Saudi influencer: ‘Through the Hebrew Bible, I discovered the undeniable truth about Jews and Israel.’
Loay Alshareef tells attendees at UJIA event that living with a Jewish family in Paris changed his outlook
Naomi is a freelance features writer
There was a time that Saudi-born influencer only produced Arabic content on social media for his 135k followers but after October 7 he “decided to do it in English”.
The canapés and wine were flowing at From Hate to Peace, a Young UJIA event at JW3 for young professionals, as was the conversation with the gracious and softly-spoken influencer.
Loay began with admitting that his upbringing as a “religious Muslim” meant he was taught that “being sincere to God meant hating Jews and Christians and never taking them as friends”.
His turnaround happened at 21, when to his chagrin, he was inadvertently placed at a Jewish Yemenite family home in Paris while studying French. “The mother, Rachel, changed me. The discussions and arguments we had opened up my mind and I learnt Hebrew, the Talmud, Jewish history. Through the Hebrew Bible, I discovered the undeniable truth about Jews and Israel.’
Loay now uses his great knowledge to educate others, in the hope that this will bring about peace and understanding. ‘I believe the West does not understand these people – but we defeated them. The Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group is banned from the UAE.”
He referenced the 45-minute Hamas footage that “really showed me they are not freedom fighters fighting for the liberation of the land. They are fighting to kill Jews for being Jews. This is a war for Israel’s survival.”
He joked: “The haters keep saying the Mossad is paying me – I wish they were!”
His favourite pastime is assuring them that he gets paid in Bamba – his favourite Israeli snack; so it made sense that at the end of his talk, he was presented with a large bag. In typical Loay style he announced: “Now I can say I’ve been paid for tonight!”
The evening was rounded off with Yigal Shitrit, a survivor from Kibbutz Be’eri, who related that “our vision is to make Be’eri bigger, stronger and much more beautiful than it was. This is the only way that we can win”.
Keep up with Loay on Instagram: @lalshareef
UJIA (@ujiacharity)’s emergency appeal after October 7 provides support on the ground, including trauma and psychosocial support to survivors. Donate here: ujia.org
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