25 January 2008
Israel’s Holocaust memorial institution, Yad Vashem, has launched an information website about the Holocaust in Arabic. The site, accessible at www.yadvashem.org, includes a historical narrative of the Holocaust, concepts of the Holocaust, academic articles, artefacts, maps, photos, archival documents and an online video testimony resource center, as well as other multimedia presentations, all translated into Arabic. The Arabic site follows the successful launch of a site in Farsi last year.
“The Arabic-speaking public is substantial, and providing an easily accessible and comprehensive Web site about the Holocaust in Arabic is crucial," said Yad Vashem chairman Avner Shalev. "In light of the Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism that we are witness to in Arabic countries, we want to offer an alternative source of information to moderates in these countries to provide them with reliable information about the Shoah.”
A panel discussion on ‘The Holocaust and the Arab World,’ in the presence of Israel’s minister of science, culture and sport, Raleb Majadele, with a special greeting by Prince Hassan of Jordan, marked the launch. In 2007, nearly seven million people from more than 200 countries visited the Yad Vadvashem website, including 32,500 from Arab countries.
