Posted on 11/16/2008 8:53:49 AM PST by SJackson
(IsraelNN.com) The King of Bahrain has called for expatriate Jews to return to the small Islamic island nation.
King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa expanded the invitation to all expatriate Bahrainis, announcing during a recent visit to the United States that regardless of religious affiliation, any former citizen could return whenever they want.
“It’s open, it’s your country,” declared the king, who also extended a personal invitation to Washington D.C.-based Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Levi Shemtov to meet with him in New York during his visit.
The king had been in New York to attend last week’s Interfaith Conference, organized at the United Nations at the initiative of Saudi Arabian King Abdullah. Israeli President Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni were both present at the conference, along with representatives of more than 50 other nations.
According to the Chabad.org website, at the meeting Rabbi Shemtov bestowed the traditional blessing on the king that is recited when one sees a ruling monarch. A delegation of 50 Bahraini Jews who currently live in the U.S. stood for the blessing.
“I rise in honor of Your Majesty,” Rabbi Shemtov said to King Hamad, “and I humbly ask Your Majesty to rise in honor of the One G-d, the King of all Kings, in Whose Name we offer blessings.”
When the king rose, the rest of the room rose with him, and the rabbi thanked the Creator for “bestowing a part of His glory” on an earthly monarch.
“Bahrain has a rich Jewish history,” noted Shemtov, “and I feel that Bahrain, and particularly His Majesty, can play a unique role in bringing about positive movement within their arena in regard to the Jewish people and the world at large.”
King Hamad, who ascended to the throne in 1999, has been a controversial figure in the Arab Muslim world, instituting a number of electoral and legal reforms.
This past year he appointed a Jewish woman, Huda Azra Nunu to be Bahrain’s Ambassador to the United States -- the first Jewish woman to serve in such a capacity in the Arab world.
In August, he also extended a general invitation for Bahrain’s expatriate Jews to return to their former home, including those who had moved to the Jewish State.
More recently, the king promoted through his Foreign Ministry the suggestion that Israel be included in a regional summit of Middle Eastern nations that would also list Iran among the attendees.
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...said the spider to the fly.
Not all Moslems are Wahabbis or whack jobs?
I dunno, he sounds like a genuine reformer and has the confidence of some prominent Jews. The problem isn’t him, it’s the region and the other players. Once he’s gone (likely at the hands of an assassin) what protection would the Baharaini Jews possibly have?
A Jew in America is the equal of any other citizen and secure in status (how else would they have overwhelmingly voter for the Zero, otherwise?) In Baharain, his status depends on the whim of the regent.
This is exactly what vorious despots have down throughout history. They wanted to bring in the Jews to help make their country grow richer.
What the world has never accepted was Jewish sovereignty over their own land and destiny. The chief difficulty being that Jews themselves have trouble accepting it.
That's true, though the fact that he'll allow Jews to live in a land they've inhabited for millenia puts him above his Arab brethern.
Come on. He appointed a Jewish ambassador to get her out of the country. Alerting Captain Obvious...
You mean like the Germans promised the Warsaw Ghetto fighters a “nice Seder meal” if they only gave up?
The ruling Sunni class can be trusted with Jews unless the sh*t hits the fan. Then it’s every man for himself.
The majority Shi3a don’t bother Jews, but they do not have warm feelings toward them. To be a Jew is generally considered a negative thing, Bah7rayni Jews only get a small pass for being Ba7rayni & Arab. I have no complaints from Ba7rayni Jews, but I am concerned about what could happen if & when there is another intifadah. The Jews are seen as allied with Sunnah & they would be an easy target.
& one more thing: the rulers of Ba7rayn are willing to give citizenship to many kinds of people from all over the place, especially Sunnah, in order to lower the Shi3a population’s proportion.
they’re muslims and therefor can’t be trusted, period.
i suspect what you saw was the face they were putting up for westerns, if you had pretended to be an arab muslim and talked to them you would get a very different impression, much closer to reality, on who they really are.
Sunni, shia - same sh*t.
both evil, both are the enemies of western civilization and the rest of the world would be much better off without both of them.
I am curious if they are not more Zoroastrian than muslim.
Nope, I can say for certain that most Bahrainis — Arabs or Persians — are not like that. There are wack-jobs, yes, but the overwhelming majority of Bahrainis hate the camel-jockey savages from Saud who come across the King Fahd causeway.
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