Qantara, a German site meant to act as a bridge between the Western and Muslim worlds, interviews Hamburg lawyer Eugen Balin who visited the UAE as a member of the World Jewish Congress' Jewish Diplomatic Corps late last year.
I returned from this delegation trip transformed. For the first time ever I was in a country outside of Israel where I could move around completely freely with a World Jewish Congress delegation, without any security precautions. Over the past twelve years this has never happened to us in any other country in the world. There we were in the market in Dubai, wearing our kippahs, recognisable as Jews and not in any danger at all. We spoke Hebrew, were cheerful and sometimes even loud. And we were greeted by vendors in a friendly manner and sometimes with "shalom". Israelis are not used to anything like that.
In Germany, France and other countries, it is not possible to travel openly as a Jew without putting yourself at risk. All over Europe, Jews are at risk.
In the United Arab Emirates, on Shabbat, Friday evening and Saturday morning, we walked from our hotel to the synagogue for prayer. Wearing kippahs, some even wore their prayer shawls openly through the streets of Dubai, without security. In the mall, prayer in the synagogue was signposted, the doors were open. To experience this in an Arab country.... our preconceptions are at odds with reality. None of us expected anything like this.
In the interview, Balin admits that UAE is not a democracy and it has a long way to go to be truly free. This is a point that anti-Zionists love to bring up about the Abraham Accords. But, Balin notes, the UAE is encouraging dialogue with not only Jews but Christians, Baha'i and others.
Ideas spread with dialogue. Change happens as people are exposed to other people.
This is why the Israel haters are so much against any communication whatsoever with Israelis or Zionists. They know that in the marketplace of ideas, they are bound to lose. So they want to close down that marketplace - boycott Israeli universities, shout down Zionist speakers, demonize everything about Israel so that people will feel guilty even considering that Israel is more liberal and open and interested in peace than the haters are.
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