In Advance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Arabic Website to be launched Thursday at www.yadvashem.org
Panel discussion on “The Holocaust and the Arab World” to mark launch Greetings from Prince Hassan to be Screened at Event

(January 20, 2008 - Jerusalem) On Thursday, January 24, 2008, Yad Vashem will launch a new website about the Holocaust in Arabic. A panel discussion, “The Holocaust and the Arab World” will be held at 11:00 to mark the occasion. The discussion, moderated by journalist Smadar Perry (Yediot Achronot), is with the participation of Dr. Meir Litvak, Tel Aviv University, journalist Nazir Majali, Ashraq Alawsat and Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, and in the presence of Minister of Science, Culture and Sport Raleb Majadele with a special greeting by Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. The event will take place in Hebrew with simultaneous English and Arabic translation.

The Arabic website follows the successful launch of a website in Farsi last year. Both sites are accessible atwww.yadvashem.org. The website will include the historical narrative of the Holocaust, concepts from the Holocaust, academic articles, artifacts, maps, photos, archival documents and an online video testimony resource center all translated into Arabic, as well as a special multimedia presentation of the Auschwitz Album, with Arabic narration, stories of Righteous Among the Nations- including Muslims from Turkey and Albania- and the movie We Were There, which documents a joint visit of Arabs and Jews to Auschwitz. The site also contains information on the study of Arabic in Theresienstadt, and the Yad Vashem exhibit, BESA: A Code of Honor: Muslim Albanians who Rescued Jews during the Holocaust.

“The Arabic speaking public is substantial, and providing an easily accessible and comprehensive website about the Holocaust in Arabic is crucial. In light of the Holocaust denial and antisemitism 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,” said Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev.

In 2007, nearly 7 million people, from more than 200 countries, visited www.yadvashem.org including some 56,000 from Muslim, including 32,500, from Arab countries.

Journalists who wish to attend the panel discussion are requested to RSVP: 02 644 3410