Houda Nonoo is proud of the unprecedented era of peace that we are living in in the wake of the Abraham Accords. A former ambassador to the United States from Bahrain, she spoke to The Jerusalem Post from Manama, Bahrain’s capital, one day before the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities (AGJC) was to hold its first Shabbat dinner in Bahrain.
“I’m at the venue doing a taste test for the Challah. We have 30 people joining us, including many diplomats, members of the Jewish communities throughout the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), as well as Bahraini and Emirati Muslims. We are bringing people together,” she said.
Nonoo’s family came to Bahrain from Iraq in the 1880s and she is from the second generation born in the Gulf kingdom. The community at its highest point had 1,500 people; now the community has about 50 people, and Nonoo is related to all of them from either her mother’s or father’s side, she told the Post. Nonoo’s role in the Foreign Ministry and her role now with the AGJC and other organizations is important for Bahrain and as a symbol of the new peace and coexistence opportunities that are forming in the region.
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“When our leaders signed the Abraham Accords, they wanted to create a new Middle East based on peace and prosperity for all. When I traveled with the [foreign] minister for the signing of the Accords he said this is a warm peace, embraced by leaders and their people,” she said.
She is also excited to see how this peace, that involves people-to-people interactions, will move forward.
Bahrain announced that it would be establishing relations with Israel on September 11, 2020 and signed the Accords on the White House lawn on September 15th, just a few days later. “Since then, we’ve seen so many fruits from the Accords on the business side; Bahrain’s Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) signed a deal with Mekorot to share water knowledge and technologies, including desalination facilities, automated control systems for water facilities and technological upgrades,” she noted. In addition the National Bank of Bahrain signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Israel’s two largest banks – Bank Hapoalim and Bank Leumi. Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer and Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama are cooperating on a number of initiatives, including exchange programs, Nonoo noted. “We are still at the beginning of this relationship but we have done so much in a year. It has been baby steps so far but the future is bright.”
Nonoo was a founding member of the Bahrain Human Rights Society in 2004 where she focused on women’s rights and children’s rights and domestic workers. “When I became the secretary-general [of the organization], it propelled me to the national stage because we were doing a lot of good things for people. I was appointed in 2006 by His Majesty to the Shura Council which is the Upper House of Parliament where I served on economic and financial committees.”
In 2008 she recalled the phone call that came on April 24 at 3:18pm from the foreign minister. He said that “His Majesty was appointing me as Bahrain’s Ambassador to the US. It was such an honor to be given that position and serve my country. I arrived in July 2008 and was there for 5-and-a-half years. I was also a non-resident ambassador in Mexico, Brazil, Canada and Argentina.”
Nonoo became the first Jewish female ambassador from Bahrain, and the first Jewish woman from any of the Arab or Muslim states to be an ambassador to Washington. She always says that despite this historic first, as a woman and a Jewish ambassador to Washington, “I’m Bahraini first.”
Nonoo is active on social media. She tweets “Shabbat Shalom” every Friday and showcases new places and photos from Bahrain. “I started it thinking that it would be a nice way to showcase how comfortable it is being openly Jewish in Bahrain. It turned out to be so much more and now each week photos stream in from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, United Kingdom, United States, Switzerland, Italy, Colombia, Kenya, Greece, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Luxembourg, Uzbekistan, Canada, and others. It ended up being so much – a calling card of sorts,” she said. “The numbers absolutely amaze me. In less than nine months, more than two-and-a-half million people have viewed the tweets and continue to engage with them. Here in Bahrain, people know about the series as well and it has been a wonderful way to show what Shabbat is about. It’s become something that unites us all.”
Her first trip to Israel was last November with the Bahraini foreign minister’s delegation. “I never thought in my life I would go to Israel and my time there was absolutely amazing. I went back a second time within a week. I’m waiting for my third trip and hope to go back as soon as COVID travel restrictions ease up,” she said.
She is looking forward to many developments on various fronts that will showcase the Abraham Accords. This will include more MOUs and also Gulf Air flights to Bahrain. “This will jump-start tourism and we already have Jewish delegations from the US and Israel coming. The first is planned for the end of October. About four different delegations will be coming out,” she said.
In addition to this work the AGJC is also flourishing. Founded in February it brings together Jews from six countries in the Gulf. “Under the leadership of Rabbi [Elie] Abadie in Dubai, the AGJC recently facilitated a Bat Mitzvah in Oman and this weekend we will have the first Bar Mitzvah in 16 years in Bahrain. It is a very busy weekend here in Bahrain; we have arranged a Shabbat dinner with the AGJC board for tomorrow; have a Bar Mitzvah on Shabbat and then slihot on Sunday. We try to do one event every month,” she said. “As people of this region, we must work hand-in-hand, as Muslims and Jews.”
Jewish life in Bahrain is also growing. “We began refurbishing our synagogue in February 2020, before the Abraham Accords,” she mentioned. With the renovation completed in 2021 the synagogue is now ready for use. On Saturday August 21 the synagogue saw a reading for the first time from the Torah that Jared Kushner commissioned as a gift to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. “It is very meaningful for us to use this Torah for the first time this weekend as the first anniversary of the Abraham Accords approaches because the Accords were signed with the goal of creating a better life for the youth in our region,” she said.