A Marine and a relative of the royal family of Bahrain fell in love, but her family disapproved
Farhan Siddiqui
By Tony Perry Los Angeles Times, 7/14/2000
AN DIEGO - A Marine and a relative of the royal family of Bahrain fell
in love, but her family disapproved.
She was forbidden to see him and confined to her house in Bahrain. And
so Lance Corporal Jason Johnson and Meriam Al-Khalifa did what young
lovers often do when confronted with a hostile world: They fled.
Now they are at the center of an immigration court case in San Diego
as she fights to remain in the United States.
Johnson, 25, spirited 18-year-old Al-Khalifa out of Bahrain late last
year aboard a commercial airliner, disguising her as a Marine with
phony military documents and a New York Yankees cap to hide her long
hair.
But when the couple arrived in Chicago, they were confronted by
Immigration and Naturalization Service officials, who had been alerted
to the royal runaway by the government of Bahrain, a strategically
important US ally.
Rather than bow to the State Department's request to take the first
flight back to her Persian Gulf island nation, Al-Khalifa requested
political asylum, contending that she faces persecution for breaking
one of the strongest strictures in the Islamic world.
''I did the worst thing possible in my country, to fall in love with a
non-Muslim,'' said Al-Khalifa, now 19. ''To make it even worse, he's
an American.''
Johnson agrees. ''I think they'd kill her if she ever returned,'' he
said. ''She embarrassed the royal family. To keep their reputation
clean, they would have to take vengeance.''
Given a reprieve by the slow pace of immigration proceedings, the
truck driver's son and the sheik's daughter married in a wedding
chapel on the Strip in Las Vegas in November.
They settled into the spartan accommodations of Camp Pendleton
housing. There Al-Khalifa does housework, something she had servants
to do in Bahrain. Johnson, who has been busted back to private first
class for the escapade, goes to work every day as a machine-gunner.
On Monday, the couple faces the latest in a series of INS hearings in
San Diego, where a judge will consider her petition for asylum, a plea
opposed by the US government.
It is common for some families in Islamic countries to treat a woman
who has dated without her family's blessing like a prostitute who has
brought dishonor on her family and country, a fact that INS officials
considered in allowing her to remain in the United States for a
hearing.
Although Bahrain is considered by most scholars to be far more liberal
than most Islamic nations, it has seen a recent surge of Islamic
fundamentalism. Bahraini women who socialize with non-Muslim men are
sometimes considered ''damaged goods'' to be scorned or physically
assaulted, said Richard Dekmejian, a Middle East expert and political
science professor at the University of Southern California.
A Bahraini Embassy spokesman said Al-Khalifa has no reason to fear
returning home. ''The family still loves her very much and would love
her to go back,'' said the spokesman. ''Nothing will happen to her.
This is a family matter, not a royal matter.''
Still, she fears that others, possibly at the behest of fundamentalist
clergy, might assault her if she returns.
Dekmejian doubts, however, that this would occur in a high-profile
case involving the wife of a US Marine, given the Bahraini
government's concern about maintaining good relations with the United
States. ''If her family forgives her, I don't think there is much the
clerics would do,'' he said.
The couple met in a mall in the Bahraini capital of Manama, where
Johnson was assigned to a counterterrorism unit.
For several months she hid from Johnson the fact that her father is
Sheik Abulla Al-Khalifa, a cousin of the head of state, Emir Hamad bin
Isa Al-Khalifa. As the daughter of a sheik, she holds the title of
sheika.
All he knew was that she spoke nearly flawless English and had been to
the United States at age 12 to visit Disney World in Florida.
''We had to see each other behind my family's back,'' she said. ''When
they found out, they were very angry.''
Forbidden by her family to see each other, the two continued their
courtship mostly by telephone. That's when the intercontinental
elopement plans were hatched. With his yearlong tour of duty nearing
its end, Johnson refused to leave without the woman he loved.
Using his night-vision goggles to scout out security procedures at the
airport, Johnson found that Bahraini citizens are asked for their
passports before boarding a plane but that Marines are not.
So he went to great lengths to disguise her as another Marine,
furnishing baggy ''grunge'' clothes and phony military documents.
Experts on immigration law say there is a precedent for Al-Khalifa's
asylum bid on the grounds that she will face persecution for having
married outside her faith. But they noted that she will have to
present evidence of physical threats or past maltreatment, and
evidence that she has become such a pariah that local authorities
would not protect her.
''Just showing that she will be socially ostracized will probably not
be good enough,'' said Kevin Johnson, an immigration specialist.