Bahrain's One-Woman Democracy

CNN confuses female Bahraini ambassador for man as unarmed protesters are shot at point-blank range by Bahraini police.

Bahraini ambassador to the U.S. (Photo: AP)

(ISTANBUL) - Tired of hearing about the deadly repression of pro-democracy demonstrators by the Bahraini regime? Treat yourself to the recent Haaretz profile of Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo, Bahrain’s ambassador to the U.S.

Written by Natasha Mozgovaya, the profile begins:

"The appointment of Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo (46), the first female Ambassador from Bahrain and the first Jewish Ambassador of an Arab country in Washington, was praised by U.S. diplomats when it was revealed recently in one of the Wikileaks cables."

Sticklers for grammar might be surprised to learn that no one knew who Bahrain’s ambassador was until it was revealed by Wikileaks. Undeterred, Mozgovaya plows ahead:

"One of Bahrain’s 36 Jews, Nonoo told the ‘Moment’ magazine, a national magazine dedicated to Jewish politics, religion and culture founded in 1975 by Elie Wiesel, that she never experienced religious prejudice in her home country. ‘I had a normal Jewish upbringing. I was born into Judaism. It’s no different from growing up like a Jew in America. It’s my religion.’"

Bahrain’s hundreds of thousands of Muslims may of course be excused for not mistaking the 200-year-old Khalifa family rule as a tolerant milieu, especially when unarmed protesters are being shot at point-blank range by Bahraini police. As for Nonoo, Mozgovaya informs us that she “promotes Bahrain’s image as a country in which women ‘have a choice’ whether to cover themselves or to drive (and since 2002, to vote, although there is only one woman elected to the Parliament).”

In fact, by the end of the profile it appears that the current problem is not murderous repression in Bahrain but rather inherent sexism in the U.S. media and among attendees of “festive events.” Mozgovaya’s concluding paragraph reads:

Yet Nonoo is still often mistaken for the Ambassador’s wife at festive events – and in a recent CNN report on the clashes in Bahrain, in which her rare statement was mentioned, they referred to the Bahraini Ambassador as ‘he.’”

A perusal of the CNN report in question reveals that Nonoo is indeed referred to as a male and that his rare statement confirms the Bahraini “clashes” merely constitute a Shia-Sunni conflict—the line being peddled in order to avert democracy. “He” also denies that his compatriots have been subjected to live ammunition and claims that only 8 canisters of tear gas have been used against crowds. It is not clear why 8 is the magically permissible number, or why Bahraini health care professionals are conspiring against Mr. Nonoo’s claims.

As for other gender-related ambassadorial trials, Mozgovaya notes that “Nonoo referred to the buzz following her appointment in 2008 with slight annoyance: ‘The headlines were ‘Jewish Female’, they forgot I was Bahraini.”

“They” might well be forgiven.

Belén is co-editor at Pulse Media. Her articles also have appeared in CounterPunch, Narco News, Palestine Chronicle, Palestine Think Tank, Rebelión, Tlaxcala, The Electronic Intifada, Upside Down World, and Venezuelanalysis.com. Her book “Coffee with Hezbollah,” a humorous political travelogue chronicling her hitchhiking trip through Lebanon in the aftermath of the 2006 Israeli assault, is available at Amazon, Amazon UK, and Barnes and Noble.

Born in Washington, DC, in 1982, Belén earned her bachelor's degree with a concentration in political science from Columbia University in New York City. Her diverse background of worldwide experiences, created a fantastic writer; one whose work we are extremely happy to share with Salem-News.com viewers. You can contact Belén at: belengarciabernal@gmail.com