Bitter Divides Persist Below Bahrain’s Relatively Calm Surface
\nBy Barbara Slavin <\/p>\n
WASHINGTON, Jul 20, 2011 (IPS) – When Bahraini ambassador Houda Ezra Nonoo arrived in Washington three years ago, she was greeted as the representative of a close U.S. ally with a reputation for more openness and tolerance than most Gulf nations.<\/p>\n
Nonoo was also a novelty as a woman representing an Arab country, and even more unusually, a Jew \u2013 one of only 37 in Bahrain.<\/p>\n
These days, however, her job is considerably more complicated. Demonstrations followed by a bloody crackdown have tarnished Bahrain’s image and shaken its social cohesion. Al-Wefaq, the largest opposition party, pulled out Sunday from a national dialogue convened by the government only two weeks ago to try to bridge a sectarian divide between the ruling Sunni minority and the Shiite majority that has widened into a chasm since the spring.<\/p>\n
Welcoming an audience comprised largely of business people and Congressional staffers to the embassy Tuesday night, Nonoo appealed for patience. “My request to you as Americans is \u2026try to understand what it means to be such a small country with powerful neighbours and wounds to heal,” she said.<\/p>\n
The ambassador spoke after guests watched a glitzy video about Bahrain that even she conceded was jarringly out of date.<\/p>\n
The video touted Bahrain’s “political stability” and called the island nation “the only real democracy in the Gulf region”. It showed scenes from Formula One racing, which cancelled its scheduled Grand Prix event in Bahrain this spring because of the political unrest. Bahrain is “a country undergoing dynamic changes”, the video said, a land of business opportunities, five star hotels and luxury homes built on land reclaimed from the sea.<\/p>\n
The video, Nonoo noted, had been made in 2006, long before the current turmoil. However, she underlined its pitch for foreign investment and tourism, insisting that “Bahrain is open for business” and that its lifestyle is more relaxed and comfortable for foreigners than that of straight-laced Saudi Arabia across a 16-mile causeway to the west. What’s more, she added, Bahrain has no taxes of any kind. …more<\/a><\/p>\n