Sa'ad Khaldi and Trudy Gold
The Failure of Holocaust Education
Summary
In January 2000, 60 heads of state and foreign ministers convened at the first intergovernmental conference of the new millennium and resolved that Holocaust education should become an important part in fighting anti-Semitism and racism. Yet even with Holocaust studies on the curriculum and the opening of hundreds of museums and memorials all proclaiming never again, as well as films released, both feature and documentary, and books published, anti-Semitism is at its worst level since the Second World War. In this talk, Sa’ad Khaldi and Trudy Gold debate what might have gone wrong.
Sa'ad Khaldi
Sa’ad Khaldi is a UK educator with an Arab and Jewish heritage. In 2007 he became the first Palestinian Holocaust Educational Fellow after studying with the Imperial War Museum and Yad Vashem in Lithuania, Poland, and Israel. The following year Sa’ad was invited to present his education research project for teachers called “Crossroads to Palestine” at Yad Vashem’s Summer Conference. Since then he has deepened his knowledge of pre- and post- WW2 Palestine and Israel-related events. His knowledge base is possibly unique, as his father was a key leader in the West Bank Palestinian community and after 1967 opened the door to direct dialogue with prominent Israeli politicians—by agreeing that Israel was a “State of Necessity.”
Trudy Gold
Trudy Gold was the CEO of the London Jewish Cultural Centre and a founding member of the British delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Throughout her career she taught modern Jewish history at schools, universities, and to adult groups and ran seminars on Holocaust education in the UK, Eastern Europe, and China. She also led Jewish educational tours all over the world. Trudy was the educational director of the student resources “Understanding the Holocaust” and “Holocaust Explained” and the author of The Timechart History of Jewish Civilization.