Why these Muslims are fighting anti-Semitism

Laziza Dalil had butterflies before she took the stage at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in lower Manhattan last week.

Standing in front of a mostly Jewish audience in New York’s memorial to the Holocaust, the political activist from Morocco opened hesitantly, but soon posed the question she often hears about her work: “Why would a group of Muslims be interested in working on Jewish history?”

The answer has many dimensions, said Ms. Dalil, a leader in the Association Mimouna, a coalition of Muslim students who have taken on the task of highlighting the deep Jewish roots woven into Moroccan culture. But tonight, part of her point was clear: such an interest seems startling, and somehow odd, given the past and current histories of enmity and violence between the two faiths.

The same could be said the night’s event:a conference of major American Jewish organizations gathered to honor Muslims who protected Jews during the Holocaust,

A Muslim scholar's work on the Holocaust'Do you think I'm going to hell?'