For the first time in history, the Jewish community in Bahrain marked Holocaust Memorial Day in a virtual ceremony initiated by “The House Of Ten Commandments.”
Only 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 that was recently renovated as part of an initiative by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
The ceremony was led by Ambassador Houda Nonoo, a member of a Jewish family who previously served as 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 Foreign Ministry who met with Nonoo during his visit to Bahrain in December 2020.
On the Arabian Peninsula, Jewish communities will host a series of events marking Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday in yet another sign of the warming ties between Gulf states and their Jewish populations.
On Thursday, the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities will host a webinar discussing the Holocaust moderated by Emily Judd from the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, which will involve both Muslims and Jews.
The webinar will feature two young Muslims, Fetama al Harbi from Bahrain and Thoufeek Zakriya from the United Arab Emirates, who 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 communal effort to remember Holocaust victims, whereby members from each community lit a yellow candle in memory of the name of Jews who perished in the Nazi genocide.
Jeremy Sharon contributed to this report.