Despite the October 7 attack and rising antisemitism across the Muslim world, a recent report by The Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University (TAU) emphasized an ongoing initiative to preserve the Jewish heritage, particularly in Muslim countries, TAU announced Sunday.
The day before International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the TAU center published its fourth annual report entitled “For a Righteous Cause,” focusing on these initiatives of governments and citizens around the world to preserve Jewish heritage, educate about the Holocaust, and combat antisemitism and racism in general.
Among those most notably mentioned in the report are Indonesia’s first permanent Holocaust exhibition, “Shoah: How is it Humanly Possible?” located in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, the permanent Holocaust exhibition “We Remember” at the Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai, and the upcoming ”Besa Museum” and Museum of the History of Albanian Jews in Tirana and Vlora, Albania.
According to Prof. Uriya Shavit, Head of the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, “Holocaust denial and the flourishing of antisemitic propaganda in the Muslim world are not just distortions of history but also encouragements to violence. The museums established and being built in the Muslim world are a small amount of light, but this small amount is very important.”
Removing Holocaust denial from curriculum
Dr. Carl Yonker, Senior Researcher and Project Manager at the Center, emphasized that direct or indirect support from Israel could jeopardize these museums. “However, international institutions should provide support and push for the eradication of Holocaust denial from educational curriculums in Muslim countries, just as they do elsewhere.”
The report also explores cultural representations of Jewish identity and Holocaust remembrance. One article analyzes Seinfeld, emphasizing how episodes from the 1990s mirrored a time when American Jews, represented by comedian Jerry Seinfeld, were seen as central to American identity.
This sense of belonging has since been challenged, with Seinfeld notably breaking his political silence to support Israel after October 7.
Other articles within the report discuss topics like the new National Holocaust Memorial Museum in the Netherlands, the response of Gibraltar’s Jewish community to anti-Zionist protests, and the challenges faced by youth in the US and UK as they maintain their Jewish identities amid global tensions.
The report concludes with an interview with Sir Max Hastings, a British World War Two historian, who calls for a significant reform in Holocaust education in Western schools to tackle contemporary challenges.