A group of European imams and senior Muslim leaders visited Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust remembrance center on Tuesday, where they laid a wreath in honor of the 6 million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
The delegation—visiting the Jewish state to promote peace and coexistence between Muslims and Jews, and between Israel and the Arab world—also received a guided tour of the museum in Arabic.
In the Hall of Names, the group laid a wreath and lit an eternal flame in honor of the millions killed by Nazi Germany and its allies during the Holocaust.
“I could not bear seeing the pain and grief on the faces of the Jewish people in the pictures. It was completely beyond my imagination,” said Dahri Nour Mouhammad, one of the delegation members.
“The problem is, there are still Muslims who believe the Holocaust did not happen. From here, our message will be very clear to the Muslim community: you have to admit the Holocaust happened,” Mouhammad continued, adding: “People from the Islamic faith should come visit the Holocaust museum—to see plainly with their eyes, to read the history, and to feel the pain and grief that the Jewish people went through.”
The Muslim delegation began its week-long visit to the Jewish state on Monday, meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
“The war that broke out after Oct. 7 is not a war between Israel and Hamas or Israel and Hezbollah but a war between two worlds,” Imam Hassen Chalghoumi, chairman of the Conference of Imams of France, told Herzog. “You represent the world of humanity and democracy.”
“We are all the sons of Abraham,” said Herzog. “I believe that the historic progress in our region is the result of dialogue between Muslims and Jews and between Jews and Muslims. Against the extremist forces trying to stop this progress of living together, there are other forces that are growing stronger every day, advancing this vision.”
The Muslim leaders said that they carried with them a message of love for the Jewish people and voiced the hope that the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza would be brought home.
