Bahrein veroordeelt Arabische Boycott Israel in historische toezegging

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The king of the island nation has plans to establish a Museum of Religious Tolerance in the capital city by the end of the year.

Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa last week denounced the Arab boycott of Israel and said his subjects are free to visit the Jewish state. The head of the Persian Gulf country, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, made the statements to Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, at a multi-denominational event at the center to sign and support a declaration denouncing religious hatred and violence.

Cooper and his partner at the Wiesenthal Center, Marvin Hier, visited Manama, Bahrain’s capital, by invitation, in early 2017.

A walk through the city, Cooper said, was an eye-opener. There was a church, with a huge cross, next to a Hindu temple, and 90 meters on an impressive mosque. Even a small synagogue, the only one in the Persian Gulf region, still stands in an older part of the city. Hier and Cooper met with King Hamad and discussed the ruler’s plan to establish a Museum of Religious Tolerance in the capital city by the end of this year. At the Los Angeles event last week, delegations of Buddhists in saffron robes, Sikhs in turbans, and Muslims with keffiyehs and hijabs [Muslim head-covers for men and veils for women], mingled with Jews with kippot [skullcaps] and Christians in business suits.

A walk through the city, Cooper said, was an eye-opener. There was a church, with a huge cross, next to a Hindu temple, and 90 meters on an impressive mosque. Even a small synagogue, the only one in the Persian Gulf region, still stands in an older part of the city.

Hier and Cooper met with King Hamad and discussed the ruler’s plan to establish a Museum of Religious Tolerance in the capital city by the end of this year.

At the Los Angeles event last week, delegations of Buddhists in saffron robes, Sikhs in turbans, and Muslims with keffiyehs and hijabs [Muslim head-covers for men and veils for women], mingled with Jews with kippot [skullcaps] and Christians in business suits.

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Interfaith leaders toured @musoftolerance before announcement of The Bahrain Declaration on Religious Tolerance – by Bahraini King Hamad.
7:45 AM - Sep 14, 2017 · Florida, USA
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Some 400 members of these diverse groups signed the declaration to support full freedom of religious choice, government protection of minorities and to ensure that religious faith “serves as a blessing to all mankind and as the foundation of peace in the world.”

The evening’s guests included officials from such predominantly Muslim nations as Kuwait, Egypt, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, Cooper noted.

Like all others present, the Arab officials stood in respect as the colorful Bahrain National Orchestra, conducted by Field Marshal Mubarak Najem, played “Hatikva” preceded by the Bahraini and US national anthems, sung by Sumaya Meer and Cantor Arik Wolheim.

The key speaker was Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad al Khalifa, son of the king and a formidable endurance athlete, who led the Bahraini delegations, toured the Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance and met with Jewish students.

As the evening’s climax, a group of distinguished “dais guests” formally signed the Bahrain Declaration. Among them were the speakers, visiting Arab officials, clergymen of various faiths, television personality Mary Hart, the evening’s master of ceremonies UCLA Prof. Judea Pearl and Betsy Bennett Mathieson, president of This Is Bahrain.

The latter government-supported booster organization presented each guest with a lapel pin featuring symbols of the country’s seven religions, with a Jewish menorah adjoining a Christian cross and a Muslim crescent.

Bahrain has some 1,423,000 inhabitants and a breakdown of their religious faiths indicate that 70% are Muslims; 14.5% are Christians; 10% Hindus and 2.5% Hindus. The percentage of Jews is listed in different surveys as a fraction of 1%, but the actual number is even smaller, ranging between 36 to 40 actual residents.

In spite of the small numbers, Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo, who is Jewish, served as the Bahraini diplomat in the US from 2008 to 2013, becoming the first Jewish woman to represent any Arab country on a diplomatic mission. The Nonoo family is of Iraqi-Jewish heritage and financed repair work for the only synagogue in Bahrain.

Large parts of the Jewish population left the country following riots in 1947 and 1967, but Jewish, Muslim and British sources agree that the riots were triggered by pro-Palestinian outsiders and that resident Arabs went out of their way to protect their Jewish neighbors.

But with the ascendancy of King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa to the throne in 2002, domestic and foreign observers see an almost utopian state of relationships among Bahrain’s religious groups.

The monarch, who has an impressive collection of Frank Sinatra records, has enshrined religious tolerance both in the country’s law and by personal example. For instance, since 2015, he has celebrated Hanukka with both Jews and Muslims in attendance.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, a reporter asked Cooper whether the evening’s upbeat tone and hopeful notes were warranted in the light of the Middle East’s apparently endless conflicts.

Cooper responded that Bahrain, like Israel, “Lives in a tough neighborhood. But if there is to be any hope for the future, it will have to be realized by voices of religious moderation.”

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Op maandag 18 september 2017 13:35 schreef ThePlaneteer het volgende:
Zelfs de Arabische wereld gaat SA nu afvallen. Enige bondgenoot die ze zo nog gaan overhouden is de fucking USA.

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Op dinsdag 19 september 2017 14:43 schreef Slayage het volgende:

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israel is en blijft een westerse kolonie, gesticht door westerlingen gerund door westerling.

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Op dinsdag 19 september 2017 14:41 schreef Slayage het volgende:

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de golf staten en israel voelen zich bedreigd door iran en zoeken dus partners om iran te dwarsbomen. vijand van mijn vijand is mijn vriend mentaliteit is in het M-O wijdverspreid.

deze toenadering met israel moet je ook zien in die context. net zoals dat het GCC jemen binnen valt om iraanse invloeden in te dammen. net zoals GCC bahrein binnenvalt om iran in te dammen. net zoals zij niet blij zijn met qatar omdat ze te innig zouden zijn met iran dus die blokkade instellen.

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Op dinsdag 19 september 2017 15:14 schreef Slayage het volgende:

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israel is al decennia niet zo veilig geweest als nu. saddam vernietigd, syrie vernietigd. palestijnen die elkaar bevechten. arabische staten die nu innig beginnen te worden met israel. de kolonisatie van het westelijk jordaanoever dat steeds verder gaat en niemand over zeikt. de grote open lucht gevangenis genaamd gaza waar niemand over zeikt.

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Op dinsdag 19 september 2017 15:25 schreef Slayage het volgende:

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hoe langer het conflict duurt hoe beter voor israel, als je vijanden elkaar bestrijden (hamas vs plo bv) kunnen ze jou niet bestrijden
daarom doet ook israel sinds dag 1 hand en span diensten voor rebellen aan de grens