Bahrain accepts that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism, that Jews are a people (not only a religion,) and that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people. THIS IS HUGE.

Almost lost among the flurry of announcements around Israel's peace with Bahrain was this Memorandum of Understanding between the US State Department Office of the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and Bahrain's King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence.

Here it is:

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE KING HAMAD GLOBAL CENTRE FOR PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE AND THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES SPECIAL ENVOY TO MONITOR AND COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM 

WHEREAS Arabs and Jews are both Semitic peoples that are threatened by hatred or intolerance toward Semitic peoples; 

WHEREAS all peoples of the Middle East should aspire to coexist in tolerance and mutual respect; 

WHEREAS the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) has adopted a widely accepted definition of anti-Semitism that incorporates examples of its various manifestations; 

WHEREAS anti-Semitism is a vile poison that must be eradicated from the world; 

WHEREAS purveyors of anti-Semitism in the Middle East seek to spread this evil as a political tool to manipulate the Arab and Muslim world; 

WHEREAS His Majesty King Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa has made it a top priority for Bahrain to lead the Middle East toward a future of tolerance, mutual respect, and cooperation between Muslims and Jews; and 

WHEREAS President Donald J. Trump and Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo have made it a top priority for the United States to combat all forms of anti-Semitism in all parts of the world; 

THEREFORE, the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence (the King Hamad Centre) and the Office of the United States Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism (SEAS), hereinafter the Participants, hereby set forth the following understandings: 

(1) The King Hamad Centre and SEAS intend to work together to develop and implement programs to promote mutual respect, appreciation, and peaceful coexistence between the Arab and Jewish peoples and their respective nation-states, and between all faiths in the Middle East; The spirit of this cooperation is intended to be guided by the principles of The Kingdom of Bahrain Declaration of July 3, 2017; 

(2) The King Hamad Centre and SEAS intend to work together to develop and implement programs to recognize and celebrate the periods of good will and harmony that existed between Jews and Arabs living side-by-side throughout the Middle East; 

(3) The King Hamad Centre and SEAS intend to cooperate in developing educational programs aimed at teaching all children of the Middle East the values of mutual respect, appreciation, and peaceful coexistence; such programs are intended to build upon the King Hamad Faith in Leadership Fellows Programme, The King Hamad Cyber Peace Academy, and other related programs; 

(4) The King Hamad Centre and SEAS intend to work together to share and promote best practices for combating all forms of anti-Semitism, including anti-Zionism and the delegitimization of the State of Israel; 

(5) The King Hamad Centre and SEAS intend to work together to share and promote best practices for combating other kinds of intolerance and hatred; 

(6) The King Hamad Centre and SEAS each intends to bear its own costs for any cooperation and activities taken in furtherance of this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU); 

(7) The King Hamad Centre and SEAS intend to develop the activities and areas of cooperation under this MoU through a periodic work plan and intend to develop the first work plan within six months of signature of this MoU; 

(8) As used herein, the term "anti-Semitism" is defined by reference to and in accordance with the Working Definition of Antisemitism as adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in its Bucharest plenary on May 26, 2016, including the examples set forth as part of the definition; 

(9) Cooperation under this MoU is intended to commence upon signature and is intended to be operative for three years, subject to written renewal for a similar period. Either the King Hamad Centre or SEAS may unilaterally discontinue this MoU at any time, with written notice given to the other Participant. 

SIGNED at Washington, DC, this 22nd day of October, 2020, in duplicate in the English language. 

For the first time, an Arab nation has accepted that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism. Arabs of course know this well - while they have been arguing since the 1940s that the two are separate, they know quite well that antisemitism has been used to fuel anti-Zionism in the Arab world and that opposition to Israel has always been based on antisemitic theories, theories which we have documented here many times from Arab media. 

That is not even the most astonishing part!

This MOU calls for "peaceful coexistence between the Arab and Jewish peoples and their respective nation-states," meaning that Bahrain accepts Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. 

Note that the text says "Arabs and Jews are both Semitic peoples." This shows that Bahrain accepts Jews as a people, not merely members of a religion as the Palestinians insist. (Yes, the agreement is with the King Hamas Center and not the government, but the King Hamad Center represents the King.)

Not only that, but it accepts Jews as a Semitic people, meaning that that are an indigenous people of the region that belong there every bit as much as Arabs. 

Even beyond that, this MOU says that Bahrain will work to establish peace between Israel and all Arab states to establish peace in the entire region. Peace between Israel and Bahrain is not looked upon as a narrow bilateral agreement but as a springboard to establishing Israel as a permanent part of the Middle East.

Elan S. Carr, the US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, has been working on this for quite a while. First news of an MOU came in February and it is unclear if they waited for Israel/Bahrain peace for issue the text (I could find no stories of an actual signing of the MOU as planned in March), since it would have been awkward for Bahrain to accept Israel as the Jewish state before the normalization agreement.

In some ways, this is even more amazing and groundbreaking than the Israel/UAE agreements announced so far. 

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