Senior Saudi leader and Muslim religious leaders visit Auschwitz

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — A senior Muslim leader from Saudi Arabia visited Auschwitz with a delegation from the American Jewish Committee.
Mohammed al-Issa, the secretary-general of the Mecca-based Muslim World League and a former Saudi justice minister, joined a delegation of Muslim religious leaders from several countries at the site of the former Nazi camp on Thursday, just days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Speaking in front of the international monument on the grounds of the memorial site, al-Issa called Holocaust atrocities a “crime against humanity.”
The American Jewish Committee said al-Issa is “the most senior Islamic figure ever to visit Auschwitz.”
The visit grew out of a visit that al-Issa, who is considered to be close associate of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, made to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., in May 2018, after which he wrote that “Muslims around the world have a responsibility to learn” about the Holocaust.
<
section class=”post-embed”>
History in the making: The most senior Islamic figure ever to visit @AuschwitzMuseum, Secretary General of @MWLOrg_en Dr. Al-Issa, begins his visit, accompanied by Muslim leaders from around the world and AJC leadership, to mark 75 years since the liberation of the Nazi camp. pic.twitter.com/43fxxJANSE
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) January 23, 2020
The post Senior Saudi leader and Muslim religious leaders visit Auschwitz appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

