In a welcome move, the Israel government has appointed Rasha Atamny, as it first female Muslim diplomatic envoy. 31-year-old Rasha Atamny, is all set to represent the Jewish state in Ankara in Turkey. This is the first time that Israel has allowed a female Muslim woman to represent its country abroad.
Before pursuing a three-year Foreign Ministry cadet course, Atamny studied psychology at the Hebrew University. Additionally, Atamny will be representing Israel in one of the most important allies of the country. In June, 2016 Israel and Turkey had signed a reconciliation agreement to end the six-year diplomatic rift.
In her blog, Atamny wrote that sh wanted to be diplomat while completing a three-month internship at the Israeli mission at the UN.
“One turning point will always stay with me: one day, I sat down in my usual seat in the human rights committee, and listened with great interest to a discussion taking place on women’s rights violations,” Atamny wrote in Hebrew.
“At this point, I had gotten used to the continuous barrage of accusations leveled against Israel by many countries on the council… The discrimination against Israel in the UN is very obvious and disappointing. But this time it was different. This time I listened to speeches by Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Egypt, all decrying the ‘systematic women’s rights violations’ by Israel, while I, an Arab, Muslim Palestinian origin, represent Israel at the UN Human Rights Council.”
“That day at the UN made me desperately disappointed and pushed me to take matters into my own hands, to try and at least object in thought to the systemic conduct carried out in the international arena against Israel.” RT quoted excerpts from her blog.
While Israel has bestowed foreign roles on Muslim and Christian women in the past but that was only inside the country and not abroad.
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