Huda - a reflection of Bahrain's tolerant culture

Her face is an arresting image in determination and aspiration these days in Bahrain. It is a soft but determined look primed to prove that the alleged clash between cultures does not really exist and that the war of religious ideas is merely a myth.

Huda Ezra Nonoo, the woman tipped to be her country's next ambassador to Washington and to become the first Jewish envoy of an Arab state to the US, is on a mission to offset the concept that Jews in Arab countries are less patriotic and dedicated to their country's ideals than their fellow nationals.

Huda, a mother of two teenage boys, is undoubtedly Bahrain's most featured face in the media today, and even long after the fanfare about her nomination as her country's top diplomat in Washington subdues, she will always be recalled for making history. Again.

Because Huda is not a history-making novice.

In 2004, she became the first minority woman to head a human rights society and in 2006 she was the first Jewish female lawmaker to sit in the upper house. Two positions that shed the spotlight on the quiet woman born 43 years ago to a Bahraini family devoted to business and financial activities. She herself was destined to perpetuate the family tradition after she studied business in Britain and opened a shop in one of Manama's busiest avenues selling computers and computer accessories.

But now her inexorably stratospheric public ascent since 2004 seems to have put her business vocation on hold in favour of diplomacy.

The perspective fascinates her.

Only two women in Bahrain have had the outstanding distinction of heading diplomatic missions, Shaikha Haya Bint Rashid Al Khalifa in France and Bibi Al Alawi currently in China. No Jew or Christian was ever appointed as ambassador, although a Christian woman, Alice Samaan, is one of the two vice presidents of the upper house in the bicameral parliament.

Around 40 Jews today live in Bahrain. Decades ago, there were hundreds of them but many emigrated for various reasons.

"There was a Jewish community in Bahrain of between 300 and 400 persons who lived in Manama ... They were quiet, law-abiding, timorous people...," wrote Charles Belgrave, the British advisor to the rulers of Bahrain from 1926 until 1957, in his book Personal Column.

One of the first Jews to settle in Bahrain was Saleh Eliyahou Yadgar, coming from Basra in the late 1880s. "He began as a tobacconist and later sold flour. He then started dealing with second-hand clothes and also commenced in the material trade supplied from abroad, mainly dealing in the sale of abayas, the long black dress covering worn by Gulf women," writes Nancy Elly Khedouri, a Bahraini Jew in her book From Our Beginning to Present Day.

He and the other Baghdadi Jews who arrived in Bahrain in the early 1990s settled in with ease and some of them became involved in political life.

"Issac Sweiry, Meir Dahoud Rouben and Abraham Nonoo, were members of the Manama Municipality. The membership did not bring about any hatred or problems," Nancy writes.

The Nonoo family history in Bahrain began with Abraham Nonoo "who left Iraq at the age of nine or ten with his uncle and came to Manama". Abraham was elected in 1934 as member of the Manama Municipality. His grandson, also Abraham, was the first Jew to be appointed to the Shura (Upper) Council in 2002 and served until 2006. The post was later assigned to his cousin, Huda Ezra Nonoo. It heralded a new chapter in her life.

Now, her historic designation as the head of the diplomatic mission in Washington is seen by most Bahrainis as a reflection of the country's tolerance towards Jews and Christians and a celebration of its kaleidoscopic blend of communities. Many also celebrate it as a new recognition of the elevated status of women in a conservative region.

Bahrainis, both common people and officials, say that Huda, who was educated at Carmel College, Oxfordshire, was selected based on her merit as a citizen and regardless of her religious beliefs. Their views are reinforced by the Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa. "She is a Bahraini citizen whose forefathers are also Bahrainis," he says.

For the minister, an eternal romantic and savvy diplomat, the fact that Bahrain had only 37 Jews out of a total native population of 530,000 and that most of them were engaged in business and financial activities did not mean that they should be overlooked for diplomatic posts.

Religious affiliations

Shaikh Khalid, like most Bahrainis, so de-emphasises religious affiliations and gender differences that the nomination of Huda, however historic it is, cannot be seen out of its proper context. They believe that Huda's aspiration and the government's decision should not generate one iota of suspicion.

But not all Bahrainis agree.

Nabeel Rajab, the vice-president of a rights watchdog, believes that the appointment is a mere stunt by the government since "Ms Nonoo risks being seen as a stooge of the Bahraini authorities, or even a Jewish stooge of the American administration".

"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," he says.

But many people insist on celebrating Huda's nomination as an indication that "Bahrain does not differentiate between men and women in public offices and does not discriminate against citizens on the bases of their beliefs."

Huda's is not the only success story for a Jew in Bahrain. In fact, as Meir Rouben, one of Bahrain's well-known Jews, said: "Bahraini Jews all have successful positions. Everyone here has their niche."

"When the late Emir, Shaikh Eissa Bin Salman Al Khalifa passed away in 1999, his son (King Hamad) called the Jewish community together and told us there was nothing to worry about and that the government would continue with its same policy. He assured us nothing would change," Rouben said in an interview with the Washington Times years ago. "He told us that any Bahraini, born in Bahrain, who has emigrated elsewhere, has the right to come back to Bahrain, and get a Bahraini passport anytime they want."

But things did change. For the better.

Abraham Nonoo was appointed in 2002 and 2004 member of the Shura Council to represent the Jewish community.

In December 2006, his slender-looking niece, Huda Nonoo, walked in front of the MPs, government officials and hundreds of guests on a bright and breezy day to shake hands with the king, the prime minister and the crown prince at the parliament inauguration ceremony.

She stood as a proud Bahraini citizen, her long hair blowing in the wind, making history and telling the world that Bahraini Jews are not less patriotic or dedicated than their fellow citizens.

"This is a historic moment that I shall always recall with fondness," she recalls. "I look forward to vibrant contributions to Bahrain's development."

As she now stands ready to take up her new post in Washington, amid a deluge of prayers and good wishes from her small community and supporting nation, the ambition is growing steadily and the anticipation is swelling within her soul.

Rabbi Jeremy Rosen, her former headmaster in Britain, said that she was the perfect student, sweet, serious and lovely.

Now, Bahrain is waiting to admire the same attributes imprinted by her family and instructors, and even more in their new envoy.