Arab Role in Holocaust Overlooked by U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Several prominent US Jewish academic and social organizations have planned a national colloquium to discuss remedies to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s failure to document the role Islamic groups played in the Holocaust.

New York, NY (PRWEB) January 13, 2006 -- Several prominent US Jewish academic and social organizations have planned a national colloquium to discuss remedies to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s failure to document the role Islamic groups played in the Holocaust. This meeting will also discuss the Museum’s silence in response to recent Holocaust denials and Anti-Semitic remarks attributed to Arab leaders. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is an organization heavily funded by the United States government.

“It is a documented fact that Arabs in the Islamic world had a great influence in the Holocaust. This is not opinion, it is not ‘anti-Arab sentiment,’ it is fact,” commented Shelomo Alfassa, executive director of the International Society for Sephardic Progress (ISFSP). The ISFSP is joining with Holocaust Museum Watch (hmwatch.org), AMCHA—The Coalition for Jewish Concerns and other groups to cosponsor the colloquium.

The colloquium, entitled, “Should Arab Anti-Semitism be on the Agenda of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum?” will consider the following points:

--The US Holocaust Museum has made no effort, in either its permanent or temporary exhibits, to educate Americans about the role top Islamic leaders played in the Holocaust.

--The Museum’s exhibit does not display documents, photographs or information regarding the intimate relationship between Hitler and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem; this includes the Mufti’s role in the extermination of Jewish populations.

--The Museum fails to recognize or discuss the Holocaust-era pogrom known as “The Farhud,” perpetuated by a pro-Nazi coup in Iraq in June 1941.

--The Museum's unspoken taboo on conducting programs or sponsored research regarding The Farhud, deportation of Jews from North Africa to concentration camps, and the interrelationship of the Nazis and Islamic leaders in Egypt, Syria, etc.

There will be a press conference January 18, 2006, at 2pm in the Edward R. Murrow room of the National Press Club in Washington D.C.. Speakers at the press conference include Kenneth Timmerman, the author of 'Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran', and executive director of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran; Chuck Morse, Massachusetts Republican Congressional candidate and author of 'The Nazi Connection to Islamic Terrorism'; and Shelomo Alfassa, executive director of the International Society for Sephardic Progress.

That evening there will be a colloquium held at 7:30 p.m. in The National Synagogue, Congregation Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah, 1600 Jonquil Street NW, Washington, DC 20012. Colloquium speakers include Congressman Elliot Engel (D-NY), Rabbi Avi Weiss of New York, president of AMCHA, Kenneth Timmerman, Chuck Morse, Shelomo Alfassa, and Edwin Black, the award-winning 'New York Times' best selling author of 'IBM and the Holocaust' and 'Banking on Baghdad.'

Maurice Shohet, a leader of the Iraqi Jewish community who has written about his escape from Iraq, will discuss the need for the Museum to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Farhud massacre on June 1, 2006. Mr. Fred Zeidman, chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, has been invited to address these concerns.

Approximately 250 persons are expected to attend the meeting.

Press Conference: January 18, 2006 at 2pm.
National Press Club, Edward R. Murrow Room
529 14th Street NW Washington, DC 20045

Colloquium: January 18, 2006 at 7:30 PM
National Synagogue
1600 Jonquil Street NW Washington DC 20012

Contact: Shelomo Alfassa (347) 350-7695

###