During a recent visit to Israel, imams visit Israel’s Holocaust Museum, among other sites, and get a closer glimpse of Israeli life and its significance. “We bless connections between nations,” they declared.
President Rivlin meets with a delegation of imams from Senegal. (Photo: Mark Neyman/GPO)
A group of six Muslim religious leaders from Senegal visited Israel’s prominent Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem earlier this week to learn more about Israeli life and its meaning, Ynet reports.
“Today we learned of the worst act in history – the extermination of the Jews in Europe, an act that cannot be explained,” Ynet quotes Imam El Hadji Omar Diene, the Secretary General of the National Association of Imams, during his tour of Yad Vashem.
“We are all equal humans; every human, from every race, religion and gender, and no religious justification can be found to kill and exterminate those who are different. The tour let us deeply understand Israel and the Jews and we bless connections between nations,” Imam Diene added.
The Yad Vashem visit was initiated by the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Israeli embassy in Dakar, Senegal.
Senegal is an important and influential African country in which 90% of the citizens are Muslims.
The imams’ visit to Yad Vashem was part of a broader tour of Jerusalem, in which the delegation visited the Temple Mount and prayed at the al-Aqsa mosque as well as the Western Wall.
The group also met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and is slated to meet with rabbis during their trip to Haifa and Acre.
Promoting Closer Ties Between Jews and Muslims
Ynet reports that the purpose of the visit was to deepen the imams’ familiarity with the political and social aspects of Israeli society, and promote interfaith and cultural dialogue in order to strengthen ties between the two countries.
Israel hopes that this visit will boost Senegal’s perception of Israel, generating a regional impact on Senegal’s neighbors Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Gambia.
Senegal is a strong advocate of Palestinian rights in the UN, but also seeks to develop relations with Israel and is interested in strengthening its economic and cultural connections with Israel.
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Author: United with Israel Staff
(With files form Ynet)