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Bahrain backs IHRA definition of anti-Semitism in memorandum with US
US, Bahrain sign memorandum of understanding on fighting anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism
Bahrain and the United States signed recently a memorandum of understanding on combating anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, media reported Sunday.
Thursday's ceremony saw top anti-Semitism watchdog with the US State Department Elan Carr and Shaikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, head of King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence, ink the document.
“We all know that hatred is the enemy of peace,” bin Khalifa said at the event, as cited by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
In a first for an Arab nation, Bahrain paid heed to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism in a move that fell short of a full-fledged legislative adoption.
The definition includes such examples of anti-Semitism as accusing Jews or Israel of making up the Holocaust or "claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor."
Under the document, both sides vowed to promote and share the best procedures for tackling anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, including efforts to delegitimize Israel.
The memorandum, however, reportedly featured no enforcement mechanisms.
The news comes on the back of the historic Israel-Bahrain normalization, formally signed on October 18.