For the first time in history, the Jewish community in Bahrain marked Holocaust Remembrance Day in a virtual ceremony initiated by “The House of the Ten Commandments.”
Just a few months after the signing of the Abraham Accords, of which Bahrain was one of the signatories, a memorable ceremony was held in a Jewish community synagogue recently renovated as part of an initiative of the king.
The ceremony was led by Ambassador Houda Nono, a member of a Jewish family who was previously Bahrain’s Ambassador to the United States.
The guest of honor of the event was Amb. Dr. Dore Gold, the president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and former Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who appointed Amb. Nono during his visit to Bahrain in December 2020.
In the Arabian Peninsula, Jewish communities will host a series of events to mark Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday, as yet another sign of the warming ties between the Gulf states and their Jewish population.
On Thursday, the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities will host a Holocaust webinar moderated by Emily Judd of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, which will involve both Muslims and Jews.
During the webinar, two young Muslims, Fetama al Harbi from Bahrain and Thoufeek Zakriya from the United Arab Emirates, will discuss their experiences during their recent visit to the Yad Vashem Museum.
The Jewish communities of Bahrain and Dubai also participated in the Yellow Candle Project, the global community effort to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, where members of each community light a yellow candle in memory of the name of the Jews who perished in the Nazi genocide.
