How Portugal’s new citizenship law will impact world Jewry

Five-hundred years after thousands of Jews were burned at the stake or forcefully converted, and many others expelled due to the Inquisition, the Portuguese Cabinet has decided to grant citizenship to the descendants of those Jews as reparation for that persecution.

“There is no possibility to amend what was done,” said Portuguese Justice Minister Paula Teixeira da Cruz, the Associated Press reported. “I would say it is the attribution of a right.” 

On Thursday, Portugal approved a law that mirrors a similar measure passed in Spain last year. The law will allow people who can demonstrate “a traditional connection” to Portuguese Sephardic Jews—for example, ones with “family names, family language, and direct or collateral ancestry”—to receive Portuguese citizenship. Sephardic Jews can apply for the citizenship directly from where they currently reside, and will be vetted by Portuguese Jewish institutions and government agencies.

Despite the gesture of this law’s passage, there remains cause for concern for Portugal’s Jewish community. In a time of rising anti-Semitism across Europe, 21 percent of adult Portuguese citizens surveyed as part of last year’s “ADL Global 100: An Index of Anti-Semitism” survey answered “probably true” to six or more of 11 negative stereotypes about Jews, including questions about Jewish power, dual loyalty, money, and behavior. Fifty-six percent of Portuguese respondents said they believe that “Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the countries they live in,” and 45 percent agreed that “Jews have too much power in the business world.”

Actual incidents of anti-Semitic harassment or violence, however, do not appear to be very common in Portugal when compared to the current situation in other European countries.