The oppressed Bahrain is rocked by mass protests against Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza

The heinous barbaric bombing by the Zionist war machine, which has targeted the Baptist Hospital in the Gaza Strip and claimed thousands of innocent lives, has prompted tens of thousands of Arab citizens to angrily take to the streets, and protest in front of the embassies of the colonial Zionist entity and its American sponsor, in a show of support for the Palestinians and in condemnation of the increasingly savage Israeli war crimes. Another furious mass demonstrations have also been recorded in a number of Western countries, where people have waved Palestinian flags, denouncing his ongoing war crime against women and children.

In Bahrain, despite the repression and heavy security measures enforced since 2011, hundreds have gone out in condemnation marches. It is expected that these marches will continue to denounce what is happening in Gaza, amid rising voices demanding the expulsion of Eitan Na’eh, the ambassador of the occupying entity from the country, and an immediate halt all bilateral agreements.

Amid this wave of rising tensions across West Asia, the colonial occupation has evacuated several of its embassies, including the one in Bahrain. Since the onset of the attacks, the Bahraini riot police repeatedly fired tear gas to violently disperse protesters near the Zionist embassy in Manama, as a huge number of security personnel and vehicles were deployed to cordon off all approach to the notorious embassy.

Manama has reportedly detained a number of citizens over their participation in the mass protests, among those are Muhammad Al-Qallaf and Sayyed Ayman Sayyed Mustafa for at least a week pending an investigation.

Bahrain’s highest Shiite religious authority, Ayatollah Isa Qassim, has confirmed that both Netanyahu and Biden are equally responsible for the deadly Baptist Hospital Massacre, wondering: “How long after this will the Arab rulers affiliated with Islam continue their normalisation with the Zionists […] helping them to commit the greatest crimes, spreading terror on earth, destroying values, and undermining the foundations of security, peace, and religion?”

In the same context, 270+ of Bahraini clerics have, in a joint statement, condemned the “war crimes that bear witness to [temporary Zionist entity’s] history” filled with similar atrocities, stressing that the Palestinians have a right to defend themselves. The clerics have also called on Arab and Islamic nations to support the Palestinian cause with all possible means. They have also recalled Manama to sever ties with the enemy and to expel its ambassador, urging the Arab world to “besiege” and “isolate” Israel.

Besides, Shiite cleric Sheikh Muhammad Sanqour has confirmed, during Bahrain Central Friday Prayers’ sermon, that the onslaught against Gaza “continues with international cover”, warning that the ultimate objective is the forced displacement of all Palestinians from their land. “The horrific scenes of destruction, blood, body parts, and corpses of babies and women are in full view of those who claim to care for human rights. Their hearts do not soften, nor do they bat an eyelid. Rather, they do not hide their unlimited support for the Zionist entity,” Sheikh Sanqour stated.

For his part, Al-Wefaq Society has strongly condemned the massacre, stating that Manama’s normalisation deal with Israel makes it a “direct partner in this brutality.”  Al Wefaq has labelled the atrocity as an “organised international terrorism, which some major Western countries have provided cover for.”

Nevertheless, Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry issued a disgraceful statement that did not amount to the horror of the crime. Since September 2020, Manama has decided – contrary to widespread popular rejection – to proceed with normalisation with the occupation on the grounds of allegedly “serving the Palestinian cause.”  However, the repercussion of this treacherous step has been absolutely the opposite, as it has encouraged the apartheid Israeli regime to shed Palestinian blood and violate their most basic human rights. The statements of the Bahraini regime and its ruling figures are ridiculous.  If their “denunciation” was truly sincere, it should instead expel the occupation’s ambassador, directly and forever, as the Bahrain’s various elites and sects are demanding, for they strongly consider that keeping the embassy open is an insult to each and every honorable and free Bahraini who cling to their national, Islamic and humanitarian identity.