Adam Hoffman and Moran Zaga co-published an article in LSE Middle East Centre Blog, examining the changing attitude in the Gulf States towards Judaism.
"Dr Muhammad al-Issa’s unprecedented visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp on 23 January 2020, the 75th anniversary of its liberation, marked a peak in a process of interfaith momentum that has been recently evident in the Muslim world, and more specifically in the Gulf. As Secretary-General of the Muslim World League, Al-Issa is the most senior Islamic leader to visit Auschwitz. In one of the statements he made during his visit, he said, ‘The unconscionable crimes to which we bear witness today are truly crimes against humanity.’ Shortly after his visit, the foreign minister of the UAE, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, tweeted in Arabic: ‘In memory of the Nazi Holocaust, we stand on the side of humanity against racism, hatred, and extremism,’ and Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the Bahraini Foreign Minister, retweeted this and added: ‘Yes, it is a humanitarian issue, and the victims are innocent human beings…’. These statements by senior religious and political officials in the Arab Gulf are unusual in their explicit and outspoken condemnation of such a formative event in Jewish history and in their appeal to Arab public opinion..."