Pakistan delegation visits Israel to promote tolerance through Holocaust education

Jerusalem: Holocaust education will go a long way in clearing the "misconceptions" about Jews in Pakistan and promoting greater tolerance and understanding about the Abrahamic faith in the country, a member of the Pakistani delegation, who visited Israel, has said.

The systematic massacre of Jews by the Nazi regime and their collaborators in Europe during World War II is commonly referred to as the Holocaust.

Six million Jews, including 1.5 million children, perished in this operation driven by a racist ideology to create a new world order.

Holocaust education is an effort undertaken, either in formal or informal settings, to teach about the Holocaust.

Sharaka, an NGO founded by young leaders in Israel and the Gulf countries, organised this unique one-week programme earlier this month, involving a Pakistani delegation that included religious leaders, academics, journalists, and influencers.

"I cannot say for sure how many Pakistanis know about the Holocaust, but the majority of our countrymen think it is hypothetical. They say the Jews created this 'fable' for their benefit,” Danish Ameer, a sub-editor with Pakistan’s online portal Daily Jang, who was part of the seven-member delegation, told PTI.

"Holocaust denial lies in every society, not only in Pakistan. Maybe through Holocaust education, we will be able to erase the misconceptions about Jews in Pakistani society and create a more tolerant atmosphere", he said.

The visit by the Pakistani delegation was preceded by two other delegations that comprised Arab, European, and Turkish Muslims.

Another delegation member, author Mehr Husain, reckons that educating Pakistanis about the Holocaust can fulfill the desperate need to cultivate empathy and uphold humanity in the country.

"Pakistanis have suffered significantly when it comes to loss of human life. We have seen sectarian, provincial, national, regional, and international violence. We have a community, the Hazara, that are constantly under attack in Pakistan and even in Afghanistan", she said.

The delegation had a seminar at Yad Vashem, Israel's National Holocaust Museum, and education institute, and engaged in a series of in-person and online lectures and conversations about the Holocaust, extremism, and genocides in modern history.

The participants also visited Poland and toured the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Pakistan and Israel currently do not have diplomatic ties. However, contact between the two sides, including at the political level, is not unknown.

A handshake between former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in 2005, and a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries, Khurshid Kasuri and Silvan Shalom, in Turkiye, was widely publicised.

"Even though Israel and Pakistan don't have diplomatic relations, I never think of Israel as an enemy. There was a time when I used to go to the seminary where cursing Jews and Israel was very common. But those were during my school days. I used to go to seminary for prayers and "bayan" (mufti's speech). If the mufti was talking about Pakistan's crisis or some other international affairs, it was obvious he was going to connect all the miseries to the Jews and Israel", Ameer said.

"But later in my university, when I was a student of International Relations, I learned other perspectives and stopped being negative about Israel, Jews, and Zionists", he emphasised.

When asked about his week-long trip to Israel, the scribe remarked: "I am already in awe of Israel".

"They have transformed their country from barren land to one of the most advanced and developed states in the world. What they have done with 22,000 sq km, Pakistan is nowhere near it with 7,96,000 sq km. I believe Pakistan should follow Israel's model of governance if it has any plans to become a developed state," he asserted.

"If I talk about my experience of travelling in Israel, honestly speaking, I felt at home. I was welcomed everywhere very warm-heartedly", he added.

Recalling his interactions with the locals, Ameer said meeting Holocaust survivor Deborah Weinstein and her family was "lovely".

"There were a few instances when I reached out to patrolling police officers to seek guidance about an address and they helped me right away. They did not ask me where I came from. There is a lot to say about this trip, which I intend to write in my article", he added.

The Pakistani delegation toured across the country, meeting people from all walks of life and also had a brush with the Israeli innovation ecosystem.