King of Bahrain Hosts Hanukkah Candlelighting
(JTA) — The kingdom of Bahrain hosted a candlelighting ceremony for Hanukkah, which led to a video of local men wearing kaffiyehs and Orthodox Jews dancing together.
The Muslim monarchy of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa held a candle lighting ceremony on Saturday night attended by the local Jewish community, area businessmen and other local Bahrainis. The Hasidic dancing was captured on video and posted on YouTube.
Last year was the first time that the king of Bahrain marked Hanukkah.
The Hamas terror group issued a statement railing against the ceremony calling the dancing of Jews and Muslims together a “disgraceful spectacle.”
Hamas called on Bahrain to “fully stop any form of normalization with the Zionist enemy.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued an official Hanukkah message to the country’s Jewish community.
“My best wishes for the Hanukkah festival of all Jews, especially the inseparable part of our society’s Jewish citizens, with whom we have co-existed peacefully for centuries, and I wish them peace,” said the message.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO