Hussein Aboukbar from Standwithus came to educate the Hebrew Academy High School students about antisemitism in the Arab world and how to combat it. Born and raised as an Islamic Egyptian, he was surrounded by anti-semitic and anti-israel rhetoric. Hussein shared memories of him reading comic books about the superhero defeating the “Evil Jew.” One day he was curious to see what the Israelis were saying so he decided to learn Hebrew. Learning Hebrew changed his life because by learning the language he was able to learn the history of the Jewish people. He started to become more and more invested throughout his years and ended up having to leave Egypt as an asylum. One thing he really emphasized was the power of knowledge. Through knowledge, Hussein was able to see the other story and escape “the fantasy,” as he said. Hussein told the students that it was up to them to educate themselves and other people.
-Submitted by Yael Bister, Class of 2020
Hussein Aboukbar from Standwithus came to educate the Hebrew Academy High School students about antisemitism in the Arab world and how to combat it. Born and raised as an Islamic Egyptian, he was surrounded by anti-semitic and anti-israel rhetoric. Hussein shared memories of him reading comic books about the superhero defeating the “Evil Jew.” One day he was curious to see what the Israelis were saying so he decided to learn Hebrew. Learning Hebrew changed his life because by learning the language he was able to learn the history of the Jewish people. He started to become more and more invested throughout his years and ended up having to leave Egypt as an asylum. One thing he really emphasized was the power of knowledge. Through knowledge, Hussein was able to see the other story and escape “the fantasy,” as he said. Hussein told the students that it was up to them to educate themselves and other people.
-Submitted by Yael Bister, Class of 2020
