Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - The Yad Vashem memorial has fired one of its guides, accusing him of expressing "political positions," in violation of one of the institution's rules.
Itamar Shapira, 29, from Jerusalem, is a member of an Israeli-Palestinian group for reconciliation among ex-combatants. He has worked at the Holocaust Museum for three and a half years. The explanation for his firing is that, while leading a group of young Jews, he talked about the massacre of Deir Yassin, a Palestinian village that has since been incorporated into the city, in 1948, during the struggle for the foundation of the state of Israel. "Yad Vashem talks about the Holocaust survivors' arrival in Israel and about creating a refuge here for the world's Jews," the man said in an interview with Haaretz. "I said there were people who lived on this land and mentioned that there are other traumas that provide other nations with motivation."
Estee Yaari, a spokeswoman for the memorial, explained to the BBC that Shapira had violated a clear prohibition: the ban on employees from expressing political positions. "Yad Vashem is an apolitical organisation and as such is careful to ensure that the professional work of Holocaust remembrance and commemoration will be separated from any political agenda."
In a discussion with the directors of the institute, Shapira refused to change his approach, leading to the decision to dismiss him.
For his part, Shapira accuses the museum of examining only some of the events that took place during the war for the founding of Israel. "It is being hypocritical," he told Haaretz. "I only tried to expose the visitors to the facts, not to political conclusions. If Yad Vashem chooses to ignore the facts, for example the massacre at Dir Yassin, or the Nakba ["The Catastrophe," the Palestinians' term for what happened in 1948, meaning the creation of the state of Israel], it means that it's afraid of something and that its historic approach is flawed."