/03/08

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