There are just over 1,000,000 people in Bahrain, more than two-thirds of which are Shi'a (although it is 15% Sunnis who rule); Christians compose slightly less than 10% of the population and there are--at last count--forty Jewish citizens.
Bahrain has a constitutional monarchy; the Islamist parties (both Shi'a and Sunni) are growing in strength, but are peaceful and opposed by more moderate secularists.
On women's rights:
Why is any of this important? Al Jazeera today reports that Bahrain has just appointed Houda Nonoo as its third female ambassador (probably to the US; the others represent their country in France and China).
Being third is not like being first, unless--like Ms. Nonoo--you're also the first Jewish ambassador appointed by an Arab country in modern history.
From Al Jazeera:
The world is an interesting place.
Bahrain has a constitutional monarchy; the Islamist parties (both Shi'a and Sunni) are growing in strength, but are peaceful and opposed by more moderate secularists.
On women's rights:
Women's political rights in Bahrain saw an important step forward when women were granted the right to vote and stand in national elections for the first time in the 2002 election. However, no women were elected to office in that year’s polls and instead Shī'a and Sunnī Islamists dominated the election, collectively winning a majority of seats. In response to the failure of women candidates, six were appointed to the Shura Council, which also includes representatives of the Kingdom’s indigenous Jewish and Christian communities. The country's first female cabinet minister was appointed in 2004 when Dr. Nada Haffadh became Minister of Health, while the quasi-governmental women's group, the Supreme Council for Women, trained female candidates to take part in the 2006 general election. When Bahrain was elected to head the United Nations General Assembly in 2006 it appointed lawyer and women's rights activist Haya bint Rashid Al Khalifa as the President of the United Nations General Assembly [50], only the third woman in history to head the world body.
Why is any of this important? Al Jazeera today reports that Bahrain has just appointed Houda Nonoo as its third female ambassador (probably to the US; the others represent their country in France and China).
Being third is not like being first, unless--like Ms. Nonoo--you're also the first Jewish ambassador appointed by an Arab country in modern history.
From Al Jazeera:
Bahrain has appointed a Jewish woman as an ambassador, believed to be the Arab world's first Jewish envoy.
The selection of Houda Nonoo was made by decree on Wednesday and reported by local media in the Gulf Arab kingdom on Friday.
The decree, published by the official Bahraini News Agency, did not state which nation Nonoo would be appointed to but media reports have said that the US is her likely destination.
Nonoo, 43, said she would undertake the role "first of all as a Bahraini" and that she was not chosen because of her religion.
Bahraini media had speculated over Nonoo's selection for the past few months.
Nonoo, a businesswoman and mother of two children, has served as a legislator in Bahrain's all-appointed 40-member Shura Council for three years.
Nonoo lives in both Bahrain and London and is the first Jewish woman to head a local rights organisation, the Bahrain Human Rights Watch....
About 40 Jews live in Bahrain, where there is one synagogue.
The authorities in Bahrain are currently planning to grant full citizenship rights to Jewish returnees, according to local reports.
The world is an interesting place.
Comments
thanks.