Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the king of Bahrain, has said he would facilitate the return of Jewish expatriates through restored citizenship and land offers. King Hamad met in New York with about 50 Bahraini Jews who had emigrated to the United States, following on a similar meeting in London this summer. The king said that all expatriate Bahrainis, whatever their religion, were welcome to return. "It's open, it's your country," he said in New York. He had reversed a law that banned dual citizenship and was ready to restore the citizenship of Bahrainis who had lost it in the interim, and to offer it to their children as well. "The younger ones cannot remember much, but we want them to know," he said, referring to Bahraini heritage. Returning Bahrainis would be eligible for land allocations, he said.
King Hamad has instituted reforms in recent years, including extending the vote to women. He recently named a Jewish woman, Houda Nonoo, ambassador to Washington. In an interview, King Hamad told JTA that he did not expect his reforms to replicate throughout the region. "What we do in Bahrain is for sure for Bahrain, it's not to be exported," he said. Bahrain has had a recorded Jewish presence since the Talmudic era; its current community is descended from Iraqi Jewish merchants who settled in the late 9th century. Several dozen Jews remain there.
King Hamad is in New York to attend an interfaith conference cosponsored by Saudi Arabia and the United Nations. The meetings are taking place in New York this week during an interfaith dialogue held under the auspices of the United Nations and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, who has pressed in recent years for greater interreligious understanding despite resistance from his kingdom's Islamist clerics.
