(JTA) — The kingdom of Bahrain hosted a candle-lighting ceremony on the first night of Hanukkah that featured local men wearing kaffiyehs and Orthodox Jews dancing together.
The Muslim monarchy of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa held the ceremony on Saturday night with local Jews, area businessmen and other 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 and calling the dancing of Jews and Muslims together a “disgraceful spectacle.” It called on Bahrain to “fully stop any form of normalization with the Zionist enemy.”
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey 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.
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