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United Arab Emirates to add Holocaust studies to its national school curriculum

US antisemitism envoy praises move, which will see primary and secondary school students learn about the Nazi genocide in history classes; says she ‘expects others to follow suit’

January 10, 2023, 2:29 pm Edit
The flags of Israel, the UAE, Bahrain and the US flying outside the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem in a tweet posted by Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, as Israel, the UAE and Bahrain sign the Abraham Accords at the White House in Washington, DC. Photo: Twitter
The flags of Israel, the UAE, Bahrain and the US flying outside the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem in a tweet posted by Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, as Israel, the UAE and Bahrain sign the Abraham Accords at the White House in Washington, DC. Photo: Twitter

The United Arab Emirates will begin teaching about the Holocaust in history classes in primary and secondary schools across the country, the UAE embassy in the US said.

The embassy provided no details on the curriculum and education authorities in the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, did not immediately acknowledge the announcement which comes after the UAE normalised relations with Israel in 2020 as part of a deal brokered by the administration of former US president Donald Trump.

“In the wake of the historic Abraham Accords, [the UAE] will now include the Holocaust in the curriculum for primary and secondary schools,” the embassy said in a tweet, referring to the normalisation deal that also saw Bahrain and ultimately Morocco also recognise Israel.

Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the US special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, praised the announcement in her own tweet.

“Holocaust education is an imperative for humanity and too many countries, for too long, continue to downplay the Shoah for political reasons,” Lipstadt wrote, using a Hebrew word for the Holocaust. “I commend the UAE for this step and expect others to follow suit soon.”

The announcement comes ahead of a planned meeting of the Negev Forum Working Groups in Abu Dhabi this week, which grew out of the normalisation accords. The meeting will see officials from Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Morocco, the UAE and the US attend. Egypt has diplomatically recognised Israel for decades.

Other Arab nations have refused to diplomatically recognise Israel over its decades-long military rule over land Palestinians want for a future state.

US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt meets with UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi. Photo: State Department/Twitter

The announcement by the UAE also comes after it and other Arab nations condemned far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for visiting the flashpoint Temple Mount holy site in Jerusalem last week, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new right-wing government took office.

The condemnation has been speculated to be the reason for a delay in Netanyahu’s planned visit to the UAE, his first official visit, which had been slated to go ahead this month but has been postponed to February.

Times of Israel

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