The Right Thing: the Arab Holocaust Museum
Presenter
Mike Wooldridge
TX Date
8th Nov 2024
Producer
Alex Strangwayes-Booth
Editor
Kristine Pommert
Broadcaster
BBC World Service
Quotes
"Powerful stuff, a worthwhile story and precisely and expertly told."
(Simon Pitts, commissioning editor, BBC World Service)
20 years ago, one man took it into his hands to educate Arab Israelis about the Holocaust and its ongoing psychological effects.
Khaled Kasab Mahameed, a lawyer from Nazareth, opened what is believed to be the first ever Arab-led Holocaust museum. His aim: to open the eyes of his fellow Arabs to the trauma of the Holocaust while at the same time reminding Jewish Israelis of the suffering of his own Palestinian people.
Mike Wooldridge hears Khaled’s story and discovers why, despite his enormous idealism, he soon found himself the target of criticism from both sides of the conflict.
We also hear how the project was underpinned by Khaled’s deep-seated conviction that God wants peace; and how it did have an astonishing effect at the most unlikely place, an Israeli check point.
But with the museum now closed and the conflict between the two sides fiercer than ever, was Khaled’s initiative the right thing to take on?
This programme is part of a recurrent Heart and Soul series, The Right Thing, which portrays people who’ve had to make extremely difficult life choices, guided by their faith.