Celebrating the Abraham Accords anniversary

• Published date: 27 September 2021
• Author: PAULA SLIER
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

"It came out of the blue," he exclaims, not having been privy to the behind-the-scenes negotiations. "We knew the United Arab Emirates was doing it and that was a huge step forward. And we were thinking, 'Oh God, is it going to be us next?' But we didn't know."

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From then on it all happened very quickly. Two days later, delegations from Bahrain, the UAE, Israel and the US were inking the historic Abraham Accords at the White House. For the first time in 26 years, an Arab country, two in this case and the first from the Gulf, were recognizing the Jewish state and setting about normalizing diplomatic relations with her.

Later, two other Arab nations, Sudan and Morocco, followed suit, raising the number of Arab countries with formal diplomatic ties to Israel from two to six.

It was Nonoo's namesake, his grandfather, who arrived with his uncle in the 33-island seaport in the early 1900s at the age of 12. Jews are recorded as having lived in the area since Talmudic times. Arabic sources also document Jewish life during the Islamic conquest in 630 CE.

Nonoo and I walk through the local souk (marketplace) where the cramped shops tumble onto cobbled pathways, selling everything from clothing to antiques.

"This is where commerce started in Bahrain," Nonoo gesticulates while sipping dark Arabic coffee.

"There were three Khedouri brothers who arrived from Iraq en route to Hong Kong. One of them liked the place so much he stayed and became the wealthiest man in Bahrain at the time. There were also plenty of Jewish traders from Iraq. They had an edge because they were educated with contacts across Europe."

It wasn't long before Jews took over the market, so much so that on Saturdays it would close for Shabbat. Even the Christian and Muslim shop owners sealed their stores.

Nonoo points out where his grandfather used to sell spices before setting up Bahrain's first money exchange business.

"How he started was ingenious. He used to gather all the discarded clothing and take the silver threads out of them. He'd then collect these together and use an acid process to turn them into silver bars which he'd sell abroad."

We've now reached the synagogue which is inside the souk. For years it was the center of the community's life and local Muslims would often join in religious ceremonies and visit the homes of their Jewish neighbors and friends.

"Bahrainis are known to respect all religions," remarks Jewish Bahraini author, Nancy Khedouri. "Bahrain embraces all...