Yosef Bugnum el-Hamali, a resident of Abu Dhabi, remembers the specific moment when he heard about the signing of the Abraham Accords, and understood that the human connection embodied in the new agreement with Israel lay, before everything, in learning the language of his Jewish neighbors living in the Gulf states. He then jumped at the opportunity to learn Hebrew: "Less than a fortnight after the agreement," he recalls, "I was happy to find a private teacher, a fluent Hebrew-speaking Egyptian, who had learned [the language] while working in Egyptian tourism."
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Next, he registered for a private school in Tel Aviv that teaches online Hebrew classes via Zoom, "and I realized that there were a number of other students from the UAE. It's a very special feeling." Since then, el-Hamali (48), has been practicing the language every day, and for a long time, almost daily, he has been uploading pictures of exercises he has written in Hebrew.
"Hebrew is an ancient and interesting language, and of course, it's a Semitic language like Arabic," he says, "but when I started studying, I was still very surprised by the level of similarities between them. You need to pay attention to the changing meanings when you move a note of punctuation on the letter that's pronounced in the sentence – it can be dramatic."
And what about an exercise that includes a conversation in Hebrew with Israelis? "One of the reasons that I wanted to learn Hebrew was that I noticed that, when speaking with an Israeli in Hebrew, the dialogue and the dynamic become more harmonious. It's possible to speak with ease very quickly, and we feel the closeness that politics had destroyed for us for many years. I began learning about Judaism, and as expected the communication becomes much closer when we cross the language barrier."
Regarding his level of competence in Hebrew, el-Hamali says: "I improve from week to week but I'm still not at a sufficiently high level. My Hebrew is still weak but with a little help from my friends, I'm improving it to the highest possible level. God willing, my Hebrew will be fluent in two years' time. I'm still waiting to fly to Israel when it will be possible for me. The demand in Emiratis wanting to visit Israel is also increasing."
'Language is the direct connection to other cultures'
Isma Al-Atawi is the first Bahraini to complete a bachelor's degree in Hebrew Language and Literature. "My desire began out of a curiosity for the subject while I was still in high school," she says. "As a Muslim, I always read and educate myself about the lives of the prophets, and that includes many stories about the Prophet Mohamed with Jews, as well as the stories from the history of relations between Muslims and Jews. This gave me the inspiration to research and to study more about the Jewish religion, the Jewish community, and its culture, way of life, and more."
After finishing her high school studies, she decided to study Hebrew Language and Literature at Ain Shams University in Egypt, "in order to strengthen my knowledge and to be capable of reading books and other materials in the original language," Al-Atawi explains.
Around nine months ago she founded the "Names" academy (translation of the title in Arabic) – a center for language study that she manages, which collaborates with Hebrew schools in Israel. At the academy, the first of its kind in the Kingdom of Bahrain, there are dozens of students, most of them in their twenties and thirties, from a range of countries in the Gulf including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and even one student from Iraq.
"Fundamentally, the establishment of this study academy came from my desire to share my knowledge with others," she says, "and in practice, I frequently taught people using social media."
As expected, the Abraham Accords increased the demand for these opportunities. According to Al-Atawi, "This isn't a new idea, but since the signing of the Abraham Accords, I feel that there is greater demand from the Gulf states, especially for business and tourist purposes. With the launch of the academy, I began to offer our online courses earlier this year. Luckily, until now we've taught nearly 40 students from Bahrain and other Arab countries. They have at least the foundations of the language, and we are continuing to teach them to reach the highest level."
Al-Atwai is convinced that the level of interest in the secrets of the Hebrew language will only grow. "Language is the most direct connection to different cultures, and the ability to communicate in another language allows people to research religion, community, traditions, the arts and history of people who are connected to this language. In addition, it will also strengthen the economy and the business between the two countries.
"The Kingdom of Bahrain was always an excellent example in the region of tolerance and coexistence and is known as a land of peace. Luckily much has changed over the past year, and many Bahrainis are approaching me in order to learn more about Jews and the Hebrew language, and are even interested in learning it. Many of them are also interested in visiting Israel in order to know more about it. I am convinced that there will be more developments on this issue in the near future."
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