At Yad Vashem, a Somaliland Delegation Weeps and Vows “Never Again” for Two Peoples
Eng. Ahmed Dirie, who leads the Abrahamic Movement’s Somaliland delegation in Israel, says the visit to Jerusalem’s Holocaust museum reminded his group of 1988, and calls for justice, compensation for survivors and trials for perpetrators.
Jerusalem, Israel —A delegation from Somaliland visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s World Holocaust Remembrance Center, and left in tears, according to its leader. Eng. Ahmed Abdillahi Dirie, head of the Somaliland–Israel Friendship & Abrahamic Movement delegation, issued an official statement after the visit.
“Today we visited the museum where the Jewish genocide was recorded in 1945, and we cried,” Dirie said.
“Genocide is the same for both nations. The pain is the same. The tears are the same. The memory must never die.” Eng. Ahmed Dirie, Head of Delegation
Dirie said what the group saw inside the museum, “the pain, the families destroyed, the children lost,” reminded them of what happened to his people in #Somaliland in 1988 under the regime of the dictator Siad Barre, whom he called “bloody.”
The delegation walked through the record of the Jewish genocide at Yad Vashem. Dirie said the visit was one of grief: the pain, the families destroyed, the children lost.
For the delegation, the images echoed 1988. Dirie said the same suffering was inflicted on his people in Somaliland by the regime of Siad Barre, and that genocide is the same for both nations.
Never Again — for Jews, and Never Again — for Somalilanders.
Dirie said the two nations now share the same promise: to protect their peoples forever.
A lesson in justice
Dirie said the visit taught the delegation “the most important lesson,” and he described what he wants Somaliland to show the world:
- How to get justice.
- How to compensate the survivors.
- How to bring the people who did it to court and try them, “so that it does not happen again.”
“Never Again — for Jews, and Never Again — for Somalilanders,” he said.
A political call
Dirie said justice, for Somaliland, also carries a political meaning. “And for us, justice also means one thing,” he said: “how to not reunite Somalia and Somaliland, so that there is no more genocide.”
“Two separate peoples, living in peace, side by side, is the only guarantee that the horror of 1988 will never return. Just as Israel must be safe and separate to guarantee 1945 will never return.” Eng. Ahmed Dirie
“Our two nations share the same wound, and now we share the same promise: to protect our peoples forever.”
Inside the museum
Photographs from the visit show the Hall of Names and other parts of the museum. Select any image to enlarge it.
A wall panel at the museum explains that the Hall of Names exists to keep the victims’ names alive for good. Its Pages of Testimony record each person’s name and life details, contributed by relatives, acquaintances and archives, and Yad Vashem says it is still searching for names that have not yet been recorded.
- The Hall of Names, seen from below
- Pages of Testimony, close up
- Portraits in many languages
- A French-language Page of Testimony
- The Hall of Names wall panel
- A poem by Benjamin Fondane
- A family photograph, Ignalina near Vilna
- Stalingrad and the deportations, February 2, 1943
- The founding of Israel, 1948
More pictures of the museum: Yad Vashem on Google Images.
One historical photograph from the exhibition is shown below behind a content note.
Content note. This historical photograph shows a killing during the Holocaust.
Watch: Somaliland in 1988
Two Somali-language videos on YouTube cover the 1988 events the delegation referred to. They are third-party videos that open on YouTube in a new tab, and archive footage of this kind may be distressing.
-
Xasuuqi Somaliland Loo Gaystay 1988 Iyo Duqayntii Moorgan Hargeysa Ku Baabiyey Iyo SNM Oo…
Somali-language video. The visible part of the title refers to the 1988 massacre in Somaliland and the bombing of Hargeisa.
Watch on YouTube
-
Xasuuqii Duleedka Burco 1988kii Iyo …
Somali-language video. The visible part of the title refers to the 1988 massacre on the outskirts of Burao. The preview is dated July 1988.
Watch on YouTube
Background: the two events the delegation linked
The Holocaust. Nazi Germany and its collaborators murdered six million Jews between 1933 and 1945. Yad Vashem, founded in Jerusalem, documents and commemorates the victims. Visit yadvashem.org for more.
Somaliland, 1988. In 1988, forces of Siad Barre’s government attacked cities in what is now Somaliland, including Hargeisa and Burao. Somaliland authorities and a number of researchers describe the killings as genocide. Estimates of the dead vary widely, from tens of thousands to well over 100,000. Read more in the Isaaq genocide article on Wikipedia.
Read the full official statement
Official Statement from the Somaliland Delegation at Yad Vashem
Today we visited the museum where the Jewish genocide was recorded in 1945, and we cried.
What we saw — the pain, the families destroyed, the children lost — reminded us of what happened to my people in #Somaliland in 1988 by the bloody regime of dictator Siad Barre.
Genocide is the same for both nations. The pain is the same. The tears are the same. The memory must never die.
Our visit taught us the most important lesson:
We must show the world how to get justice. How to compensate the survivors. How to bring the people who did it to court and try them, so that it does not happen again. Never Again — for Jews, and Never Again — for Somalilanders.
And for us, justice also means one thing:
How to not reunite Somalia and Somaliland, so that there is no more genocide. Two separate peoples, living in peace, side by side, is the only guarantee that the horror of 1988 will never return. Just as Israel must be safe and separate to guarantee 1945 will never return.
Our two nations share the same wound, and now we share the same promise: to protect our peoples forever.
Wabilahi Tawfiiq.
Eng. Ahmed Abdillahi Dirie
Head of Delegation
Somaliland–Israel Friendship & Abrahamic Movement
Yad Vashem, Jerusalem — September 2026
Learn more about the museum and the memory of the Holocaust at https://www.yadvashem.org/
Browse more images: Yad Vashem on Google Images
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