In the wake of the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, a riot against the Jewish community of

Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very d ...

, in the British Protectorate of

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...

, on December 5, 1947.Stillman, 2003, p. 147. A mob of Iranian and

Trucial States The Trucial States ( '), also known as the Trucial Coast ( '), the Trucial Sheikhdoms ( '), Trucial Arabia or Trucial Oman, was the name the British government gave to a group of tribal confederations in southeastern Arabia whose leaders had ...

sailors ran through the

Manama Souq Manama Souq () is the old bazaar ( souq) of Bahrain's capital, Manama. Location The Souq lies in the north of Manama, in-between the old parts of the city and the Central Business District, to the east of Noaim and west of Ras Rumman Ra ...

, looted Jewish homes and shops, and destroyed the synagogue. One Jewish woman died; she was either killed or died from fright.

Background

's tiny Jewish community, mostly the Jewish descendants of immigrants who entered the country in the early 1900s from Iraq, numbered 600 in 1948. Manama synagogue 1

The riots

In the wake of the November 29, 1947 U.N. Partition vote, demonstrations against the vote in the Arab world were called for December 2–5. The first two days of demonstrations in Bahrain saw rock throwing against Jews, but on December 5, mobs in the capital of

looted Jewish homes and shops in the city's Jewish district (''Al-Mutanabi Road''). The riots led to the sacking of the only synagogue in Bahrain, and had resulted in the death of an elderly woman and scores of Jews were injured. Local Jews blamed the riots on foreign

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Jewish exodus from Bahrain

After the riots, Bahraini Jews left ''en masse'', some emigrating to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, others to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. They were allowed to leave with their property, although they were forced to give up their citizenship. An estimated 500 to 600 Jews remained in Bahrain until riots broke out after the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

in 1967; as of 2006 only 36 remained.Larry Luxner
Life’s good for Jews of Bahrain — as long as they don’t visit Israel
,

Jewish Telegraphic Agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service, founded in 1917, serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world as well as non-Jewish press, with about 70 syndication clients listed on its we ...

, October 18, 2006. Accessed 25 October 2006.

Objecting views on Bahraini state responsibility

Houda Nonoo Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo ( ar, هدى عزرا نونو; born 7 September 1964) served as the Bahraini Ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2013. She was appointed to the position by decree of Foreign Affairs Minister Khaled Ben Ahmad A ...

told the London ''

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

'' newspaper in 2007: "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 by Sir Charles 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... he riotshad one surprising effect; it put an end to any active aggression by the Bahrain Arabs against the Bahrain Jews."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manama pogrom Anti-Jewish pogroms by Muslims Ethnic riots Jews and Judaism in Bahrain 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine December 1947 events in Asia 1947 riots 1947 in Bahrain Crime in Bahrain 1947 crimes in Bahrain 1947 in Judaism Anti-Jewish pogroms by Muslims 1941-49 Massacres in 1947 1947 murders in Asia

Background

The riots

Jewish exodus from Bahrain

Objecting views on Bahraini state responsibility

See also

References