Today’s NY Times features a fascinating article, entitled Manama Journal, on the Jews of Bahrain. It tells of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and his relationship with his 36 Jewish subjects. At the core of the article stands the unspoken question, what is a Jew, at least according to Bahrainis?
Are we a small cabal with undue influence over global markets and media, who must be mollified? Are we good Arabians who happen to follow another religion? Are we a sophisticated minority that serves the royal family and are rewarded for doing so? Are we pawns in a larger game of Sunni v. Shia?
This article portrays a long-ago world in which Jews have not functioned for generations, if not centuries. It begs us to pay attention to both the real possibilities of working with even the most traditional elements in the Islamic world today, and the genuine challenges of any relationship which is based on preserving deep imbalances in the power and autonomy of any party to the relationship.