PLO's ambassador to Poland visits Auschwitz

Khaled Soufan arrives at concentration camp as Israeli ambassador's guest. Visit meant to show solidarity with Jews' suffering during WWII, he says

A rare visit: The PLO's ambassador to Poland visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp on Wednesday.

Khaled Soufan was accompanied by David Peleg, the Israeli ambassador to Poland. The two spent some two and a half hours in the camp, during which Soufan told Peleg that only when one visits Auschwitz, can one grasp the scope of the Holocaust.

Soufan, a former PLO ambassador to Hungary, befriended the Israeli ambassador in Budapest and expressed his interest in visiting the concentration camp.

Soufan seemed impressed by the number of the Jewish youth groups visiting the camp, and was moved by the memorial ceremony held by the Birkenau monument.

After signing the camp's visitors' journal, Soufan told reporters he was there to convey his solidarity with the Jewish people's suffering during World War II.

The PLO ambassador is not the only unlikely visitor to the camp: The Pakistani ambassador to Poland visited Auschwitz earlier in October and several of the Pakistani military officials are scheduled to visit it in the next few weeks.

PLO's ambassador to Poland visits Auschwitz. Khaled Soufan arrives at concentration camp as Israeli ambassador's guest. Visit meant to show solidarity with Jews' suffering during WWII, he says.

There was a time when doing this would most likely have cost Ambassador Soufan his life upon returning to Palestinian territory. Today that seems no longer to be the case. In that sense, some progress cannot be denied.

I have to admit, entering this thread my position was that this had to be some form of subtrifuge. Upon reading of the Israeli Ambassador's involvement, and the extra mile comments by Soufan, "...showing solidarity with Jews' suffering during WWII... ...only when one visits Auschwitz, can one grasp the scope of the Holocaust...", it appears there may be something to this beyond the usual propagandist ploy.

You would not have seen this ten to fifteen years ago.

I remain skeptical, but it is nice to see some form of this taking place. It just may be that the ruling party on the West Bank has seen certain death in the face of Hamas, and now wishes to find a way to peace. I don't know what else to make of this, except to remain leary of the Palestinians.

The problem for the Palestinians at this point, is who can trust them? Seriously, after sixty years of backstabbing, suicide bombings and swearing Israel would be crushed and pushed into the sea, there just isn't much grounds for trust.

One key indicator might be the ceasation of teaching grade school children that the Israelis are monkeys to be destroyed. Another would be a press that didn't portray the Israelis as monkeys and slander them constantly. When these things stop and the officials make some concrete concessions, I'll begin to think things have actually changed. Right now, I'll be content not to trust, yet verify.

It would seem Biblically, that true peace could not form between these two groups. There may be a pseudo peace for a while, but even that is a bit of a stretch for me.

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