UAE’s FM vows ‘never again’ during Holocaust Memorial visit with Israeli counterpart
The UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed visited the Holocaust Memorial in Germany with his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi and vowed “never again” on Tuesday.
Sheikh Abdulla left a message written in the visitors’ book at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe memorial in Berlin.
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He wrote in Arabic that the site was “a witness to the fall of a group of human beings who were victims of advocates of extremism and hatred,” and stressed “the importance of strengthening the values of tolerance, coexistence and acceptance around the world without discrimination.”
“Whatever led to the murder of millions of innocent victims will not happen again,” Sheikh Abdullah added and emphasized that the UAE’s message to the world is one of “peace, tolerance and hope,” according to a statement by the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Never Again," Sheikh Abdullah wrote in English – a slogan often taken up by survivors of Nazi Germany's World War Two genocide to justify actions to protect Israel and the Jewish people.
The memorial commemorates “the memory of around six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis,” and “consists of 2,710 concrete slabs on a space of 19,000-square meters in the form of a maze, where visitors can walk between the slabs.”
The UAE and Bahrain became the first Arab nations to establish relations with Israel since Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. The two Gulf countries signed in mid-September US-brokered deals to normalize relations with Israel.
The two foreign ministers were accompanied by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
Maas called the agreement between Israel and the UAE as the "first good news in the Middle East for a long time – and a chance for new movement in the dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians".
"This opportunity must be seized," he said, voicing the readiness of the European Union to help.
- With Reuters and AFP
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