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As the UN Human Rights Council gathered to debate racism, UN Watch invited courageous Yemeni journalist Luai Ahmed to unveil the rampant racism and Jew-hatred that he grew up with in Yemen — and how his visit to Israel after October 7th and witnessing life there changed his worldview.
Debate Highlights:
Luai Ahmed for UN Watch: The first time I ever heard the word “Jew” was in my local mosque when I was nine years old.
At the end of Friday prayers, the Imam said: “May Allah kill the Jews and the Zionists.”
And I responded alongside thousands of Muslims praying beside me: “Ameen.”
Vice President of UN Human Rights Council: I now declare open Agenda Item 9 entitled “Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Forms of Intolerance.”
Turkey: Turkey continues to combat racism, xenophobia, anti-Muslim racism, and anti-immigrant hatred in all their forms.
Pakistan: A world free from discrimination must remain our goal.
Islamic Republic of Iran: We stand firmly with the Palestinian people against racism, racial discrimination, dispossession, and the destruction of Palestinian lives and communities.
Vice President of UN Human Rights Council: I give the floor to United Nations Watch.
Luai Ahmed for UN Watch: Mr. President, let’s talk about racism in the Middle East.
I grew up in Yemen, where the word that we used for black people is “abeed,” which quite literally means “slaves.”
Racism towards black people in my country is horrifying, but it’s not even the most toxic hatred that I was taught.
The first time I ever heard the word “Jew” was in my local mosque when I was nine years old.
At the end of Friday prayers, the Imam said: “May Allah kill the Jews and the Zionists.”
And I responded alongside thousands of Muslims praying beside me: “Ameen.”
I was taught that Zionism meant killing Arabs, stealing our land, and destroying Islam.
Then October 7th came.
Hamas terrorists “freed Palestine” by slaughtering 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping more than 200 people, including a one-year-old child.
Almost everyone in my Arab-Muslim circle celebrated.
I didn’t.
Instead, as a journalist, I decided to visit the so-called Zionist entity, and I was completely shocked to the core by the lack of apartheid and racism that I experienced.
One day, I got an eye infection.
At the hospital, the nurses in reception were Jewish.
The doctor treating me was Arab.
Is there racism in Israel? Of course. There’s racism everywhere.
But Arabs in Israel aren’t called ”slaves.“
They are doctors, engineers, and party leaders.
My experience helped me realize that Zionism really just means the Jewish people’s right to a tiny country.
Everything I was thought was a lie.
