Unique event in Dubai brings together museum and Israeli Heritage Center

The MOU noted that both Jews and Arabs have a common ancestor in the biblical Abraham and a greater shared history in the region.

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
The Heritage Center for Middle East and North Africa Jewry's president Eran Taboul is seen signing an MOU with head of the Crossroads of Civilizations museum Ahmed Al Mansoori and Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum. (photo credit: HANAN BRAND AT THE MUSEUM MOU IN DUBAI)
The Heritage Center for Middle East and North Africa Jewry's president Eran Taboul is seen signing an MOU with head of the Crossroads of Civilizations museum Ahmed Al Mansoori and Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum.
(photo credit: HANAN BRAND AT THE MUSEUM MOU IN DUBAI)
The Heritage Center for Middle East and North Africa Jewry in Jerusalem and Israel and the Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai signed a Memorandum of Understanding at an event in Dubai on Sunday evening. The unique event comes in the wake of the Abraham Accords and as travel between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has skyrocketed. Eran Taboul, president of The Heritage Center for Middle East and North Africa Jewry, signed the MOU along with Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, museum founder.
“The event tonight was an attempt to build bridges between Arabs and Jews through the prism of the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa. In preserving the culture and heritage of the Jews of MENA we can build a bridge from the past to a brighter future for the good of all peoples in the region,” said Ashley Perry, CEO of the Heritage Center for Middle East and North Africa Jewry in Jerusalem.
The event took place at the museum in Dubai where Mansoori hosted the delegation from Israel. Last week, Mansoori held a virtual tour of the museum with Culture and Sport Minister Chili Tropper. The event Sunday was designed to celebrate new relationships in the region.
Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum took part in the event. She has been a driving force behind recent ties with the UAE and a cofounder of the Israel UAE-Israel Business Council. She has also spoken about the ability of Jews from Arab and Muslim countries to help be bridge builders of the new peace. This event was meant to illustrate the impact of the Abraham Accords and people-to-people discussions. “The event will be held in partnership with The Heritage Center for Middle East and North Africa Jewry, a new undertaking to build a first-ever international center in Jerusalem that will chronicle the history and culture of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa,” said a statement made earlier in the day. Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie, senior rabbi of the Jewish Council of the UAE, was also scheduled to speak.
“I am so proud that Mizrahi/Sephardi Jews are taking the lead in the pursuit of peace and normalization with the Gulf countries. This evening at an emotional event of Muslims and Jews in Dubai we signed an MOU between the Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai and the Heritage Center for MENA Jews that we are planning on building in Jerusalem. Now more than ever the stories of Jews from Arab lands should be told to the entire world from our eternal capital,” Hassan-Nahoum said.
“This event represents a turning point in Arab-Jewish relations,” Mansoori said. “We are building on the Abraham Accords. The leaders of both countries have paved the way politically and diplomatically by signing the peace accord, and now it is our role, as people of both nations to translate the peace agreement into tangible outcomes through people-to-people connections, interactions, promoting peace and tolerance in the region.” According to a statement earlier in the day, Hassan-Nahoum said, “The Abraham Accords are essentially a family reunion of the children of Abraham to build a common future and destiny for our region.”
The parties to the MOU aimed to highlight the positive historic relationship between Jews and Arabs and achieve better understanding between the cultures of the other as well as to “strengthen and highlight to [the] contribution of both peoples to humanity.”
The MOU noted that both Jews and Arabs have a common ancestor in the biblical Abraham, and that Jews and Arabs “have lived side by side for millennia and each have contributed to the culture and tradition of the other.” Building on interfaith coexistence and the recent peace deal the “centers should teach about what unites Jews and Arabs rather than that which divides us,” the MOU says. “Both Jewish and Arab history, culture and traditions should be preserved, understood and shared by all the peoples of the region.”


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