Egyptian family of Arab Holocaust hero refuses prize

Arab media is quoting AP as saying that the family of Dr. Mohammed Helmy, who was recently recognized by Yad Vashem as a "righteous among nations" for saving a Jewish woman in Berlin and helping three others hide from the Nazis, is refusing the award.

The reason? Because Yad Vashem is in Israel.

From  AP:

A member of the family of the first Arab honoured by Israel for risking his life to save Jews during the Holocaust says the family isn't interested in the recognition.

The Egyptian doctor Mohamed Helmy was honoured posthumously last month by Israel's Holocaust memorial for hiding Jews in Berlin during the Nazis' genocide, but a family member tracked down by The Associated Press this week in Cairo said her relatives wouldn't accept the award, one of Israel's most prestigious.

"If any other country offered to honor Helmy, we would have been happy with it," Mervat Hassan, the wife of Helmy's great-nephew, told The Associated Press during an interview at her home in Cairo this week.

Typically, the museum tries to track down living family members to present the award in a ceremony, but in the case of Helmy, who died in 1982 in Berlin, Yad Vashem said it had not been able to find any living relatives.

With the help of a German historian, the AP obtained the certificate of inheritance of Helmy's wife Emmi, who died in 1998. The document contained the names of three relatives in Cairo and when contacted by the AP, Ms Hassan agreed to share her memories of Helmy.

Ms Hassan said the family wasn't interested in the award from Israel because relations between Egypt and Israel remain hostile, despite a peace treaty signed more than three decades ago. But, she cautioned, "I respect Judaism as a religion and I respect Jews. Islam recognises Judaism as a heavenly religion."