Israel called on to honour the 'Arab Schindler'

[shira]

Israel called on to honour the 'Arab Schindler'
Khaled Abdul-Wahab, who sheltered Tunisian Jews, would become the first 'righteous' Arab
Paul Harris in New York
The Observer, Sunday 11 April 2010

He has been called the "Arab Schindler", and hailed as a man who risked his own life to save Jews during the Holocaust. Now Khaled Abdul-Wahab, a wealthy Tunisian landowner, is the object of a campaign to bestow on him the title of "righteous among the nations", the recognition by Israel for gentiles who helped to rescue Jews from the Nazis.

To coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day, the US television station PBS will air a documentary this week in its series Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust in Arab Lands, which will detail the case for Abdul-Wahab and speculate that there are other cases of Arabs who helped their Jewish neighbours during the second world war.

The documentary is based on a book by Robert Satloff, a Jewish historian and executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Satloff said he hoped Abdul-Wahab's case would be looked at in a new light. Three years ago the "righteous among the nations" case for him was turned down by Yad Vashem, the body that rules on candidates. "I am certainly hopeful that the documentary puts the spotlight back on the story of Abdul-Wahab and also other Arab rescuers," Satloff told the Observer. "I am hopeful that the powers-that-be will be prepared to take another look at this case. I think the evidence is compelling."

Satloff believes Abdul-Wahab's actions deserve to put him into the same category as Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist made famous by Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List. But he also believes that his inclusion would be more significant. Among the 20,000 accepted names at the Yad Vashem memorial, there are many different nationalities. There are already more than 60 Muslims, mostly Albanians and Bosnians. Abdul-Wahab would be the first Arab.

more...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/11/arab-schindler-honour-israel

[aranthus]

1. They should,

from the information given in the article.

[shira]

2. Without question.

[aquart]

3. Absolutely.

[shaayecanaan]

4. More power to him...

I tips me lid to him. Couple of interesting points in there:-

Satloff has uncovered numerous incidents. In Algeria, French colonial officials offered the chance to take over confiscated Jewish property and not a single Arab participated, though many French people did. In Algiers, Muslim clerics spoke out against the scheme.

However, I can't for the life of me fathom the logic in this final sentence:-

Yet the story of Arabs, Jews and Nazis in North Africa remains an ignored but important chapter in the Holocaust's history. Satloff believes that only by confronting the historic truth – that Arabs helped Jews as much (or as little) as anyone else – can some of the problems of the present be tempered.