By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Last updated: May 30, 2008, 14:22


Manama: Bahrain has appointed the first Jewish ambassador from the Arab world to the United States after the announcement of a royal decree transferring Huda Ezra Nonoo to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Huda, a member of the Shura Council, the Upper House, is now Bahrain's head of diplomatic mission in Washington, replacing Nasser Al Beloushi.

Diplomats who spoke to Gulf News said that Al Beloushi is tipped for a post in France.

"It is a great honour to have been appointed as the first female ambassador to the United States of America and I am looking forward to meeting this new challenge," Nonoo told the Associated Press.

Huda, a businesswoman with interests in the computer industry, was the first Jewish woman to the Shura Council.


http://www.gulfnews.com/news/gulf/bahrain/10217051.html

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Sure, Israel will be happy with this step.

She's Bahraini, what does Israel have to do with this?

Sure, Israel will be happy with this step.

C'mon.. this has nothing to do with Israel. This Jewish lady is a Bahraini citizen and she is entitled to any opportunities offered by Bahraini government.

^ Ah, I think IceTea is just having ... fun ... or something like that.

I think it's a clever move. Sending a Female, Arab non-Muslim will actually benefit in reducing the stereotypes.

Meh...It's annoying how this tiny piece of news is everywhere. I've been reading around on her for quite some time. Good for her.

This is Huda for the curious:

http://i27.tinypic.com/6ycc35.jpg

If she's loyal to her country then I don't see anything wrong in appointing her as an embassador. She's Bahraini and represents Bahrain.

What is silly in Bahrain is that the percentage of Jews does not constitute a tiny piece of a member, the representation of their one member, who is representing one family of 10 houses of a few tens of people is way way higher than the representation of the Shia given their high percentage!

There is some ***** kissing in the issue and this ambassador has to be from the same family “NuNu” without even looking at the news! That is what makes it silly!
I am not against Jews here, they have representation in Yemen and Morocco which goes well with their percentage in the public, but where do we have a member representing one family…and if we look closer I am sure you will find many races in Bahrain that have more population and are never mentioned not to talk about a representation in the parliament.

Pygmalion, you have a point, there are only 50 Jews left in Bahrain.

Why not five jews. If she deserved the position then so be it. Yes, I as a muslim, prefer that position goes to a muslim. But this woman is also Bahraini and if the government Of Bahrain saw she's up to the title ambassador then I don't see any wrong in it. I just wish that she doesn't let her religion affect her decisions regarding muslims, specially in Bahrain.

What is silly in Bahrain is that the percentage of Jews does not constitute a tiny piece of a member, the representation of their one member, who is representing one family of 10 houses of a few tens of people is way way higher than the representation of the Shia given their high percentage!

There is some ***** kissing in the issue and this ambassador has to be from the same family “NuNu” without even looking at the news! That is what makes it silly!
I am not against Jews here, they have representation in Yemen and Morocco which goes well with their percentage in the public, but where do we have a member representing one family…and if we look closer I am sure you will find many races in Bahrain that have more population and are never mentioned not to talk about a representation in the parliament.

Well, I think everybody , regardless to which race he/she belongs to, should get what they deserve for based on their merit, not on their race.

Even if there are only 10 Jews out of 700,000 Bahraini population, if they are capable and qualified, they should get their deserved position.

Especially in this case, this Jewish lady Ms Huda is the Ambassador of Bahrain. She is not the Ambassador of Jewish community in Bahrain.

Pygmalion, you have a point, there are only 50 Jews left in Bahrain.

I think we should not play racial card here.

Ice_Tea, if you were born as a Jew , how would you feel if you're condemned or being looked down upon every day by Muslim communities in your country ? Wouldn't you feel frustrated ? We must put ourselves in their position.

Smart move by Bahrain, now Iran will never think of that lil island again

More interesting than her religious background, at least to me, is that she will be only the second woman ambassador from the Arab world to Washington - the first, of course, coming from Oman, Mme. Hunaina al-Mughairy, who is apparently very well-regarded.

In any case, I'm sure the King of Bahrain wouldn't have appointed her to a post like that if he weren't quite sure she was up to representing her country. Brava!

Nonetheless, I do often think of the incredible talent-drain the Arab nations suffered in the 50s when they expelled the majority of their Jewish populations, many of whom would have been quite happy - even eager - to remain as loyal citizens. They might have been extremely useful as friendly voices counseling restraint, conciliation, and generally better behavior from Israel. Instead, they were summarily dismisssed, dispossessed, and generally turned into hostile presences in the new state.

Umm, well, to appoint someone JUST BECAUSE they are Jewish--or JUST BECAUSE they are Shia--seems to me to be a bad idea.

But it someone is Jewish and they are the most capable one for the job, why shouldn't they get it? Why assume the appointment is only because she is Jewish?

Jews tend to be extremely capable and extremely intelligent and thus overreprented in the careers they choose and in higher education...

She also makes an effective spokesman, it seems to me, on issues relating precisely to Israel. Much more impressive when a Jewish spokesman is arguing the Arab viewpoint than if a Muslim is.

It's not about precentage i guess ! even if she was the only Jews there n she desreves to be appointed then why not !

She is Bahrini and as long as she is loyal to her county and deserve the position, I don’t see any reason to stop her !

I think we should not play racial card here.

Ice_Tea, if you were born as a Jew , how would you feel if you're condemned or being looked down upon every day by Muslim communities in your country ? Wouldn't you feel frustrated ? We must put ourselves in their position.

No racial card here.

I think if she was sent to Somalia for example then I don't think we will even hear about this news. :)

its just "bahrain" Maseera Island is 3 times bigger than it :D they don't even have a proper army, so what difference would that make..

its not a smart move, its just as$ Kissing honestly.. and bahrain wanted to add one more thing to the "First country to" list, in their competition with Qatar n Emirates..

No racial card here.

I think if she was sent to Somalia for example then I don't think we will even hear about this news. :)

There is no country called Somalia today ;)

What do you mean?

its just "bahrain" Maseera Island is 3 times bigger than it :D they don't even have a proper army, so what difference would that make..

its not a smart move, its just as$ Kissing honestly.. and bahrain wanted to add one more thing to the "First country to" list, in their competition with Qatar n Emirates..
First country to... what?

What do you mean?

my bad, I meant Somalia is a stateless land.

How many embassies are there in Somalia ? I don't think many people dare to be an Ambassador serving in Mogadishu.

She was elected democratically at the Shura
If now she's been appointed by her king, that's fine
Prophet Mohammed respected jewsh and had some good friends among them
We should do the same
And if Gulf countries invited the Israeli foreign minister for a conference in Qatar, where also the Omani representative shook hands with her, it means there's the will to relax relations