The Aladdin Project: A Call to Conscience...old news but good news
In all the discussion on Jewish/Muslim/Christian hostility, and interactions, it saddens me that the historic tolerance the Islamic World has had for Fellow People of the Book has gotten lost in the rhetoric of extremist politics...but there are lights of mutual understanding and I think it is VERY important we remember that.
This is many months old, but somehow, it never showed up here, and I thought it should have. (At least, I've seen no reference to it in the history...and given recent conversations, I think there is some value in posting it):
Project Aladdin, a French-based call to conscience for all Muslims regarding the Holocaust.
From the site:
The Holocaust was unquestionably one of the greatest catastrophes of our times; a landmark event in history. We, as human beings, have an obligation to tell the truth about historical events, even when it is not politically convenient to do so.
So it is our responsibility, as intellectuals, historians, teachers, academics, writers, and anyone who has a tongue to speak or a pen to write, to break down the walls of indifference, silence and prejudice.
At this point, the Holocaust will cease to be a history of "them and us", but a common history of all humanity; a history that Muslims and non-Muslims alike need to study and learn from.
The project, and the refusal to deny the Holocaust, received the royal endorsement of King Mohammed VI of Morocco last year as well, in no uncertain terms:
Morocco's King Mohammed VI challenges Muslim world's Holocaust denial
July 25, 2009 RABAT, Morocco --
At a time when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's dismissal of the Holocaust has made the biggest headlines, King Mohammed VI has called the Nazi destruction of the Jews "one of the most tragic chapters of modern history," and he has endorsed a Paris-based program aimed at spreading the word among fellow Muslims.
Many in the Islamic world still ignore or know little about the Nazi attempt to annihilate the Jews during World War II. Some disbelieve it outright. Others argue that it was a European crime and imagine it to be the reason Israel exists and the Palestinians are stateless.
The sentiment was starkly illustrated in March after a Palestinian youth orchestra performed for Israeli Holocaust survivors, only to be shut down by angry leaders of the West Bank refugee camp where they live.
Like other moderate Arab leaders, King Mohammed VI must tread carefully. Islamic fervor is rising in his kingdom, highlighted in 2003 by al-Qaida-inspired attacks in Casablanca on targets that included Jewish sites. Forty-five people died.
The king's acknowledgment of the Holocaust, in a speech read out in his name at a ceremony in Paris in March, appears to further illustrate the radically different paths that countries like Morocco and Iran are taking.
Morocco has long been a quiet pioneer in Arab-Israeli peace efforts, most notably when it served as a secret meeting place for the Israeli and Egyptian officials who set up President Anwar Sadat's groundbreaking journey to Jerusalem in 1977.
Though Moroccan officials say the timing is coincidental, the Holocaust speech came at around the same time that Morocco severed diplomatic relations with Iran, claiming it was infiltrating Shiite Muslim troublemakers into this Sunni nation.
The speech was read out at a ceremony launching the "Aladdin Project," an initiative of the Paris-based Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah (Holocaust), which aims to spread awareness of the genocide among Muslims.
It organizes conferences and has translated key Holocaust writing such as Anne Frank's diary into Arabic and Farsi. The name refers to Aladdin, the young man with the genie in his lamp, whose legend, originally Muslim, became a universally loved tale.
The Holocaust, the king's speech said, is "the universal heritage of mankind."
Bismillah ir-Rahman, ir-Raheem...Ameen :).
This is many months old, but somehow, it never showed up here, and I thought it should have. (At least, I've seen no reference to it in the history...and given recent conversations, I think there is some value in posting it):
Project Aladdin, a French-based call to conscience for all Muslims regarding the Holocaust.
From the site:
The Holocaust was unquestionably one of the greatest catastrophes of our times; a landmark event in history. We, as human beings, have an obligation to tell the truth about historical events, even when it is not politically convenient to do so.
So it is our responsibility, as intellectuals, historians, teachers, academics, writers, and anyone who has a tongue to speak or a pen to write, to break down the walls of indifference, silence and prejudice.
At this point, the Holocaust will cease to be a history of "them and us", but a common history of all humanity; a history that Muslims and non-Muslims alike need to study and learn from.
The project, and the refusal to deny the Holocaust, received the royal endorsement of King Mohammed VI of Morocco last year as well, in no uncertain terms:
Morocco's King Mohammed VI challenges Muslim world's Holocaust denial
July 25, 2009 RABAT, Morocco --
At a time when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's dismissal of the Holocaust has made the biggest headlines, King Mohammed VI has called the Nazi destruction of the Jews "one of the most tragic chapters of modern history," and he has endorsed a Paris-based program aimed at spreading the word among fellow Muslims.
Many in the Islamic world still ignore or know little about the Nazi attempt to annihilate the Jews during World War II. Some disbelieve it outright. Others argue that it was a European crime and imagine it to be the reason Israel exists and the Palestinians are stateless.
The sentiment was starkly illustrated in March after a Palestinian youth orchestra performed for Israeli Holocaust survivors, only to be shut down by angry leaders of the West Bank refugee camp where they live.
Like other moderate Arab leaders, King Mohammed VI must tread carefully. Islamic fervor is rising in his kingdom, highlighted in 2003 by al-Qaida-inspired attacks in Casablanca on targets that included Jewish sites. Forty-five people died.
The king's acknowledgment of the Holocaust, in a speech read out in his name at a ceremony in Paris in March, appears to further illustrate the radically different paths that countries like Morocco and Iran are taking.
Morocco has long been a quiet pioneer in Arab-Israeli peace efforts, most notably when it served as a secret meeting place for the Israeli and Egyptian officials who set up President Anwar Sadat's groundbreaking journey to Jerusalem in 1977.
Though Moroccan officials say the timing is coincidental, the Holocaust speech came at around the same time that Morocco severed diplomatic relations with Iran, claiming it was infiltrating Shiite Muslim troublemakers into this Sunni nation.
The speech was read out at a ceremony launching the "Aladdin Project," an initiative of the Paris-based Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah (Holocaust), which aims to spread awareness of the genocide among Muslims.
It organizes conferences and has translated key Holocaust writing such as Anne Frank's diary into Arabic and Farsi. The name refers to Aladdin, the young man with the genie in his lamp, whose legend, originally Muslim, became a universally loved tale.
The Holocaust, the king's speech said, is "the universal heritage of mankind."
Bismillah ir-Rahman, ir-Raheem...Ameen :).