When Marcy Grossman began her three-year post as Canada’s ambassador to the United Arab Emirates in 2019, Jewish life there was quietly tolerated. By the time she left, the country had inaugurated the region’s first synagogue in nearly a century. Now, she is returning to the UAE — not as a diplomat, but as the newly appointed director of the American Jewish Committee’s Abu Dhabi office. 

Grossman will take over The Sidney Lerner Center for Arab-Jewish Understanding — a body that her predecessor, Marc Sievers, built in 2021 — which focuses on diplomacy, business ties and civil society engagement across the Gulf. Her appointment comes at a fraught time as antisemitism continues to surge in the West and as the Middle East, and the UAE in particular, has come under repeated attack by Iran amid the continuing U.S.-Iran war.

In her first interview since being tapped for the position, Grossman told Jewish Insider that even amid a rise of antisemitism in the West, normalization between Israel and its Arab neighbors has proven more resilient than many expected since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks. 

Grossman attributes the concern from Emirati leaders about antisemitism in the West to “a shared interest.” 

“At the end of the day, much of the antisemitism that we see in North America is fueled by violent extremism from non-friendly sources. Countering violent extremism is one of the main security priorities of the UAE. So in that regard, there’s a shared interest,” she told JI. 

Before Oct. 7, Grossman spoke of feeling safer as a Jewish woman in the UAE than in many other parts of the world. Following her most recent trip to the region in June, she said that notion still holds. 

“I still feel extremely safe in the UAE regardless of religion or gender. The UAE is very warm and welcoming to the AJC. I never feel any kind of threat when I’m there,” said Grossman, who first worked with the AJC while serving as Canada’s consul general in Miami from 2005 to 2009. 

Looking to her new position, Grossman said her goal is to “elevate and build out” AJC’s presence in Abu Dhabi. That will include “advocating with governments, diplomats in the region and thought leaders for issues that are important to Arab-Israel integration focusing a lot on our business and economic diplomacy and continuing our work on civil society and religious and educational organizations [by] engaging civil leaders, content creators, faith leaders; [and] working together to combat any form of radicalization,” she said.    

“Marc has built this very strong foundation. What we want to do now is expand, strengthen and add some creative twists to programming that will continue to make AJC the unique presence that it is in Abu Dhabi,” Grossman continued. 

Grossman asserted that her presence will also help to combat some of the misconceptions people in the West have regarding Jewish life in the UAE and its relations with Israel.

“When I was named as Canada’s Jewish ambassador to the UAE, a lot of people thought that was a very bold move,” she said. “In fact, I thought it was a very bold move. But when I got there I saw the UAE was very open to religious pluralism and to community. I think every time I tell my stories about the UAE people are in awe. It helps to find hope because in the region it is really one of the only consistent sources of hope for Jewish-Arab understanding. Demystifying that is a continuous goal of what [AJC] needs to continue to do.” 

While reported antisemitic attacks in the UAE in the aftermath of Oct. 7 have remained significantly lower than in North America, the 2024 murder of Chabad emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan deeply shook the local community. Amid a global rise in antisemitism, Jewish parents in the UAE reported last year that their children face verbal abuse at school and dangerous threats in their neighborhoods, including being confronted with plastic knives.

Still, Grossman noted that the vast majority of the UAE’s population is deeply tolerant of different religions because many have dealt with oppression or restrictions in other countries.

“When I am there I feel very open to be who I am,” she told JI. “I think that’s a trickle-down effect of the UAE government — this attention to tolerance and pluralism. People understand if you’re going to live in the UAE you’re going to play by the UAE rules. Many people who are there are there because they’ve left a country where those values are not valued. … About 30% of the population are diaspora Arabs — Syrians, Afghans, etc. who left bad situations to come and enjoy the safety, security and prosperity of the UAE.”  

Seven thousand miles away from that religious tolerance, mounting antisemitic attacks and a weak government response have left many Canadian Jews questioning if they still belong.

Having represented Canada on the world stage for two decades, Grossman doesn’t necessarily recommend a mass exodus of Canadian Jews to the UAE.

“The place is not big enough for 400,000 Jews,” she said. “We as Canadians should continue to hold our government to account for what is going on there. CIJA [Canada’s Jewish federation] is doing an excellent job in that regard in terms of legislation being enforced, increased security for the Jewish community and integrating the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition [of antisemitism].”  

“I think everyone should come visit the UAE — and there are 60,000 Canadians who live here,” she said. “But rather than move, keep our own fabulous Canada safe for all Jewish people.”