Legal action has been taken against a shop in Kuwait after it sold accessories bearing Jewish symbols.

The Gulf state’s Ministry of Trade and Industry has ordered the closure of a shop in the coastal city Salmiya, as the sale of items containing the Star of David was deemed illegal. 

A post to the Ministry’s official Twitter profile on 27 August said that an arrest had been made due to the “displaying and selling of accessories bearing slogans that violate the public order of the state.”

The tweet displayed two images of confiscated accessories bearing the Magen David, a globally recognised symbol of Jewish religion and culture. The Tweet also stated that legal proceedings were being taken against the trader.

Last May the Kuwaiti parliament passed a bill that banned support of, contact with, and visits to Israel, at risk of significant fines or jail sentences of up to 10 years.

The legislation also banned any pursuit of deals or normalisation agreements with Israel that many of its regional neighbours, including the UAE and Bahrain, have recently pursued.

Kuwait’s constitution declares Islam the state religion, but officially guarantees the “absolute” right to freedom of belief.

There are no known Jewish citizens of Kuwait and the estimated 20 Jewish people believed to reside in the country are foreign ex-pats.

The historic Jewish presence in Kuwait began around the sixth century BCE, but by 1920 there was no Jewish population recorded.

After Sheikh Salim Al-Mubarak ascended to the throne in 1917, he warned the country’s community of Jewish wine exporters to cease their sale of alcohol in the Muslim-majority territory, and it is suggested that many were pressured to leave as a result.

According to the Jewish Virtual Library project, Kuwaiti authorities routinely censor English-language school materials that refer to the Holocaust or Israel.

Kuwait does not legally recognise Israel, and domestic businesses are banned from any trade with the state. In 2020 Kuwaiti airlines were fined for banning Israeli passport holders from a New York to London flight.

A spokesperson for the Embassy of Israel in London told the JC: "We are not familiar with the details of the case, but if it is true that a store was closed because of the sale of a Star of David and other Judaica items, this is a clear antisemitic act. It is unacceptable that a state would so blatantly and aggressively attack freedom of religion."

The JC has reached out to the Embassy of Kuwait in London and Kuwait’s Ministry of Trade and Industry for comment.