اليهود البحرينيون יהודים בחריינים | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 37[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Manama,Capital Governorate | |
| Languages | |
| Arabic,Hebrew | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Jews (Arab Jews,Iraqi Jews,Yemenite Jews) |
Thehistory of the Jews in Bahrain goes back to ancient times.BahrainiJews constitute one of the world's smallest Jewish communities, although its origins go back tolate antiquity.Talmudic sources refer to ports and islands on thePersian Gulf, indicating that Jews may have already settled in this region. Arabic sources record Jews in the old capital of Bahrain,Hajar, at the time of the Islamic conquest in 630 C.E. In the 12th century, the Jewish traveler-adventurerBenjamin of Tudela mentions 500 Jews living in Qays, and 5,000 inAl-Qatîf, involved inpearl fishery. In the 19th century, there were Jewish merchants from Iraq, Persia, and India in Bahrain.[2]
The Jewish community declined during the twentieth century. In 1968, only some 100 Jews remained in the new capital city ofManama.[2] At the beginning of the twenty-first century, about 30 Jews remained in Bahrain. The community maintained ownership of asynagogue, but it was not in use and services were held in private homes on holidays. The Jewish community also maintained its cemetery.[2][1]
From its independence in 1971, Bahrain had no official relations with Israel until theOslo Agreements were signed between Israel and the Palestinians in 1993. Subsequently, semi-official relations, particularly commercial, were established.[2][1] Bahraini Jews were not allowed to visit Israel, although, officially, Bahrain agreed to cease adherence to the economic boycott of Israel in exchange for afree-trade agreement with the United States in 2004.[3]
In September 2020, Bahrain and Israelagreed to establish diplomatic relations. Travel links between the two countries were also established.[4] As of 2022 the majority of Jews live inUmm al Hassam inManama.[5]
There areTalmudic references made of a Jewish community dating back in the geographic areas of present-dayBahrain, as well as references in Arabic texts to a Jewish presence inHajar (eastern coast of inland Arabia) duringMohammed's time.[2][6] Jews are reported to have been living in what became the modern kingdom of Bahrain since the times of theTalmud. Arabic sources state that Jews lived inHajar, the capital of Bahrain, in 630 CE and refused to convert to Islam when most of the population of the island did.[2][7]
Modern Bahrain's Jewish community traces its origins to the migration of Iraqi traders from the Jewish Yadgar family in the 1880s.[3]
After World War II, increasing anti-British sentiment spread throughout the Arab World and led to riots in Bahrain. The riots focused on the Jewish community.[8] In 1948, there were 1,500 Jews living in Bahrain, while some sources give the Jewish population as 600 in 1948. On 5 December 1947,riots broke out against the Jewish community inManama in the wake of ongoingviolence in Palestine. A mob looted Jewish homes and shops, destroyed the city's synagogue, physically assaulted Jews, and murdered an elderly Jewish woman.[9] Most members of Bahrain's Jewish community abandoned their properties and evacuated toBombay, later settling inIsrael, many of them in the town ofPardes Hanna-Karkur; others went to the United Kingdom. The 1950 census found 293 Jews in the country.
Houda Nonoo toldThe Independent newspaper: "I don't think it was Bahrainis who were responsible. It was people from abroad. Many Bahrainis looked after Jews in their houses." This view is supported byCharles Belgrave, formerly a political adviser to the government of Bahrain – which at the time was subject to treaty relations with Britain – who recalled in a memoir: "The leading Arabs were very shocked ... most of them, when possible, had given shelter and protection to their Jewish neighbours... [the riots] had one surprising effect; it put an end to any active aggression by the Bahrain Arabs against the Bahrain Jews." Following the riots, as well as the establishment ofIsrael and the1948 Arab-Israeli War, many Bahraini Jews emigrated to Israel, theUnited States, orUnited Kingdom. Some 500-600 remained, but after riots broke out in the aftermath of theSix-Day War in 1967, Bahraini Jewry emigrateden masse.[10][11]
Jews are one of several communities that form the core of the liberal middle classes and several are even active in politics. A Jewish businessman,Ebrahim Daoud Nonoo, sat on the appointed upper house of the Bahraini Parliament'sShura Council. In 2005, he was replaced by his niece,Houda Ezra Nonoo. Since 2004, Ms. Nonoo also headed theBahrain Human Rights Watch Society[12] which has campaigned against the reintroduction of the death penalty in the tiny kingdom. Neither is considered a controversial figure, even amongSalafi politicians.
As of 2007, the Jewish population of Bahrain numbered 36.[7] At that time, the tolerance extended to the island's Jewish community is the result of the policy of its leader, KingHamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa. The island's boycott of Israeli products was in effect until 2004 when a free-trade agreement with the United States put an end to the official boycott.[13]
Jewish Bahraini authorNancy Khedouri wroteFrom Our Beginning to Present Day[3] about the Bahraini Jewish community:
In 2006, theUS State Department reported that, there have been no acts of physical violence or harassment of Jews or vandalism of Jewish community institutions, such as schools, cemeteries, or the synagogue. Although the Government has not enacted any laws protecting the right of Jews to religious freedom, Jews practice their faith privately without governmental interference. Nevertheless, the Government has made no specific effort to promote antibias and tolerance education. Some antisemitic political commentary and editorial cartoons continue to appear, usually linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.[14]
In 2008, Bahrain's king nominatedHouda Nonoo, a Jewish woman who served in the nation's 40-member upper house of Parliament, as its ambassador to the United States.[15]
In November, 2010, Bahraini Jewish authorNancy Khedouri[16] was appointed to replace Nonoo in Parliament.[1]
Beginning in 2015, King al-Khalifa officially marked the celebration ofHanukkah, with Jewish and Muslim Bahrainis celebrating together.[17]
On 11 September 2020, Israel and Bahrain agreed to "normalize relations."[18]
The agreement was announced by PresidentDonald Trump on September 11, 2020,[19] and followed on from a joint statement, officially referred to as theAbraham Accords, by theUnited States,Israel and theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE) on August 13, 2020.[20] It was formally signed on September 15, 2020, at theWhite House inWashington, D.C.,[21] and made Bahrain the fourthArab state torecognize Israel and the second within a month.[22][23][a] The agreements were named "Abraham Accords" to highlight the common belief ofJudaism andIslam in the prophetAbraham.[24][25]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)History of the Jews in Asia | |
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| States with limited recognition | |
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