Historic Visit at Yad Vashem: Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates, H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan Visits Yad Vashem to Commemorate the Holocaust and its Victims

15 September 2022

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, today. Minister Al Nahyan toured the exhibition "Flashes of Memory – Photography during the Holocaust", participated in a memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance and signed the Yad Vashem Guestbook together with three other Ministers from the UAE.

During this historic visit, the Foreign Minister wrote the following message in Yad Vashem's Guestbook:

"My presence here today  reminds us of the lessons that history teaches us and the great responsibility we have to practice tolerance for the sake of building our communities and societies.  We must take brave steps to build a bridge of real peace for future generations."

At the conclusion of the visit, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan presented Minister Al Nahyan with the "Flashes of Memory" exhibition catalog to mark his first official visit to the Mount of Remembrance.

Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan declared:

"It is a momentous occasion for an Arab state official to visit Yad Vashem in order to commemorate the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered by the German Nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War. Visiting Yad Vashem sends the message that regardless of background, religion or race, we all have the duty to learn about the Holocaust and combat antisemitism in all its forms, wherever it rears its ugly head around the world, immediately and vigorously."