"First one must achieve the 'peace of the memory'", he said before this extraordinary trip, "develop relations between Jewish and Arab community on the surface of interpersonal relations, not always in the face of conflicts. We must leave the area of conflicts between political opponents to enter the area of human relations. We must understand each other through suffering, look at our common lives in a new way.

We walked in a silent march along the ramp in Birkenau and from the loudspeakers we could hear the names of victims, read in turn by Jews and Arabs. At the end of this way, the declaration was read, which included the following words:

Together we consider brotherhood as undividable: it is universal or it does not exist at all; it does not deserve to be called brotherhood if it is limited to one clan, one nation, one category of men or women; it does not find its true dimension if it does not stretch onto others, does not refer to someone different, the one approximation of whom seems the most difficult".

Who could believe something like that earlier on?

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Paris, June 2, 2003
Dear friends,

Photo: Philippe Lissac

We returned from our unusual meeting in Auschwitz-Birkenau and I immediately wish to share with us my impressions from this historic event, where each of us has his or her share. What happened during those three days where 500 Jews and Arabs from Israel, France and Belgium met - seemed quite impossible still a few months ago, even "on paper". It seemed incomprehensible, and many people did not believe it, considering the project to be a complete utopia and even dangerous. But only those who do not fear to take risks push the world forwards. These included Emil Shoufani - who leads his Jewish and Arab brothers where neither have so far dared to go, out of fear to find themselves in a situation of clear weakness.

These are the experiences offered to us: seeing an imam and a survivor crying together in common pain, listening young Muslims and young Israelite Eclaireurs give testimony to their feelings of true belonging to the same family, feel the same shiver of brotherhood touching upon our multi-ethnic, multi-national and multi-religious group on loud reading of Shoah victims by Jewish and Arab voices. And we all wanted to say: thank you, Toda, Choukran.

Photo: Philippe Lissac

Why this 'thank you' if we were all frozen out of horror with the level of inhuman evil testified by this place? Because this experience, existing apart from history and even apart from emotions, has become a balm for a continuously open wound formed by Auschwitz on the humanity. In the face of this total nightmare, we felt that he did not go away in the past completely, that it did not only refer to one nation, but hurts us all personally; we felt - at the same time filled with sadness - something that felt like making good. Jewish tradition has a work- tikkoun - defining the call on a man dealing with 'making good' and 'putting together' the humanity torn apart; my Jewish friends may forgive me that I will use it for my own purposes here: it seems to me that we have experienced a gigantic tikkoun.

The survivirs of Shoah who came from France all confirmed this: never for 60 years had they felt so clearly that they witnessed the tragedy touching upon the entire humanity, not only Jews. And Szlomo Venezia who came from Rome, the last living member of Sonderkommando in Europe - the one who looked at things not open to people, who knew the terrible reality of gas chambers, he had in his eyes the light testifying the 'repair' he experienced. This light, as well as the words of the witnesses who agreed to accompany us, particularly in the context of presence of several hundred Arabs, this was for me the greatest victory.

Photo: Philippe Lissac

It was not the only one, as the event had also a civic dimension effects of which are not tangible yet: the Israeli public opinion, both Jewish and Arab, will probably be moved by this event, soon broadly related by national media; for the first time an Arab answer appeared against the plague of anti-Semitism that touched too many Arab countries. Also in France Arab-Jewish relations will not be the same, undoubtedly something is to change in communities, something which is not perceived yet, but what may change the nature of the debate in the future - transferring them onto the level of values that are indispensable for the Republic.

During this stay we learnt about granting the UNESCO Award "Education for Peace" (also owing to our friend, Professor Mohamed Arkoun, who could not join us due to strikes) to Emil Shoufani - which will make his words be heard much further and on a broader scale, at an international level. Particularly concerning the fact that the memory of Shoah - due to this meeting - has achieved a universal dimension which had probably not appeared in our awareness: the fact that the Arabs participated in this event in so great number restored the proper dimension to this genocide which cannot be analysed purely as crime against the Jewish nation, but as an attempt to kill the idea of humanity as such.

This is why I wished to be there personally, being involved in the battle of Emil Shoufani. I am particularly proud with the position of our delegation - i.e. French and Belgian youth which represented the part of Francophone participants. Nobody breached specific rules of procedure which we had imposed on ourselves and specifically referring to this "curve" of political, inter-religious or inter-community problems. This is a curve that was by principle very difficult to bypass - yet which turned out to be unnecessary: no-one wished to quarrel, we were so much aware that the reason for which we all came to the meeting was somewhere else, on an entirely different level.

Photo: Xavier Nataf

We have always known that we are not aiming at negating political issues, yet to their different positioning. As to concrete consequences of the event, these depend on us, on what we are about to do. Neither Emil Shoufani, nor myself (while also developing his initiative in France), ever intended to turn the world upside down. It may also be that tomorrow the information about events both in France and in the Middle East will be sadder than yesterday. Yet we have worked for the day after tomorrow.

Certainly, our tikkoun - however intense - is disproportionate to this inhuman evil committed by people in Auschwitz, which the humanity is still capable of... However: we have moved the mountains together and nobody can tell us that the understanding between Jews and Arabs is not possible. This has happened.

Salam. Shalom to you all,
Jean Mouttapa

www.memoirepourlapaix.com