Chachi Fonzarelli

I'm an American Jew and I would like to know if anyone Jewish has ever visited the United Arab Emirates (specificlly Dubai) or Qatar or Bahrain?

I should stipulate that I have a somewhat common Jewish/German lastname and I have visited Israel, but it was 30 years ago and the entry/exit stamp is not on my current passport.

The reason I am asking this is because I am in the air cargo business and Dubai in particular is one of the fastest growing air hubs in the world. I have passed on many conferences that were held in Dubai because I have assumed I would be putting myself at risk if I visited Dubai.

I would also like to visit Qatar and Bahrain.

GUWonder

Dubai/UAE, Qatar and Bahrain are fine for Americans regardless of religious affiliation. Names that may be perceived by some to correlate with religious affiliation does not cause inconvenience to Americans in those countries (beyond perhaps the very occassional immigration official thinking of going through the passport pages a bit more in detail).

alex0683de

What he said. I am a German citizen and a Christian, but have a last name that is about as Jewish as it gets (my paternal great-great-great-grandfather [not sure if that is 7 generations, but it should be] was Jewish and and converted to Catholicism to marry a Catholic girl). I have visited both the UAE and Bahrain and neither country has made an issue of it. I've also managed to procure a visa for Syria to use in two months. (OP, if you're intested, I'll PM you my last name, you be the judge...)

As long as you don't make an issue out of being Jewish, I doubt your hosts/hotels/business partners will either.

Dovster

Everything posted above is true but... you have to be aware that people are not governments -- even some people who work for governments.

When terrorists took over the Air France flight that was diverted to Entebbe, they separted all passengers who had Jewish-sounding names -- not just Israelis -- and kept them as hostages while letting the others leave.

Leon Klinghoffer, a 69-year-old American man in a wheelchair, was killed by terrorists aboard the Achille Lauro and thrown overboard for no other reason than he was Jewish.

With the very high tensions in the Middle East right now (and they are, unfortunately, apt to remain very high for the foreseeable future) you may want to think twice before visiting some Moslem nations. Yes, you will be allowed in, but there is nobody -- not any of the posters here, not the governments of the countries you may visit -- who can truly contend that you aren't at a higher risk than a non-Jewish traveller.

GUWonder

Dubai is fine, and there are plenty of people of all religions in Dubai. In many regards -- and by many measures -- it is more diverse than most all comparably-sized metropolitan areas in the world.

Jewish Americans have no more reason than any other Americans to hesitate about visiting Dubai for any reason related to safety or acceptance by government or business or social circles there. Many members of the ruling elite in the OP-mentioned places host American friends routinely -- including those whom self-identify as jewish. The BA flights from JFK-LHR-DXB and the Emirates' flights from JFK-DXB have quite a few Americans who are jewish. It's not a problem.

apirchik

True but pay attention that these stories happened to people who traveled to "friendly" countries and were taken hostages by fanatics. It does not imply anything much about "non friendly" countries. Fanatics (not necessarily Muslim) are everywhere these days.

holtju2

Most of the people in Dubai today are not "Nationals" as they call them.

Despite the problems with the cartoons in Lebanon I would not hesitate to visit the country again. (I was there in January and had a blast)

Dovster

Err, given the day to day situation in the Middle East (especially Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt) could you please reword that?

BiziBB

Not that it has anything to do with his parents, but while waiting at Bahrain airport for the Gulf Air staffer to sort out our tickets, we heard a 4yr old who'd gotten away from his mother being called, "Osama, Osama!". Despite not being at all worried by our fellow travellers, hearing this made us think about the popularity of 'Osama' in the country of these travellers
No problems for my wife and I in Bahrain itself or the airport, and I noticed a lot of Americans there, particularly in the city near coffee and fast food outlets. It seemed a pretty friendly place.

alex0683de

Ah, finally someone who has as grim a sense of humour as I do. ^

TeaAddict

"Osama" is a very common male name -- the kid was probably named for a relative. Of course, these days, all the Osamas I know in the U.S. have switched to going by "Sam",

It's a bit like how Adolf/ph was a very popular male first name (Menjou, Green) until after Hitler's rise.

GUWonder

After terrorism in Oklahoma, the name Timothy didn't drop out of usage in America. And I doubt the name Osama/Usama is going to drop out of circulation outside of the "Euro"centric parts of the world either. (The name Osama won't be found as prevalently in the more Farsi-centric places, but that's for lingo-cultural reasons.) Given the recirculation of names for newborns -- especially in recognition of other family members living and deceased more than anything else -- the name won't go away anytime soon.

About the UAE, specifically Dubai: it undoubtedly has one of the highest ratios of foreign citizen to nationals in the world. Even Iranians -- with whom the UAE establishment has major issues when it comes to government-to-government relations -- are generally well accepted there. Also, if someone thinks a jewish American is more at risk in the smaller Gulf emirates than being a shia muslim in the region, then one hasn't observed matters closely enough. (Even in the UAE, the "security forces" have beaten the living daylights -- or worse -- out of shias suspected of fomenting unrest in other parts of the Gulf. Thankfully, the UAE establishment is increasingly of the opinion that such tactics are counterproductive and people should be able to focus on business and making money.)

empedocles

I wasn't aware Fonzarelli was German/Jewish.

OC 1K

[QUOTE=GUWonder]After terrorism in Oklahoma, the name Timothy didn't drop out of usage in America. And I doubt the name Osama/Usama is going to drop out of circulation outside of the "Euro"centric parts of the world either. (The name Osama won't be found as prevalently in the more Farsi-centric places, but that's for lingo-cultural reasons.) Given the recirculation of names for newborns -- especially in recognition of other family members living and deceased more than anything else -- the name won't go away anytime soon.

QUOTE]

Actually, there were some reports that post 9/11 in certain parts of the world and among Palestinians it had become very chic to name a boy "Osama"....

GUWonder

The story of a journalist/commentator and his/her story. (I am not questioning the veracity/validity/implication of such reported anecdotes.) There will always be such reports if someone wants one. (The reports of increased/declined "chic"-ness of the name George, Joe/Josef, Ali, Mohammed, Indira, etc. in the Middle East could be crafted too.) I remember stories that said the name Saddam had become more "chic" at some point in time too. However, I run across far fewer people having that name across the world today than 30 years ago.

In any event, going to Dubai, Doha, and Bahrain on an American passport is no more complicated for people subscribing to Judaism than it is for those subscribing to Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, non-sunni Islam, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, animism and a variety of other religions. I say this having travelled extensively in the Gulf, including travel to the DXB, BAH and DOH with a diverse group consisting of people of all faiths mentioned.