A Jew in Bahrain

by Esra'a (Bahrain)

A couple of weeks ago, I met a really interesting character. I decided to interview him, for I wanted to learn more about his feelings and opinions on being part of a religious (and often disliked) minority in a Muslim country. For his own safety, I agreed to keep him anonymous.

Is it hard being an Arab-Jew here?
If no one asks me or mentions it, I never bring it up. So when I don’t, I’m treated like everyone else. When I do mention it, people hold it against me. Not everyone does, though. I have several strict Muslim friends who don’t mind me being Jewish. They just think it’s weird and unusual for me to follow that religion as an Arab. I do get uncomfortable and scared when some people try to drag me into a heated religious and political debate. They keep thinking that just because I’m Jewish, I’m pro-Israel, which isn’t entirely true.

When you’re asked whether or not you’re Jewish, do you answer the question honestly?
Not always. Sometimes, even when it’s not dangerous, I feel at risk. I was raised to believe that we should be proud of who we are, and never try to hide it, but I hear about people committing crimes as bad as murder just because someone chose to follow a different religion. When I was younger, I said I was a Muslim just to fit in. I don’t really enjoy being an outsider, but it seems inevitable because of my different religious path and roots.

Do you feel discriminated against?
Being Jewish never stopped me from doing what I want to do, and it doesn’t really stop me from having the opportunities offered to everyone else. I just choose not to take the opportunities because I don’t enjoy being called “the Jew” when I’m trying to fit in with others, which is what happened when I joined a soccer team, for example. However, it’s just a small number of people who made it uncomfortable for me. Most people didn’t care about my religion just as long as I didn’t boast about it.

Have you ever considered converting?
No, but when I feel like someone’s offended because I informed him or her of my beliefs, I add “I’m thinking of converting to Islam” just to make it seem a little better. For example, we were in class once, and we came across a story that discussed Jewish traditions. A classmate asked me to clarify because he knew about my background, and the teacher, as well as a lot of the classmates, were absolutely stunned that I was Jewish. I was actually pretty embarrassed, because I was getting the “how could you?!” attitude. I told them I was a member of ‘Discover Islam,’ a program to help me fully “convert.” I only said it to appease them.

Do you consider this a strict Muslim culture?
Only in certain areas. It generally doesn’t bother me. It isn’t half as bad as places like Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Would you say you’re comfortable here?
Most of the time. People my age aren’t religious. Rarely do my friends excuse themselves to go pray, it’s really laid back. I just try not to talk about it or bring it up at all, and because I look, act, and think like a typical Bahraini guy, no one knows of my religious differences unless they heard it from someone else first.

Did anyone ever harm you for being “the Jew”?
It only happened twice in my life. Some people in high school were really passionate about politics and what was going on in Palestine. I was ganged up on by a group of people who, for some reason, linked me to the conflict. I was beaten twice by two different groups because of it, but as I get older, I meet people more understanding and I try to stay away from violent people like the many villagers I went to school with.

Freedom of religion here is important, and would actually be beneficial for ‘real’ Islam. People would want to educate themselves further about other religions and through that, they will find what or who they truly believe in. A lot of young people from Iran were into atheism, and it’s because they’re at the rebellious phase where they want to disagree and protest against anything enforced upon them. It’s a pretty understandable conclusion to come down to. I had such thoughts myself when I was younger because my family were incredibly strict about going to the mosque and completing all 5 required prayers per day. When they finally let go, I enjoyed and learned more about the religion because I was ‘free’ to do so. We should introduce optional Christian and Jewish courses in our school systems. Some of the Islamic schools here are absolutely sickening, and it’s one of the factors leading to an unsuccessful political culture (as well as fanatic extremism.) Religion is too personal to be forced upon anybody.