Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo ( ar, هدى عزرا نونو; born 7 September 1964) served as the

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

i Ambassador to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

from 2008 to 2013. She was appointed to the position by decree of Foreign Affairs Minister Khaled Ben Ahmad Al-Khalifa. Nonoo is the first

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

, and third

woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

, to be appointed ambassador of Bahrain. She is also the first Jewish ambassador of any

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

ern Arab country,"Bahreïn persiste et signe"
Radio Canada, June 8, 2008"Une juive ambassadrice d'un pays arabe"
Radio Canada, May 31, 2008 and the first female Bahraini ambassador to the United States.

Biography

Nonoo was born in

Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very di ...

, to a family of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

business entrepreneurs with origins in present-day

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. Nonoo's grandfather Ibrahim left

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

in 1888 and started a financial business in Bahrain. Nonoo lived for an extended period of time in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where she attended Carmel College, a Jewish boarding school, and earned an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

. She also met and married Salman Idafar,Bahrain protests have complicated job for Houda Nonoo, first Jewish ambassador from an Arab nation

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

a British Jew, with whom she had two sons; Menasheh and Ezra. After her father died in a car accident, she returned to Bahrain to take over the Basma Company, a company offering different office services, from IT to janitoring, hence becoming a successful businesswoman after inheriting the family's business. Prior to her appointment to the ''

Majlis al-shura The Majlis al-Shura (consultative council or Shura council) is the overarching political and decision making body of Hamas. It includes representatives from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Israeli prisons, and the exiled external leadership, the Po ...

'' in 2005, she founded in 2004 and presided over the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society, a society for the advancement of women's rights as well as of foreign workers in Bahrain. For a total of three years served as a member of

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

(40-member Shura Council), after being appointed by King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah. Her appointment made headlines because Houda is part of the small Jewish community of

. Bahrain's Jewish community reportedly consists of just 37 people, most of whom are the descendants of immigrants from

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Nonoo is not the first person in her family to enter

i politics, or member of the

ish community. In 1934, her grandfather Abraham Nonoo served as a member of the Manama Municipality, the first ever elected municipal body in Bahrain. In 2000, a cousin, Ebrahim Daoud Nonoo was appointed to

. The Nonoo family is originally from

having moved to

over a century ago.

Appointment as ambassador to the United States

On 3 July 2008, Nonoo was appointed Ambassador of the

Kingdom of Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ad ...

to the United States, a role that also included responsibility over Bahraini diplomatic representation to Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina (non-resident). Some local media criticized the appointment, and

Radio Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government ...

reported that her nomination was controversial within Bahrain, with some suggesting that a Jew might not be the best choice to defend Bahrain's refusal to recognise

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. King Al-Khalifa rejected these concerns. During her term as ambassador, she made quite a few changes at the embassy, like changing the

iftar Iftar ( ar, translit=Iftar Ramadan, إفطار رمضان), also known as (from , , 'breakfast'), (), is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. They break their fast at the time of the call to prayer ...

from all-male gatherings to mixed-gender events with lectures on Islam and also introduced and interfaith reunions with local imams, rabbis and Christian clergy as guests. Her role ended in November 2013, when she was replaced by

Abdullah bin Mohammad bin Rashed Al Khalifa Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Rashid Al Khalifa (born 1960) is a Bahraini member of the House of Khalifa and between 2013 and 2017 was Bahraini Ambassador in Washington, D.C. The current Ambassador is Abdullah Bin Rashid Al Khalifa Career *In 1988 ...

, until then the military attaché of Bahrain in Washington.

References

External links

Official embassy bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nonoo, Houda 1964 births Living people 21st-century diplomats 21st-century Bahraini politicians Alumni of London Guildhall University Alumni of London Metropolitan University Ambassadors of Bahrain to the United States Bahraini feminists Bahraini Jews Bahraini people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Bahraini women diplomats Bahraini women in politics Bahraini women's rights activists Jewish Bahraini politicians Jewish feminists Members of the Consultative Council (Bahrain) Women ambassadors 21st-century Bahraini women politicians Sephardi politicians