(Houda Nonoo - AP Photo)About 500,000 people live in Bahrain. Approximately 50 of those are Jewish. Jews migrated to Bahrain in the 19th century, primarily from Iran and Iraq. The Jewish population grew larger until the 1948 Arab-Israeli war when many left Bahrain for Israel and other countries. There is one synagogue and a Jewish cemetery. The synagogue was torched in 1948 by angry Muslims, but has since been rebuilt.
Bahrain is an emerging democracy with close ties to the United States. Bahrain is a light in the Arab world. As Bahrain moves into the 21st century it is removing barriers of hostility and discrimination between people of different religious beliefs and backgrounds. Nevertheless, Bahrain is a work in progress, thus Jews "keep a low profile ... working mostly in banks, commercial and trade companies and retail."
Perhaps one of the most newsworthy events to come out of the Middle East in recent years -- an event which, unfortunately received almost no notice in the U.S. media -- is the appointment by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of a Jewish woman, Houda Nonoo, as the Bahrainian ambassador to Washington!
Nonoo is a 43-year old mother of two boys descended from Jews who came to Bahrain from Iraq. She is a businesswoman who lives in both London and Bahrain and has "served as [a] legislator in Bahrain's all-appointed 40-member Shura Council for three years." She is "also the first Jewish woman to head a local rights organization, the Bahrain Human Rights Watch."
Bahrain is to be commended for this appointment as it signifies to the entire world that life can be different in the Middle East for Arabs, Jews, women and other minorities. Hatred and war need not be a way of life.
In fact, Nonoo is Bahrain's third woman ambassador - the first being appointed to France in 2000 and the second to China.
Also of interest is the fact that Bahrain consists mostly of Shia Muslims, but the rulers are Sunni Muslims. So far, so good.
It is also reported that Jews who formerly departed Bahrain and now wish to return will be granted full citizenship rights.
May the light of peace, prosperity and democracy grow ever brighter in Bahrain.
2 comments:
Isn’t it sad that that should be newsworthy? Jews lived in the Middle East before Christianity and Islam. Prior to 1948 they lived as second class citizens but were spared the constant pogroms and Ghettoes of Europe. After 1948 over 700,000 Jews were forced out of almost all the Arab nations, after their property and businesses were forfeited. Many were killed. Most went to Israel as it was the only country that welcomed them, even though so many were penniless refugees. Eventually Israel managed to airlift the reaming Jews of Yemen and Ethiopia at great risk to all involved. The UN did little to help them as it concentrated on the Arab refugees, (estimated to be 600,000 originally and some questioned if they were all from the afflicted areas) from the 1948 war to destroy the new Jewish State, those refugees are still in camps or scattered around the world, yet still, they and their descendents are still cared for by the UN! The Jews have since become self supporting without UN help. Amazing isn’t it? Jordan’s population is almost all Palestinians but refugees were never granted citizenship there or in any of the Arab nations forming the Rejectionist states. They are still stateless refugees after 60 years and used for political reasons while being supported by the UN in camps.
The Arabs that remained in the new Jewish state are full citizens of Israel and there have been Arab political parties and members of the Knesset from the first day of the state. Contrast that with the Arabs that fled, at the suggestion of the attacking armies that are still refugees and have no place that will accept them as citizens.
Bahrain is truly unique but has only 50 Jews.
The world still sees Jews as expendable obviously regardless of their contribution to humanity.
What would Jesus say about that?
Bob Poris
The appointment of Nonoo to the position of Ambassador to the US raises more worries than hopes
The Bahrain Centre for Human
The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights welcomes developments in the country which promote equal opportunity among citizens, regardless of gender, race, or religion, and advocates the empowerment and inclusion of ethnic minorities in all aspects of Bahraini life.
However, the appointment of Houda Nonoo to the position of Bahraini Ambassador to the United States raises more worries than hopes.
1. A Mask for Double Standards:
On the heels of criticisms about a decision to ban Bangladeshis from receiving work permits in Bahrain (see: http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/2191), it seems the Bahraini authorities are keen to demonstrate their anti-discriminatory policies promoting equality and tolerance by confirming the appointment of a Jewish woman as ambassador. Unfortunately migrants living and working in Bahrain are afforded few legal protections (which are barely enforced), often live and work in terrible, inhumane conditions. They are discriminated against by government officials, who have suggested creating ghettoes in industrial regions of the country to house them. They have been used as scapegoats in the past for the government's own shortcomings in economic policy. (see: http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/1764)
No doubt such a decision also hopes to detract attention from the unwritten law of sectarian discrimination in Bahrain, where although the indigenous Shia make up more than 70% of the population, they hold less than 20% of high ranking positions in government institutions. The economic and political disenfranchisement of the Shia has meant that over 95% of the unemployed citizens of working age are Shia. Shia citizens are banned from military and security sector employment, while thousands of mercenary soldiers from Syria, Jordan, and Balouchistan are naturalised and given these jobs. (see:http://www.bahrainrights.org/node/384)
The appointment of another Bahraini female ambassador may also serve to create a false impression about the status women's rights in Bahrain, where the issue of a Personal Status Code has been used as a bargaining tool to gain concessions from Islamic opposition movements. In Bahrain female migrant domestic workers live in conditions akin to slavery under the kafala system, spousal rape is not considered a crime according to local laws, women hold only 9% of high ranking positions in government institutions, and Bahraini women married to non-Bahraini spouses cannot pass their citizenship onto their children, while Bahraini men can. (see: http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/1934)
2. Miss Nonoo's part in the Bahraini Authorities' Sectarian Agenda ("Bandergate"):
The BCHR is extremely concerned by the link between Miss Nonoo and the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS), a GONGO, which she is heading.
The BHRWS was shown to be receiving payments from a network of officials under the organization of former CIO head Ahmed Ateyatallah with the intention of further altering the demographic of Bahrain, disenfranchising Shias, inflaming sectarian tensions, marginalizing the opposition in Parliament, and weakening civil society through false civil society groups. The network worked through a media group, a number of false NGOs, an internet sites monitoring group, an electronic voting group, and by supporting electoral candidates financially.
The work of the false NGOs was to discredit the work and reputation of real human rights groups, and indeed the BHRWS repeatedly clashed with other local human rights groups both locally and on regional and international panels. (see:http://www.bahrainrights.org/node/586) BHRWS was rejected by a United Nations panel on Racial Discrimination at the UNCOHR in Geneva because of their position as a GONGO. Miss Nonoo herself implemented a campaign to discredit the work of BCHR members in a series of meetings with officials in Washington in 2005.
3. Dangerous Results of a Political Decision:
As with the decision to ban Bangladeshis from working in Bahrain, this move may also have negative repercussions among Bahraini society by igniting tensions between communities.
Bahrain has drawn attention really by its policies of discrimination against the Shia majority, migrant workers, and the status of women's rights. It's longstanding relationship with the United States has been criticised by members of the US government because of Bahrain's position towards Israel, which was raised during the process of negotiating the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, and also its treatment of ethnic and religious minorities.
Based on this, the move to appoint Miss Nonoo can be seen as a public relations oriented political decision, which the BCHR worries will carry grave repercussions among the local community. Not only is the Bahraini government using Miss Nonoo to give an impression of a tolerant society with equal opportunities for all, but also improve its position among the Jewish lobby in the US.
In Bahrain there is a continually diminishing level of trust citizens have for their government (particularly after the 'Bandergate' incident and its aftermath), and widespread negativity towards the United States government because of its policies and action in the region, namely its massive support for the state of Israel and its criminal policies towards the Palestinians and its Arab neighbours.
Because of these factors, as well as her known involvement in the government agenda against its people, Ms Nonoo risks being seen as a stooge of the Bahraini authorities, or even a Jewish stooge of the American administration. Again, this will cause further damage to communal relations in Bahrain, which are repeatedly exacerbated by government actions. Jews and Muslims have lived peacefully in Bahrain for centuries, and it would be a great shame to see these relations damaged because of a public relations stunt by the government.
Based on this, the BCHR rejects the politically motivated manipulation of Miss Nonoo's status as a woman and member of an ethnic minority group in her appointment to the position of Ambassador to the United States.
4. Recommendations:
+Bahrain should implement an honest policy of inclusion for all citizens, including ethnic minorities, women, and regardless of religion
+ The Bahraini authorities should take real and well considered steps towards promoting equal opportunities and tolerance in Bahrain.
+ This includes reviewing policies and practices towards women, the indigenous Shia population, ethnic and religious minorities, and migrant workers in Bahrain, and honouring its commitments towards the various UN treatises and conventions it has already ratified.
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