I work with an organization called “Refugees’ ambassadors”. Usually it sends refugees to Dutch schools to tell their stories. In addition, the organization arranges trips for refugees to important cultural places in the Netherlands. One of them was an invitation to Anne Frank House. Well, I have read about Anne Frank and watched a movie or two about her. However, to be honest, it was different when I went there. In principle, the house is very normal. It was empty. And the trip is one way, so you enter from one place, you see the house and you exit from another. But that wasn’t what had an emotional impact on me. Since we were sent by the organization, there was someone to meet us from the house’s administration. She gave us an explanation about the house, Anne Frank’s story, what was going on in Germany with the Jews in general. The information really touched me because I felt it was so close to me. I felt as if she was telling my life story or the story of many Syrian Refugees. When she asked, “Would like to say anything?” I got so emotional even I shed a tear while speaking. I said, “To be honest, I don’t know how long humanity will be that stupid. Today, history is repeating itself in a ridiculous way. We have a dictator who is imposing suffering on the people. People are fleeing. And others don’t care about anything but “we don’t want anyone to take our jobs.” And they’re suffering from xenophobia! Actually, as someone from Syria, I could understand Anne Frank more than anyone else. Because the fear she experienced under bombing, I experienced it [too]. When her father hugged her because she was afraid of the bombing, I hugged my nephews and nieces in the same way saying, “Don’t be afraid.” When people were racist against the Jews, some people nowadays are racist against refugees, and see them coming here just for money!
 I mean nowadays people come to stand in an endless line to see the Anne Frank house. And if were to ask them, “What would you have done to prevent Anne’s suffering?” maybe they would say, “I would have done a lot.” Yeah, but currently we have Syrian children who are suffering much more, but no one is doing anything…? Humanity is just watching. 
After we finished the tour there was a visitor’s comment book. I wrote there one sentence: How many children should die before humanity wakes up… or becomes extinct?

Links of interest:

• Anne Frank (Arabic Wikipedia)
• Boy in the Ambulance (the Guardian)
• Anne Frank House
• Unicef
• NaTakallam (Arabic Skype lessons supporting displaced Syrians)