That was the reaction of one of nine journalists from Arab countries who were recently hosted by the Israel Foreign Ministry.

The delegation included five journalists from Morocco, and one each from Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Kurdistan. The initiative was the brainchild of Hassan Kaabiya, the deputy spokesman for Arab Media at the Foreign Ministry, who last year also brought a delegation of journalists from North Africa to the Jewish state.

Kaabiya said that the visit was intended to acquaint the members of the delegation with the real Israel and its efforts toward coexistence. While here, the visiting journalists toured much of the country, including cities with mixed Jewish-Arab populations and Muslim holy sites, and met with both senior officials and average folks on the street.

One special stop for the delegation was at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, where they met the head of Israel’s government opposition, Avi Gabai of the Zionist Camp (Labor). Later in the day, they also met other members of Knesset,...

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