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The United Arab Emirates will begin teaching about the Holocaust in history classes in primary and secondary schools, a move that underscores the normalization of relations between the Gulf country and Israel, the Associated Press reported.
The UAE embassy in the United States confirmed the changes in the curriculum Monday, even though Emirati education officials haven’t confirmed the move.
The embassy said the changes follow the 2020 Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and a number of Middle Eastern countries, including the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco.
During World War II, Nazi Germany systematically murdered six million European Jews along with other ethnic groups and minorities. Ambassador Deborah E. Lipstadt, the US special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, praised the UAE’s announcement and hopes other countries will follow suit.
The UAE’s announcement also comes after it and other Arab countries denounced Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir’s decision to visit a holy site in Jerusalem for the first time since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new far-right government took office.
The location, which Muslims refer to as the Noble Sanctuary and Jews as the Temple Mount, is the holiest place in Judaism and is where the ancient biblical Temples once stood.
It now houses the Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site. Since Israel’s seizure of the site in 1967, Jews have been permitted to visit but not pray there.
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