History of the Jews in Kuwait
The history of the Jews in Kuwait is closely connected to the history of the Jews in Iraq.
History
The noted British businessman
Queen Mary College in London and returned to Iraq to join the army and then set up his business empire. He spent the 1950s running the Coca-Cola franchise in Iraq with a beloved Muslim business partner.[1]
He states that:
- In 1776 Sasson Heskel who became the Minister of Finance in Iraq. During the twenties, all the Jews left Kuwait.[2]
Professor Faisal Abdulla Alkanderi of Kuwait corroborates the above in his essay in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 2006, as summarized:
- Kuwait in the last decades of the nineteenth century had become a dynamic place for its time. There was a building boom in both houses and ships, and business opportunities abounded. The country was peaceful and stable. The combination of services available and economic prospects drew people from surrounding countries searching for a better life. This article deals with the little-known Jewish community that began to come to Kuwait during that time. It also discusses the possible reasons why they left. These Jews belonged to the 'Babylonian' Jews who had lived in Mesopotamia for millennia. Their language was Arabic, and they had traded between Baghdad and India for centuries. The majority were involved in textiles, and they had their own market where people of all origins came to buy the cloth they imported. They usually educated their children in their synagogue. It was a community in flux, with constant comings and goings, rather than a stable group who arrived together and left together, and it was made up of diverse individuals.[3]
Notable individuals
- Saleh and Daoud Al-Kuwaity were famous Kuwaiti Jewish musicians born in Kuwait.[4]
There have also been some Kuwaitis converting to Judaism, such as Yousef Al-Mhanna (Hebrew name: Naftali Benya),[5] Ibtisam Hamid (Hebrew name: Basma Al-Kuwaiti)[6] and Mark Halawa.[7]
See also
- Abrahamic religion
- Arab Jews
- Arab states of the Persian Gulf
- Babylonian captivity
- History of the Jews in the Arabian Peninsula
- History of the Jews under Muslim rule
- Islam and antisemitism
- Jewish exodus from the Muslim world
- Jews outside Europe under Axis occupation
- Judaism and Islam
- List of Jews from the Arab World
- Mizrahi Jews
Jews in the Arab world
- History of the Jews in Iraq
- History of the Jews in Bahrain
- History of the Jews in Oman
- Yemenite Jews
References
- ^ "Keeping promises, 2004". London: guardian.co.uk. 26 November 2004. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ^ "History of the Jews in Kuwait". dangoor.com..
- ^ "Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Volume 17, Issue 4 October 2006 , pages 445 - 456".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Zable, Arnold. The Age. 22 September 2007. "2.
- ^ Gulf News. December 19 2019. "[1].
- ^ The New Arab. 10 February 2021. "[2].
- Times of Israel. 15 October 2015. "[3].
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