Bahrain Names a Jewish Ambassador to the US

[Haruun]

Bahrain's king has appointed a Jewish woman as the country's envoy to the United States.

Houda Nonoo said she was proud to serve her country "first of all as a Bahraini" and that she was not chosen for the post because of her religion.

She is believed to be the Arab world's first Jewish ambassador.

Ms Nonoo, 43, has served as a legislator in Bahrain's 40-member Shura Council for three years and is head of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch.

"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," Ms Nonoo told the Associated Press news agency.

Her family is originally from Iraq, having moved to Bahrain over a century ago.

Bahrain has one of the world's oldest and smallest Jewish communities. It was, at one time, home to as many as 1,500 Jews. Today the community has a synagogue and numbers around 50 people.

Bahrain is a close US ally but has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

It has a Shia Muslim majority, roughly 65% of the population, but the ruling elite is Sunni.
BBC

As we all know, Lebanon is the ONLY country who's Jewish population increased after Israel was established, now those in the Gulf we laugh at as Lebanese since we think we're the best are actually more progressive than we are. Regardless if its a publicity stunt, this is a good reflection as to where Lebanon was and is today...

P.S. Nassim Nasr, a Lebanese Jew who worked for Hezbollah, is being deported from Israel

[Ana3arabi!]

who cares . seriously , why is everyone making such a huge deal about this . these gulf states' non-jewish citizens are treated like trash and i suppose all that matters is for jews to be treated well , and that will make these rulers civilized right ! bahrain doesn't have more than 50 jews , i guess the fact that 1 of them got an official govt position shows how civilized and "progressive" the rulers are .. & how many non-jews who get these jobs are representative of the people & the communities ? sounds like there is a new judeophilic trend in the gulf . what with all the "interfaith" meetups hosted by none other than ksa which does not even allow Christians to worship openly on its territories , to which world jewish congress is invited . btw dont let the name fool you they are not just a religious group ,they are zionists .

[Haruun]

I'm not exactly disagreeing with you, my concern is targetted towards Lebanon, where a Jewish community far outnumbering 50 lives quietly and behind the dark because ignorance forces many people to have trouble differentiating between Lebanese/Jews and Israeli's. Lebanon lost its economic role in the region, and now we're even being reminded we're losing our very identity of being the most liberal and pluralistic in the region to the very people we mock and humiliate. I'm not praising Bahrain, nor am I praising its leadership, I'm not exactly a fan of the Gulf and as a matter of fact any country in the "Arab Ummah" but I'm directing this towards our own people and our own leadership in Lebanon. Jews in Lebanon were the only constitutionally protected Jewish community in the Middle East, today they pretend their Christian or Muslim.

[Lebe]

Bahrain is no where closr to a democracy than Lebanon.

Regarding jewish representation in Lebanon, i would like to know what the real estimate is for the number of jews in Lebanon. If they feel threatened, its the job of the ISF to protect them from whoever is threatening them.

[Ana3arabi!]

Originally Posted by Haruun

I'm not exactly disagreeing with you, my concern is targetted towards Lebanon, where a Jewish community far outnumbering 50 lives quietly and behind the dark because ignorance forces many people to have trouble differentiating between Lebanese/Jews and Israeli's. Lebanon lost its economic role in the region, and now we're even being reminded we're losing our very identity of being the most liberal and pluralistic in the region to the very people we mock and humiliate. I'm not praising Bahrain, nor am I praising its leadership, I'm not exactly a fan of the Gulf and as a matter of fact any country in the "Arab Ummah" but I'm directing this towards our own people and our own leadership in Lebanon. Jews in Lebanon were the only constitutionally protected Jewish community in the Middle East, today they pretend their Christian or Muslim.

so you measure liberalism & pluralism by the assignment of jews (or other minorities ) to positions ?? how about you start with checking how majorities. are treated . liberalism & pluralism mean nothing if the pluralistic society is not treated with respect , and no , assigning some people to positions does not mean respecting entire communities . in lebanon we never had that kind of respect , so i don't see how u can say we are "losing" something . u can't lose something u didn't have to begin with.
how do u know there are more than 50 jews in Lebanon ?

[dodzi]

Originally Posted by Ana3arabi!

how do u know there are more than 50 jews in Lebanon ?

There are thousands of Jews in Lebanon. And that's not even relevant to the question. You are diverting the subject of this thread!

Jews are still a recognized minority in Lebanon, but their safety is put at risk, and hence they chose to use other confessions as a cover up...

[johnnyFPM]

Originally Posted by Ana3arabi!

so you measure liberalism & pluralism by the assignment of jews (or other minorities ) to positions ?? how about you start with checking how majorities. are treated . liberalism & pluralism mean nothing if the pluralistic society is not treated with respect , and no , assigning some people to positions does not mean respecting entire communities . in lebanon we never had that kind of respect , so i don't see how u can say we are "losing" something . u can't lose something u didn't have to begin with.
how do u know there are more than 50 jews in Lebanon ?

I know a family of jews who say they are christians to protect themselves in Lebanon. They estimate the number of jews still to be leaving in Beirut to 600...

If your parents are from Beirut, you can ask them about their childhoods: my mother tells me she had lots of jewish lebanese people in her class as a kid. Now I bet you can't find anyone of our generation that can say that to his kids!

If they are not here anymore its perhaps because they do not feel protected enough. And perhaps because we, rightly, suspicion some to have spy ties with Israel...

[dodzi]

Originally Posted by johnnyFPM

I know a family of jews who say they are christians to protect themselves in Lebanon. They estimate the number of jews still to be leaving in Beirut to 600...

If your parents are from Beirut, you can ask them about their childhoods: my mother tells me she had lots of jewish lebanese people in her class as a kid. Now I bet you can't find anyone of our generation that can say that to his kids!

If they are not here anymore its perhaps because they do not feel protected enough. And perhaps because we, rightly, suspicion some to have spy ties with Israel...

Rightly? I think most spies to Israel are Christians and many Muslims too! I know that the Lebanese Jewish community does keep in contact with Israel, but not as spies, only to make sure Israel doesn't bomb places where Jews might live. In fact, it would be too dangerous for Lebanese Jews to be spies, since they are known and constantly watched. Muslims (and specifically Shiites) can make far better spies, since nobody would suspect them!

Plus, maybe we should also take a look at Christians and Muslims that are spies to Syria, Iran, the US or France. Or perhaps we should also take a closer look at potential terrorist groups, armed movements and real threats, rather than harmless and threatened minorities...

[Ana3arabi!]

dodzi , i am not changing the topic , i was responding to haruun's post , he said the appointment of a jew in Bahrain to a position shows that Bahrain is more progressive & liberal than lebanon , that lebanon has lost its liberalism & pluralism . 50 jews in bahrain , with all due respect , does not make bahrain a pluralist country .i am not against lebanese Jews , if they are citizens they should have the same rights , and if they feel unsafe they should have protection , but i don't see why they feel unsafe , who is threatening the m ? HA is not against jews , has never threatened jews , and if there is fear , it should be from the salafis who have cut off people's heads in the north , it happened before the nahr el bared clashes , and it happened agai n in halba a few weeks ago . and everyone , not just jews, should/would feel threatened by such people , so Jews are no exception !
i really don't see how your argument that jews don't feel safe can be valid , because i dont see any proof that they are being threatened . if there are some stupid people who have issued threats (which i don't see any proof of ) , it doesn't mean an entire community should or would feel threatened , because there are stupid ppl who threaten other communities too , and no one hides their identity , even the small communities like the Alawites & Kurds . there is no more anti-jewish sentiment in lebanon than there is anti-Alawite sentiment for example .
btw i was not questioning the numbers, was just asking a question to Haruun because he seemed to say it as a matter of fact & i was curious about his source.

[syrian]

The TheJewsOfLebanon.org

I hope all syrian and lebanese jews return to their country. This is their country, and we are their brothers, we have been living together for thousands of years.