It’s no secret today that Jews and Muslims have been in conflict for centuries. There were long periods where the two coexisted peacefully, but at present tensions are very high — especially with the introduction of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. There seems to be no way to resolve the conflict in the near future.
World War II resulted in one of the most horrific tragedies in human history: The Holocaust. Nazis captured and executed millions of Jews in gruesome and terrible ways. They actively sought out Jews looking to purge the occupied lands of anyone without Aryan ancestry — who were were perceived as being dangerous, unclean and subhuman.
It was during this period that some brave individuals rallied in an attempt to save as many from the Nazi scourge as possible. During this period there were many Muslim heroes, working hard to protect and save Jews from persecution. I Am Your Protector highlighted some of these Muslims who risked their lives to help Jewish people, in honor of Holocaust Memorial Day.
He told the story of how the Iranian ambassador to France, Abdoul Hossein Sardari, managed to outsmart the Nazis by carefully studying the laws the they used to determine “racial purity”. He then managed to convince authorities that Jews from Iran were actually descended from Aryans -all the while in secret, Sardari printed Iranian passports and handed them out to Jewish people. It is believed that he saved over 2,000 Jews from execution or concentration camps.
Other stories include Turkish diplomat Selahattin Ulkumen who saved over 50 Jews by quietly setting up passage on secret boats to ferry them into Turkey. Kaddour Benghabrit spent the war forging documents for Jews that stated the person was actually a Muslim and exempt from the racial purity laws of the Nazis. A local Tunisian mayor named Si Ali Sakkat hid 60 Jewish people on his large estate to hide them from the Reich. Similarly, Tunisian Khaled Abdul Wahab took in two Jewish families and kept them hidden behind his home to protect them. Wireless operator Noor Inayat Khan managed to help the Allies and coordinate with the resistance as a spy until she was caught and executed in the Dachau concentration camp.
There are countless other stories of Muslims risking everything in an attempt to help Jewish people escape the horrendous fate that awaited them at the hands of the Nazis. The I Am Your Protector organization is
community of people who speak up and stand up for each other across religion, race, gender and beliefs”
The recent events drew large crowds that included both Jewish and Muslim leaders. It is hoped that highlighting this type of relationship that happened under World War II might help to ease some of the tensions between Jews and Muslims. It is also hoped that it will help to quell the tide of Islamophobia that seems to be swelling in certain parts of the world today.