November 30 is the official memorial day in Israel to mark
the departure and expulsion of more than 850,000 Jews from Arab countries and
Iran in the 20th century. Jews had lived in the Arab lands for thousands of
years, but in the 20th century, many of them were forced to flee from their
homes and countries solely because of their Jewish identity. Their stories were
not well known and they have never received recognition or compensation.
For the first time, the Consulate and Ohel Leah Synagogue
have recently co-organised a special event marking this day with the Jewish Community in
Hong Kong.
Israeli musician Gilad Segev, of Syrian-Jewish and Eastern
European roots, performed especially for the audiences with livestream from
Israel. In particular, Gilad performed his song “El mistater”, which means
hiding God. He composes this song and
gives a new touch to Syrian Jews prayers, combining instruments that
characterized with eastern music.