Jewish in UAE: Community members reveal

life in an Arab Muslim country

2020-06-18 | Since 7 Day

Elli Kriel, founder of Dubai-based Elli's Kosher Kitchen, samples some of her dishes with
friends in Dubai. (Courtesy: Elli Kriel)
Following a strong push this week to enhance religious tolerance in the Middle East - with
Muslim World League chief Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa championing Muslim-Jewish relations and
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash speaking at the American Jewish
Committee – the UAE’s Jewish population is speaking out about what it is like to be Jewish in an
Arab Islamic country.

Since David Zabinsky moved to Dubai from the US five years ago, his Jewish faith has
strengthened – a development he suggests is a testimony to the UAE’s tolerant environment.

He now celebrates Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, and high holidays with members of the
UAE’s flourishing Jewish community and has become more knowledgeable about his faith and
others.

“Ironically enough, and perhaps beautifully, it’s taken me moving to Dubai to become a more
observant Jew than I ever was in the US,” said Zabinsky in an interview with Al Arabiya
English.

Zabinsky is just one of hundreds of Jewish people in the UAE that express their gratitude to the
government and society for spearheading interfaith relations in the Middle East.
A scene from the Jewish Community of the UAE's video blessing the country. (Screengrab)

“The UAE can and should serve as the model to the world when it comes to acceptance,
diversity, and multiculturalism,” said Zabinsky.
Home to more than 200 nationalities, the UAE has embraced the celebration of countless faith
traditions since its founding, according to UAE Assistant Minister for Cultural Affairs Omar
Ghobash.

“By offering residents the freedom and space to practice religion unrestricted, the UAE
consistently sends a message that their diverse perspectives and life experiences matter greatly in
strengthening the country’s plurality,” Ghobash told Al Arabiya English.

Year of Tolerance lives on

It was the UAE’s Year of Tolerance in 2019 that really “set the country’s public interfaith
initiatives in motion,” said American Rabbi Marc Schneier, who participated in Year of
Tolerance events including the visit of Pope Francis, in an interview with Al Arabiya English.

Since then, the UAE has seen the construction of a new synagogue as part of the Abrahamic
House of Fraternity in Abu Dhabi and the launch of the first kosher food service in the Gulf
region.
The direct outreach to Jewish people by the UAE’s top leadership is significant and shows “how
far we have come,” according to Schneier.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash spoke on Tuesday about the country’s
interreligious initiatives saying “the DNA of our society is a very tolerant one” during the
American Jewish Committee’s virtual global forum.
An artist's illustration of the Abrahamic Family House to be built in Abu Dhabi. (Courtesy:
Edelman)

“Beginning of a new era”

The welcoming of the Jewish community is not limited to top-level UAE officials like Gargash,
but pervasive throughout UAE society, according to Dubai-based Rabbi Levi Duchman.

“As the Rabbi of the Jewish Community of the UAE - seeing firsthand the lessons in tolerance
and coexistence that our benevolent leaders instill in their youth - I can proudly say that this is
truly the beginning of a wonderful new era,” said Duchman in an interview with Al Arabiya
English.

Earlier this month Duchman and the Jewish Community of the UAE released a video blessing
the country’s leadership and armed forces in Hebrew, that has since been viewed over 150,000
times on social media.
Drawing on the past
In 2014 the Pew Research Center reported that the level of religious hostilities in the Middle East
and North Africa had reached a level four times that of the global average and that harassment of
Christians and Jewish people was on the rise.

Defying these statistics, the UAE has proved to be a beacon for interreligious relations – and not
only for its residents. When Zabinsky hosts Jewish friends and business partners from the West
he said there is one common theme.
The Jewish community’s Prayer for the Welfare of the Government and UAE Military Forces
translated into Arabic.

“None of them wanted to leave! Each was incredibly impressed with the open arms and
hospitality they found in the UAE,” he said.
“Muslims and Jews are both the children of Abraham and have lived together in peace, respect,
and harmony in the Middle East and elsewhere for hundreds of years,” added Rabbi Duchman.

“Let us continue to rebuild and to focus on our similarities while respecting our differences,” he
said.

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