I’ve never heard of a country trying to make amends in this way. More power to them for trying to do something to set things right.
I am still waiting on my reparations from the Italians for the Romans enslaving most of Europe for 100’s years.
> “I’ve never heard of a country trying to make amends in this way. More power to them for trying to do something to set things right.”<
I disagree. I find absurd the whole concept of trying to remedy wrongs that took place in the distant past. It’s too late to help those who really suffered, and the descendents of neither the perpetrators nor the wronged are closely related to their ancestors.
At four generations a century — with the genetic connection being halved at each generation — even a descendant from someone in 1800 is only 1/256 connected. For 1500, a few years after the 1492 expulsion, the connection would be 1/1048576 (if I’ve calculated correctly). Less than one millionth. Of course, I’d expect a Sephardic descendent to have many Sephardic ancestors, but still there would be dilution across the centuries.
In any case the moral debt or entitlement is simply not there. The advantage of automatic Spanish citizenship may be a minor one (and I doubt that many persons of Sephardic origin would want to take advantage of it). Still, I think giving it is unfair to others.
If countries or regions must return to their ethnic makeup of 1492, then Americans of European ancestry, start packing your bags! I’m supposedly about 1/16 Indian and the rest European (culturally entirely European). Where do I go — 15/16 of the way back across the Atlantic?
Even injustices of mere decades ago are difficult to redress. To use ethnic origin to try to do that with events that happened centuries ago serves only to create new injustices. It’s a form of racism. It judges people by their ethnic background rather than as individuals.