Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: bahrain

Showing posts with label bahrain. Show all posts

Friday, January 06, 2023

Bahrain Shiite preacher: Selling land to Jews should be illegal

Al Ahed News (Lebanon) reports that Shiite Sheikh Muhammad Sanqour, the Friday preacher at the Imam al-Sadiq Mosque in Diraz, Bahrain, today called on the government to ban all sales of real estate to Jews.

He claimed that "usurping Jews" are making handsome financial offers for Bahraini real estate, and called on the government of Bahrain "to reassure people by issuing a law that categorically prohibits owners from selling any of their property and assets to Jews, individuals or entities, directly or through an intermediary."

Sanquor added, "Selling something of real estate, even if it is easy for the likes of these usurpers, is tantamount to selling the homeland."

He continued, "These people do not coexist with anyone. The first of their victims is the one who did them a favor.”

And then: “We call for the state to have the right to annul any contract that was concluded or is to be concluded if one of its parties was Jewish."

Sounds like Jew-hatred to me.

In September, another Shiite cleric in Bahrain, Ayatollah Qassem, made a similar demand:

Dear people of Bahrain,
Do not hand over to the Jews even a small piece of land or a small house; By this, you are selling to them your religion, your history, your homeland, your present and your future. Be aware that you are committing suicide – materially and morally.

Today, Bahrain is an Islamic country
Tomorrow, according to the plan of Judaisation, it will become a country of Jews and Muslims. The day after tomorrow, it will become a country of Jews and Muslim residents – at the disposal. After that, the Muslims will be expelled. The beginning [O dear people of Bahrain] is the purchase of your land and the land of your Muslim brother.

Whoever sells land or a house to the Jews is not selling soil and stone, but rather a homeland, people, nation, history and dear sanctities. He is selling Islam as if it is not worth anything.

The government of Bahrain has not had a great relationship with Sanquor. It closed down his mosque briefly in 2016 and detained him.

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Bahrainis protest against...Chanukah

"Death to Israel"

El Bashayer reports:

On Friday, a demonstration took place in the Sitra area of Bahrain, rejecting the holding of Hanukkah activities in the country, and all forms of normalization with the Israeli entity, and in support of the Palestinian cause.

"Chanukah is a Zionist project and normalization program"

Palestine Today reports that the demonstration was repeated today, and managed to cancel a Chanukah event tonight.

Sunday evening, a massive demonstration took place in Bahrain to condemn the normalization of Manama with the Israeli occupation.

Activists circulated on social media, video clips, the moment a mass demonstration began near Bab Al Bahrain, denouncing normalization and holding Hanukkah events in the country.

The participants raised banners denouncing the condemnation and slogans of "Death to Israel".

The demonstration led to the cancellation of the first Hanukkah activities scheduled to start this evening at Bab Al Bahrain.

Here's video with plenty of chants of "Death to Israel."

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Moroccan education unions against coexistence and tolerance (of Jews)

This week, the Atlantic Council held the N7 Conference on Education and Coexistence in Rabat, Morocco.

Oren Eisner, President of the Jeffrey M. Talpins Foundation, explained the purpose of the conference: “It is critical to the future of normalization that the region’s younger generations engage with each other and learn from each other. Our Conference on Education and Coexistence is designed to produce actionable policy recommendations for the region’s governments that will increase cooperation and foster tolerance in education.” Eisner added, “We are thrilled to bring the N7 nations together to the conference and are grateful to the participating governments for working together to develop stronger and lasting friendships in the Middle East.”

The Kingdom of Morocco supported the conference, which included participants from Sudan, Jordan, Bahrain, the UAE, the United States and Israel.

Two Morocco education unions wrote a letter denouncing the conference, and the idea of coexistence altogether. The letter is a crazed combination of paranoia, lies and antisemitic conspiracy theories.

For example, it says, "They consider normalization to facilitate the future control of the Zionist entity over the wealth of the region and its people, and in an effort to complete its expansionist colonial project, and the ensuing dangers to future generations."

In a classic case of projection, the education union "considers the process of normalization in the school curricula as part of many manifestations of the attempt to normalize under the justification of spreading a culture of tolerance and coexistence..., while the Zionist educational curricula perpetuate absolute hatred of the Arabs."

And these open-minded educators also recommend that a "blacklist of shame" be created with the names of anyone who supports coexistence with Israel and Zionists.

It's hard to tell how widespread these opinions are in Morocco. There is a very noisy and active anti-normalization contingent, but mainstream media in Morocco has been treating Israel relatively fairly, and there have been lots of articles about the Jewish community and history there. There are more articles about the Moroccan anti-normalization movement in Algerian media than in Moroccan media.

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Palestinians describe their nightmare "normalization" scenario

Bahrain's one synagogue

Al Resalah, which is a Hamas news site, is upset over Israeli President Isaac Herzog visiting Bahrain - not so much for the visit itself but for all the terrible things they predict will happen in its wake.

The headline says that Bahrain is opening up a loophole for Israeli espionage in all Gulf states, and here's how.

The main part of the scheme is based on a rumor that Bahrain was creating a Jewish neighborhood. As described last September:

In an interview with Lebanese radio station Al-Nour on 4 August, Yousef Rabie, a member of the Bahraini opposition party Al-Wefaq, reiterated his warning to the people of Bahrain about the kingdom’s plans to change the country’s identity.

Rabie accused Al-Khalifa of attempting to “Judaize Bahrain” in light of the surge in employment of recently naturalized Jewish foreigners or locals in administrative jobs.

Moreover, Rabie highlighted the increase in land purchases by international Zionist organizations in Bahrain, which was echoed by the spiritual leader of Al-Wefaq, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassem, in his sermon on 4 August.

Bahrain Mirror has reported that the project for the Jewish “quarter” or “neighborhood” in Manama is being carried out by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, and will be complete within the coming two years. As a result, 40 percent of Manama’s national Muslim identity will be compromised in order to make way for the Jewish portion of the capital, which will become a major tourism destination for Israelis.

Ayatollah Qassem called on Bahrainis not to sell land to Jews, stating “whoever sells land or a house is not selling soil and stone, but rather a homeland, a people, a nation, history and dear sanctities. He is betraying Islam.”

After the Jews buy the land, they will attempt to become Bahraini citizens. Then all hell will break loose, because when the Jews obtain a Bahraini passport, they will be allowed to travel to all Arab countries.

Not only that, but these Jews and Israelis will then be able to invest, trade and sell land in other various Gulf countries, according to the rules of trade in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

This could represent a security loophole for Israelis to enter different countries, specifically Iran and Lebanon, taking advantage of the social and sectarian ties that unite a number of Bahraini residents with these countries.

So Bahrain can be the Trojan horse that allows Jews to infiltrate and take over the entire Gulf!

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11/17 Links Pt1: Melanie Phillips: It’s time for Israel to untie the American apron strings; Netanyahu: Israel-Saudi Normalization Could End Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

From Ian:

Alan Baker: Palestinian leadership venturing into international legal field

In addition to their regular, annual shopping list of false and flawed political allegations directed to the court against Israel, the Palestinians are now requesting that the court, by means of a resolution that they initiated in the UN General Assembly’s Special Political and Decolonization Committee to weigh the legal consequences of prolonged annexation of what they claim to be Palestinian territory.

This is despite the fact that there has never been any internationally accepted legal determination that there exists Palestinian territory, as such. Similarly, this question remains an agreed negotiating issue by the Palestinians themselves, pursuant to the internationally endorsed Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accords (1993-95).

In addition, the Palestinian leadership is also asking the Court to examine Israel’s alleged crime of altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, claiming the city to be solely Palestinian.

But more curiously, in this request to the world court, they are attempting to invent what they believe to be a new, curious international status of prolonged occupation. They are asking the court to determine the extent to which such a non-existent status of prolonged occupation has legal consequences for states and the UN.

In fact, no such status is recognized by international law.

Even the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is universally acknowledged to be the ultimate arbiter of what constitutes international humanitarian law, has never determined a time limit for the occupation of territory.

Netanyahu: Israel-Saudi Normalization Could End Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Israel and Saudi Arabia reaching a formal peace agreement would “effectively end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu predicted in a new interview with “Call Me Back” podcast host Dan Senor.

“Understand that the Abraham Accords, the peace treaties that Israel had with four Arab states: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco — that didn’t happen without Saudi approval, because at least some of these countries like to know what their big neighbor, Saudi Arabia, is thinking about [the agreements],” Netanyahu, who is likely to head Israel’s next government following elections earlier this month, said. “And I assure you, [Riyadh] wasn’t negative about it.”

Normalization with Saudi Arabia would “open up all sorts of possibilities,” Netanyahu told Senor, the co-author of Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle. The current opposition leader cited the physical results of such an agreement — ”connecting the Saudi rail system” — as well as the business perks — giving Saudis “direct accessibility to Israeli innovation and technology” — as benefits of a negotiated agreement between Jerusalem and Riyadh.

Netanyahu also addressed his previous government’s coordination with Russia in Syria, where Russian forces are on the ground — and where Israeli military units have often targeted Iranian and Syrian facilities and weapons transfers.

David Singer: MBS & King Abdullah keep Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine alive

The HKoP solution also offered the Arab populations of Gaza, the 'West Bank' and Palestinian Arab refugees in other locations:
· “a legal identity—a globally respected citizenship that allows a person to operate in the modern world. Labor in this day and age is mobile and having citizenship in a country that facilitates such mobility is critical to human development.”
· “Palestinians in Arab countries like Lebanon can then become citizens of this enlarged kingdom while also getting full residency rights in Lebanon, equivalent to what an EU citizen has in the European Union outside his or her home country. This would allow the Palestinians to gain full civil rights as legal foreign residents without impacting the local political or sectarian balance in these countries. The GCC, the EU, the US, Canada, and others can also help support this solution by granting this Jordanian–Palestinian passport easier access to their labor markets.”

The Saudi proposal’s author - Ali Shihabi – is a confidant of MBS and a member of the Advisory Board appointed by MBS to report to him on the building of a new US$500 billion mega city – Neom - in northern Saudi Arabia bordering Israel.

Shihabi had lamented on the absence of a response from any Israeli politician to his plan on 14 August.

This lack of Israeli interest was ongoing when the 21 September meeting agreed:
“to work with regional and international partners to shed light on the tragic situation of the Palestinians in light of the deadlock in the peace process and the absence of any glimmer of hopeand to urge them to take practical steps to support the resumption of dialogue on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative, United Nations resolutions and relevant peace references, in addition to reviving the diplomatic track to overcome the despair and lack of a vision toward achieving the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and establishing their state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

MBS was not at this meeting but was subsequently appointed Saudi Arabia’s Prime Minister on 27 September.

MBS, King Abdullah, PLO Leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh have not rejected the HKoP solution.

MBS and King Abdullah’s non-participation at Algiers offers the glimmer of hope that the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine can soon become a conflict-ending reality.

"Israel is Judaizing and occupying Bahrain" says Shiite politician

Iranian news site Tasnim News reports:

The Deputy Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, Sheikh Hussein Al-Daihi, said that the Bahraini regime seeks to Judaize the country and obliterate the identity of the capital, Manama, "which is known for its authentic history," saying that Bahrain is the second country to be occupied by Israel through the purchase of real estate.

In his speech during the "Day of Betrayal" organized by Al-Wefaq in the Lebanese capital Beirut on the occasion of the second anniversary of the signing of the normalization agreement with the Israeli entity, Al-Daihi stressed that the people of Bahrain stand by the side of Palestine and its resistant people .

Al-Daihi affirmed that Palestine will remain the cause of the Bahrainis “no matter how the Bahraini regime tries to put its hand in the hands of this pariah entity, and they handed it the reins of everything,” explaining that the regime opened to “this pariah entity with open arms, they welcomed it everywhere,” warning that this entity is ephemeral and temporary, “and whoever stands by it will disappear with it.”

During his speech, he denounced the regime's work to establish a Jewish identity on the land of Bahrain and in the capital, Manama, "this ancient and authentic capital, known for its authentic history, filled with good, Islamic, and other landmarks. Today, the regime wants the Jews of this capital, and gave them a large part of our land in the capital under the title "Reviving the Jewish neighborhood in the capital, Manama," and turning evasively towards those who want to buy the lands of some residents of the capital, Manama, with forged addresses, with Zionist companies and individuals, who wanted to buy lands from the capital to give it to the Jews, to revive a neighborhood and a synagogue for Jews that have no effect and no presence in the capital.

Note that he makes no distinction between relations with Israel and "Judaization." Because there is no difference - they hate Israel because they hate Jews, not the other way around.

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09/25 Links: Welcoming the year of 5783; Glick: Booking.com and the Anti-Semitic Zeitgeist; Polish venue cancels Roger Waters gigs after Ukraine comments

From Ian:

JPost Editorial: Welcoming the year of 5783

Rosh Hashanah 5783 begins at sundown this evening, September 25, and ends at nightfall on Tuesday, September 27. The holiday celebrates not only the Jewish New Year, but also the birth of the universe and the beginning of the Days of Awe – 10 days of repentance and renewal that culminate in Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

The past year, 5782, has been a difficult one for Israel and the world. Although we appear to be emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been some disturbing global developments – from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine seven months ago to the Vienna negotiations on a new Iran nuclear deal.

Historically, this period will be remembered for the death of Queen Elizabeth II after an almost-record sovereign reign of 70 years (Louis XIV of France reigned almost two years longer) and the beginning of a new era under her son, King Charles III.

In Israel, we are witnessing a turbulent period as the country braces for its fifth election in less than four years (the first was on April 9, 2019). Security has been tightened ahead of Rosh Hashanah as the country also faces a resurgence of Palestinian terrorism. Are there any good news for a change?

On the positive side, the Israeli economy is showing signs of bouncing back. The Central Bureau of Statistics reported, for example, that the employment rate rose in August to the highest level in four years.

Israel’s ties with Arab and Muslim states are advancing well – especially in the Gulf – as evidenced most recently in talks on a free-trade agreement with Bahrain and Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York on Tuesday, the first such meeting since December 2008.

Britain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss told Lapid on Wednesday at the United Nations that she is reviewing a relocation of her country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which would also be a welcome development.

Poll: 65% of Israelis Think Country is ‘Good Place to Live’

Nearly 65 percent of the country’s population say Israel is a good place to live, while 33 percent of the respondents think the opposite, according to a poll published ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

The survey conducted by Maariv, showed that the degree of satisfaction is higher among the older respondents: 77 percent of those aged 61 and over said they are satisfied, compared to 51 percent of people under 29.

The positive perception of life in Israel is also more widespread among religious (79 percent) and ultra-Orthodox (69 percent) respondents, compared to 59 percent of people who identify themselves as secular.

The majority of respondents (62 percent) also believe that the State of Israel is immutable, while 23 percent, on the contrary, believe that it faces existential dangers.

Asked about what worries them the most in Israel, 68 percent of respondents said it was the cost of living. It was followed by Palestinian terrorism (32 percent), housing prices (18 percent), crime (13 percent) and political instability (12 percent).

The majority of those worried about terrorism are supporters of Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu (47 percent), while Arab respondents are much more concerned about crime (39 percent) and Jewish-Arab relations (21 percent).

Caroline Glick: Booking.com and the Anti-Semitic Zeitgeist

As for the zeitgeist, repeated surveys of public opinion show Europeans are largely hostile to Israel. For instance, a 2019 survey of European opinion by Bertelsman Stiftung Foundation found that whereas 61% of Israelis were positively disposed toward Europeans, a mere 20% of Europeans held positive opinions of Israel.

Regarding the Netherlands specifically, a 2018 study carried out by Israel’s left-leaning Institute for National Security Studies showed that the Dutch media collectively cover Israel in a manner that delegitimizes Israel’s existence and dehumanizes Israeli Jews. A popular Dutch media tactic for demonizing Israel is to claim that Israel cannot be a democracy, since during the period under review, the Knesset was debating a bill aimed at curbing the hostile activities of Dutch-funded anti-Israel NGOs.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MN) spoke to the now-rising anti-Israel, and increasingly outright anti-Jewish zeitgeist in progressive America on September 20. In remarks to an online forum hosted by a pro-Palestinian group, Tlaib said, “Among progressives, it has become clear that you cannot claim to hold progressive values, yet back Israel’s apartheid government.” She added, “We will not accept this idea that you are progressive, except for Palestine, any longer.”

Tlaib’s call for pro-Israel Americans to be shunned by progressives was roundly condemned by a handful of predominantly but not exclusively Jewish Democratic lawmakers, who rightly characterized her statement, and Tlaib herself, as anti-Semitic. On the other hand, there were several other lawmakers who participated in the online conference with Tlaib—and none expressed any qualms about her remarks. Moreover, President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and the rest of the Biden administration and Democratic congressional leadership felt no need to condemn Tlaib. To the contrary, they have embraced Tlaib. When Tlaib condemned U.S. support for Israel during last year’s Hamas missile offensive against the Jewish state, Biden gushed over Tlaib; he expressed his “admiration” for the anti-Semitic lawmaker, applauded her “passion” and “intellect,” and called her a “fighter.”

When seen in the broader context of Europe’s political war against Israel and the dominant anti-Israel and anti-Jewish zeitgeist in Europe and progressive America, Booking.com’s action cannot be dismissed as the mere bloviation of overpaid, woke corporate executives. Instead, it must be seen as a sign of what is already happening, and a warning of an even worse situation that perhaps awaits us, as anti-Semitism again becomes the condition for entry into high society in Europe and America.

Shiite cleric says it is forbidden to sell land to Jews in Bahrain

Isa Qassim, a leading Shiite cleric who lost his Bahraini citizenship in 2016, has issued a religious ruling that Bahraini citizens may not sell their land to Jews.

Al Ahed News reports:

The great Bahraini religious authority, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, sent a message to the people of Bahrain, warning them against selling any of their property to the Jews. [He said that such a sale would] "hand over to them your religion, your history, your homeland, your present and your future."

Sheikh Qassim added that "Bahrain today is an Islamic country, tomorrow, according to the Judaization plan, a country of Jews and Muslims, and the day after tomorrow a country of Jews with Muslim residents at their disposal. After that, the Muslims will be expelled, and the beginning is when they buy your land and the land of your brother from the Muslims."

He concluded the letter by saying: "Whoever sells land or a house to the Jews is not selling soil and stone, but rather a homeland, people, nation, history and dear sanctities. He is selling Islam, which is not equal to anything. May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you."

This harangue seems to be related to a statement the same cleric made last week, when he condemned a rumor of a Jewish Quarter in Bahrain.

The Jewish Quarter to be established by the Government of Bahrain on the land of Manama will be a replacement for the Islamic and Arab national identity, a distortion of the nation's history, the erasure of evidence of the authenticity of the original citizens, and the opening of the door to the Israeli occupation with the complicity of local politics.

I am not sure, but I think that saying that prohibiting selling land to Jews is antisemitic. So is spreading conspiracy theories that Jews are planning to take over Bahrain and to expel all Muslims.

But if this was really antisemitism from a prominent cleric, surely it would be all over the media, wouldn't it?

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The Arab League calls to restart the Israel boycott. (They do this every year.)

From KUNA, the Kuwait News Agency, July 31:

The Arab League called on the Arab States on Sunday to reactivate the boycott of Israel, describing it as a peaceful resistance to press Israel to abide by international resolutions.
The League Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and the Occupied Arab Territories Affairs Saed Abu Ali made the remarks at the 95th meeting of the Arab boycott offices in Cairo.
He said Israel's international boycott had achieved success at both popular and official levels.

Compare with an Arab League press release from October 24, 2017:

The Arab League (AL) called on Arab States on Monday to reactivate boycott of Israel, describing it as a peaceful resistance to press Israel to abide by international resolutions.
AL Assistant Secretary General for Palestine and the Occupied Arab Territories Affairs Saed Abu Ali made the remarks at the 91st meeting of the Arab boycott offices in Cairo.
He said that the international boycott of Israel had achieved success at both popular and official levels.

Yes, they are practically word for word the same.

And the idea of an Arab League boycott is now a joke with direct trade relations between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain and the UAE, and indirect relations with who knows how many others.

But the Arab League Boycott Office continues with its annual or semi-annual meetings, and they have to justify their existence, so they call the reactivate the boycott. Again and again.

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Bahraini minister fired for refusing to shake hands with Israeli ambassador

Arabic media is reporting that the Bahraini minister for Culture and Antiquities has lost her job because she refused to shake hands with the Israeli ambassador to Bahrain.

According to the story, on June 16, US Ambassador to Bahrain Steven Bondy held a special memorial service at his home on the occasion of the death of his father. He invited some ambassadors and officials, including the Israeli ambassador to Bahrain, Eitan Naeh, and the Bahraini minister (and member of the royal family) Sheikha Mai bint Mohammed.

During the ceremony, the officials were shaking hands as they were introduced to each other. When Sheikha Mai was told she was about to shake hands with Naeh, she withdrew her hand and refused to shake his hand. She then left the house of the American ambassador and asked the embassy not to publish any picture of her in the memorial service.

Previously, in her position, she refused to recognize various Jewish landmarks in Bahrain.

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WSJ: Israel met with Arabs including Qataris, Saudis on defending against Iranian threat

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The U.S. convened a secret meeting of top military officials from Israel and Arab countries in March to explore how they could coordinate against Iran’s growing missile and drone capabilities, according to officials from the U.S. and the region.

The previously undisclosed talks, which were held at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, marked the first time that such a range of ranking Israeli and Arab officers have met under U.S. military auspices to discuss how to defend against a common threat.

The meeting brought together the top military officers from Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan and came as Israel and its neighbors are in the early stage of discussing potential military cooperation, the officials said.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain also sent officers to the meeting. The U.S. was represented by Gen. Frank McKenzie, then the head of the U.S. Central Command.

The talks were enabled by several changes, including common fears of Iran, improved political ties signaled by the Abraham Accords and the Trump administration’s decision in January 2021 to expand Central Command’s area of coverage to include Israel.

Another factor driving expanding military cooperation has been Arab countries’ desire for access to Israeli air defense technology and weapons at a time when the U.S. is shifting its military priorities toward countering China and Russia.

After initially distancing itself from the Abraham Accords, the Biden administration belatedly started to embrace them and now to expand them to include other Arab countries.

Recall that there was another meeting in March in Sharm el-Sheikh, between the leaders of Israel, Egypt and the UAE, on March 22.

The date of the military meeting is not known, but General McKenzie gave a hint about it in a media briefing from Centcom Headquarters in Tampa, Florida on March 16.

"Iran's ballistic missile threat has continued to advance and expand with greater ranges and accuracy," he said, adding that land attack cruise missiles and small unmanned aerial vehicles also are part of that threat.

Partner nation air defense systems in the region far outnumber those that the U.S. has there, he said. Air defense systems, including high-end ones like the Patriot system, are used by the Gulf States and others.

"The task in the theater is really how do you knit those together so that you create more than a simple sum of the component parts," he said.

"By doing so, you create a common operational picture, so everybody sees the same thing. Everybody gets early warnings; everybody can be prepared to react very quickly to a potential Iranian attack. That's where the future in this theater is," he said.

Iranian ballistic missile threats have provided some opportunities for the United States to advance regional cooperation in the area of air defense, he said.

"Centcom is focused on operationalizing the Abraham Accords as we brought Israel into our area of operations, and missile defense is one area of cooperation that all our partners understand," he said.

The focus, according to the now-retired general, was to facilitate communication between all regional states so everyone can share early warnings of Iranian attacks. This has the advantage, he hinted, of Israel being able to cooperate with Arab countries that it has not made peace with by not requiring any physical presence of Israelis in Arab countries or vice versa.

Such cooperation is still in very early stages, but the Trump decision to incorporate Israel into Centcom is paying off in closer military cooperation between all Arab states and Israel, via the US.

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A Muslim storms the Kotel and joins in Talmudic prayers

Arabic media is upset at this tweet from Mohammed al-Dhirabi, a trainer in the Council of Arab Economic Unity of the League of Arab States, who is visiting Israel.

Watanserb reported it this way:

Bragging about his Zionization, the Bahraini coach accredited to the Council of Arab Economic Unity of the League of Arab States, Muhammad Al Dhirabi, published a picture of him performing a Talmudic prayer next to a number of Jewish extremists at the Al-Buraq Wall, which the Zionists call “the Western Wall.”

Al-Dhirabi appeared in the photo, wearing a white cloak and a red shemagh, next to the wall, accompanied by a group of extremist Jews, performing their prayers.

The tweet is a greeting of Shabbat Shalom to all Jews.

Notice that the Jews have no problem with a Muslim praying at the Kotel with them. The contrast with the Muslim insistence that no Jews pray (or even visit) the Temple Mount could not be more striking.

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Bahraini human rights leaders disappear

From Bikya Masr:

There is increasing concern over a Bahraini human rights activist who was arrested after speaking at the House of Lords.

Abdul Jalil Al-Singace, the Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the Haq Movement, which promotes human rights and democracy in Bahrain, was arrested at Manama Airport on the morning of 13 August, as he and his family returned to the country from London.

His arrest came the day after the ruler of Bahrain, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, appealed for critics of the government to return to the country, promising them freedom of speech and action. It was also just days after he had attended a seminar at the House of Lords on 5 August, discussing the human rights situation in Bahrain. He had also had meetings with the Islamic Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International and other human rights groups.

Al-Singace’s arrest was followed by the arrests of several other senior activists. Abdul Ghani Al-Khanjar, the spokesman of the Committee of Martyrs and Victims of Torture, Sheikh Saeed Al-Nouri and Sheikh Mohammad Habib Al-Miqdad, who have campaigned against political repression in the country, were arrested in early morning raids on their homes on 16 August. Several other activists had already been arrested on 14 and 15 August, as protests against Al-Singace’s arrest spread around the country.

The current whereabouts of Al-Singace, who is disabled and restricted to a wheelchair, is unknown. His lawyer, Muhammad Al Tajir, has said that he has not been able to locate him.

Massoud Shadjareh, Chair of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said:

“The arrest of Abdul Jalil Al-Singace appears to be a deliberate slap in the face of those campaigning for human rights in Bahrain, especially coming so soon after the King of Bahrain promised activists the freedom to work in the country. Bahrain has a very poor human rights record, and it appears to be getting worse. ”

Amnesty is calling on Bahrain to reveal the wherabouts of these prisoners.

Bahraini football team criticized for planned PalArab game

From The National, in an episode that is mirroring what happened with Egypt recently:

A friendly football match between Bahrain and Palestine that is set to take place in the West Bank next month has drawn criticism from parliament, civil society groups and some of the players who say the match amounts to a step towards normalisation of relations with Israel.

Bahraini players and team delegates would have to be approved and have their passports stamped by the Israeli authorities – who control the West Bank’s entry and exit points – and that has been at the heart of the controversy.

“Even if the passports of the players were not stamped by the Israeli authorities, the BFF should not justify the normalisation policy because such a visit would still count as complicity [with Israel],” the Islamic Brotherhood MP Naser al Fadalah said in parliament on Tuesday.
He also criticised the foreign minister for pushing ahead with what he described as efforts to normalise relations with the “Zionist entity”, which continues to “desecrate” Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site to Muslims, and kill Palestinians.

The Bahrain Society Against Normalisation with the Zionist Enemy also criticised the move, describing it as an obvious attempt to normalise relations with Israel, and called on the players to refuse to participate in the match.
“The support for holding the game clearly reveals continued plans by the Bahraini government to impose normalisation with the Zionist enemy on the Bahraini people,” the society’s spokesman, Abdulla Malik, said. “The Arab governments that continue to march into the quagmire of normalisation and surrender to US and Zionist conditions are trying under various means to convince their people and encourage them to normalise relations with the Zionist entity and fool them by alleging that holding sporting, cultural or technical events in the occupied territories does not reflect normalisation with the Zionists.”
Mr Malik also appealed to the players to refuse to participate in the game as other Arab players and coaches have done before, calling on Islamic leaders here to issue edicts in line with those issued by Palestinian Islamic scholars that say any visits to the occupied territories that involve Israel’s stamping of the visitor’s passport is considered normalisation.

Many of the players have also publicly announced that they oppose taking part in the game.
“The team is against playing in the occupied territories. It is against our morals and beliefs, which oppose the occupation and the Zionist entity,” said Hussain Ali, one of the team’s strikers, who is nicknamed “Bilay” after the Brazilian legend, Pele.
“Even if a decision is taken to send the team I will decline to participate. I refuse to have an Israeli stamp in my Bahraini passport.”
The match is set for May 28 and will be played at the Faisal al Husseini stadium in Al Ram, near Jerusalem, and while no final decision has been made yet on whether it will take place, it remains highly unlikely that the BFF would be able to convince the players to take part in it.

More evidence, as if any was needed, that the people who pretend to support Palestinian Arabs the most are the ones who do the least for them, and that hate for Israel is much stronger than any love they have for "Palestine."

Bahrain minister laundering money for Iran?

The Arabic media is abuzz over rumors that a high-ranking Bahraini minister was fired because he was laundering money for Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

The LA Times blog Babylon and Beyond is more skeptical, but it is a story worth following.

Yup - Bahrain did make a state visit to Israel

Looks like I had a scoop this morning. From Ma'an:

In the Gulf nation's apparent first state visit to Israel, Bahraini officials arrived in Tel Aviv on Friday to accompany five nationals awaiting deportation.

"[T]he Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior sent a mission to Ben Gurion Airport to receive the Bahrainis detained," according to the Bahrain News Agency.

All 21 crew members of an aid ship bound for Gaza, including the five Bahraini citizens, a Nobel laureate and former US congresswoman and the ship itself, were seized and towed to the Israeli port city of Ashdod on Tuesday afternoon.

Friday's official visit was arranged by Bahrain's Foreign Affairs Ministry, according to the news agency, which "contacted several organisations and international bodies along with friendly countries to secure the release of people detained in Israel."

"The efforts resulted in the approval of the Israeli authorities to hand over detainees to the representatives of the Kingdom of Bahrain," the agency reported, adding that its recently returned citizens "were received by the mission from the Israeli authorities and are safe and in good health."

Israel and Bahrain share no formal relations, although the predominately Shiite Muslim Gulf state does have a small but thriving Jewish population, of which one woman is the country's current ambassador to the United States.

So the Free Gaza people actually accomplished something in advancing the relationship between Israel and an Arab nation.

Of course, this is the last thing they wanted to do!

UPDATE: More from the Gulf News:

The extraordinary development marked the first time that Bahraini activists, three women and two men, were held by the Israeli navy and also the first time that a Bahraini official delegation sets foot in an Israeli airport.

Direct flight from Israel to Bahrain?

The latest Free Gaza email starts off with:

This morning, the five kidnapped passengers from Bahrain left Israel via a private jet sent by their king. The two Al Jazeera journalists will be freed sometime today, their equipment given back to them but not the footage of the Israeli terrorist frogmen boarding the boat and roughing up some of the passengers.

Once you get past the vitriol and lies (I bet there is no such footage,) does this mean that there was a jet that flew directly from Bahrain to Israel and back? Or did it stop over in Jordan or somewhere else so as not to acknowledge Israel's legitimacy?

I see nothing about this in any news source.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Arab (repost)

The biggest problem that the Arab world and others seem to have with Netanyahu's speech yesterday was his insistence on Israel being recognized as a Jewish state.

One reaction came from Jimmy Carter, who called this a "hurdle" to peace.

So it is time to repost an article from 2007 where we ask why calling a state Jewish is such a problem, but calling it Arab or Muslim is not.

If you define "Jewish" in purely religious terms, that would mean that any state that defines itself as "Islamic" is, by definition, equally guilty of this discrimination. If you define "Jewish" in ethnic or national terms, then any state that defines itself as "Arab" would be equally guilty of the racism that Israel is being accused of.

Time to check out the official hypocrisy of Israel's critics, and note the deafening silence towards this supposed Arab and Islamic racism:

Jordan's constitution:

Article 1
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is an independent sovereign Arab State. It is indivisible and inalienable and no part of it may be ceded. The people of Jordan form a part of the Arab Nation, and its system of government is parliamentary with a hereditary monarchy.
Article 2
Islam is the religion of the State and Arabic is its official language.

Egypt's constitution:

Art.1*: The Arab Republic of Egypt is a Socialist Democratic State based on the alliance of the working forces of the people. The Egyptian people are part of the Arab Nation and work for the realization of its comprehensive unity.
Art.2*: Islam is the Religion of the State. Arabic is its official language, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).

Libya's constitution:

Article 1 [Principles]
Libya is an Arab, democratic, and free republic in which sovereignty is vested in the people. The Libyan people are part of the Arab nation. Their goal is total Arab unity. The Libyan territory is a part of Africa. The name of the country is the Libyan Arab Republic.

Article 2 [State Religion, Language]
Islam is the religion of the State and Arabic is its official Language. The state protects religious freedom in accordance with established customs.

Morocco's constitution:

Preamble
The Kingdom of Morocco, a Muslim Sovereign State whose official language is Arabic, constitutes a part of the Great Arab Maghreb.
Article 6 [State Religion]
Islam is the religion of the State which guarantees to all freedom of worship.

Yemen's constitution:

Article (1) The Republic of Yemen is an Arab, Islamic and independent sovereign state whose integrity is inviolable, and no part of which may be ceded. The people of Yemen are part of the Arab and Islamic nation.

Article (2) Islam is the religion of the state, and Arabic is its official language.

Article (3) Islamic Shari'ah is the source of all legislation.

Syria's constitution:

Article 1 [Arab Nation, Socialist Republic]

(1) The Syrian Arab Republic is a democratic, popular, socialist, and sovereign state. No part of its territory can be ceded. Syria is a member of the Union of the Arab Republics.
(2) The Syrian Arab region is a part of the Arab homeland.
(3) The people in the Syrian Arab region are a part of the Arab nation. They work and struggle to achieve the Arab nation's comprehensive unity.

Article 3 [Islam]

(1) The religion of the President of the Republic has to be Islam.
(2) Islamic jurisprudence is a main source of legislation.

Saudi Arabia's constitution:

Article 1
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a sovereign Arab Islamic state with Islam as its religion; God's Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet, God's prayers and peace be upon him, are its constitution, Arabic is its language and Riyadh is its capital.

Kuwait's constitution:

Article 1

Kuwait is an independent sovereign Arab State. Neither its sovereignty nor any part of its territory may be relinquished.

The people of Kuwait is a part of the Arab Nation.

Article 2

The religion of the State is Islam, and the Islamic Sharia shall be a main source of legislation.

Algeria's constitution:

Article 1 [Democracy, Republic]
Algeria is a People's Democratic Republic. It is one and indivisible.

Article 2 [State Religion]
Islam is the religion of the State.

Bahrain's constitution:

Article 1 [Sovereignty, Constitutional Monarchy]
a. The Kingdom of Bahrain is a fully sovereign, independent Islamic Arab State whose population is part of the Arab nation and whose territory is part of the great Arab homeland. Its sovereignty may not be assigned or any of its territory abandoned.
Article 2 [State Religion, Shari'a, Official Language]
The religion of the State is Islam. The Islamic Shari'a is a principal source for legislation. The official language is Arabic.

Oman's constitution:

Article 1 [Sovereignty]
The Sultanate of Oman is an independent, Arab, Islamic, fully sovereign state with Muscat as its capital.

Article 2 [Religion]
The religion of the State is Islam and the Islamic Shariah is the basis of legislation.

Tunisia's constitution:

Article 1 [State]
Tunisia is a free State, independent and sovereign; its religion is the Islam, its language is Arabic, and its form is the Republic.

Article 2 [Arab Nation, Treaties]

(1) The Tunisian Republic constitutes part of the Great Arab Maghreb, towards whose unity it works within the framework of common interests.

Mauritania's constitution:

Preamble:...Conscious of the necessity of strengthening its ties with brother peoples, the Mauritanian people, a Muslim, African, and Arab people, proclaims that it will work for the achievement of the unity of the Greater Maghreb of the Arab Nation and of Africa and for the consolidation of peace in the world.

Title I General Provisions, Fundamental Principles

Article 1 [State Integrity, Equal Protection]

(1) Mauritania is an indivisible, democratic, and social Islamic Republic.

Iran's constitution:

Article 1 [Form of Government]
The form of government of Iran is that of an Islamic Republic, endorsed by the people of Iran on the basis of their longstanding belief in the sovereignty of truth and Koranic justice,...
Article 2 [Foundational Principles]
The Islamic Republic is a system based on belief in:
1) the One God (as stated in the phrase "There is no god except Allah"), His exclusive sovereignty and right to legislate, and the necessity of submission to His commands; 2) Divine revelation and its fundamental role in setting forth the laws;
3) the return to God in the Hereafter, and the constructive role of this belief in the course of man's ascent towards God;
4) the justice of God in creation and legislation;
5) continuous leadership and perpetual guidance, and its fundamental role in ensuring the uninterrupted process of the revolution of Islam; 6) the exalted dignity and value of man, and his freedom coupled with responsibility before God; in which equity, justice, political, economic, social, and cultural independence, and national solidarity are secured by recourse to: a) continuous leadership of the holy persons, possessing necessary qualifications, exercised on the basis of the Koran and the Sunnah, upon all of whom be peace;
b) sciences and arts and the most advanced results of human experience, together with the effort to advance them further;
c) negation of all forms of oppression, both the infliction of and the submission to it, and of dominance, both its imposition and its acceptance.

"Palestine"'s constitution:

ARTICLE 1

Palestine is part of the large Arab World, and the Palestinian people are part of the Arab Nation. Arab Unity is an objective which the Palestinian People shall work to achieve.

ARTICLE 4

1. Islam is the official religion in Palestine. Respect and sanctity of all other heavenly religions shall be maintained.
2. The principles of Islamic Shari’a shall be the main source of legislation.

So why, exactly, is a Jewish state (whose record of equal rights far surpasses those of any of the Arab nations) morally worse than the large number of Arab and Islamic states?

Bahrain's Crown Prince - pro-settlements?

Perhaps nowhere on Earth are sentences parsed for hidden messages as carefully they are in the Middle East. So the interview that Bahrain's Crown Prince gave to Sky News is curious indeed.

It starts off as one would expect - with the prince, Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, trying to pressure Great Britain to be even more pro-Arab than it already is:

The crown prince of Bahrain said on Monday Britain was too pro-Israel in its outlook, but its contribution to the Middle East peace process was still needed.
"If we are to solve the Arab-Israeli issue then you cannot approach it as a friend of one side at the expense of another," Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa told Sky television.

When asked if he felt Britain had been too pro-Israeli he replied: "I think we all feel that."
"But that doesn't mean we don't want Britain's involvement, we need Britain's involvement and we need Britain to be more impartial, sure."

Isn't it funny that third-party Arab nations are not expected to be "impartial," but they complain if the West isn't (in their estimation?)

But the interesting part comes later:

To settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "you give up land for peace," he said. "Land that you haven't already built on. It can't be simpler."

Does this mean that Bahrain believes that Israel can hold onto the settlements that have already been "built on?" How about Greater Jerusalem?

I have a feeling that we will see some backtracking real fast.

Another intransigent, extremist Arab country

Similar to the example I gave today from Yemen, Bahrain is another country whose attitudes towards Israel would be considered "extremist" and "intransigent" if Israel applied the same attitudes towards any Arab country. But instead, it is regarded as "moderate" and "friendly."

From NewsBlaze:

The Bahrain government has denied accusations by non-governmental organisations that it was moving towards normalising ties with Israel.
The government has faced sharp criticism from NGOs and human rights group since the Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip this year. The word on the street is since the tiny island is a close US ally; the authorities would not consider opening the Israeli boycott office which was shut down in 2006.

But the government maintained its stance and said there was no need for the office to be reopened as it said laws and regulations forbid public organisations from violating ban on Israeli goods. This was stated in a letter responding to a bill in parliament which called for Anti Normalisation with the Zionists and reopening the office.

Bahrain has no ties with Israeli and has always reacted sharply from calling off Israeli goods in supermarkets to launching a petition calling for reopening the Israeli boycott office.

The Bahrain Society against Normalisation with the Zionist Enemy has collected over 200 hundred signatures to re-open the office.

Abdulla Malik, general secretary of the society said, "The office was set up in 1963 in Bahrain. It was closed after Bahrain signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US in 2004. We want the office to be re-opened to ban Israeli goods, as by closing it we are sending signs of diplomatic ties with killers."

The Bahrain Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa told Pan- Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat in an interview that US never asked them to normalise relations with Israel.

Perhaps, but the US did say that the Bahrain boycott of Israel was illegal under the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement:

Separate from the FTA obligations, Bahrain confirmed in a letter that it did not apply the “secondary” and “tertiary” boycotts against Israel and stated that it recognized the need to terminate the “primary” boycott of Israel imposed by the Arab League states in 1963. The “primary” boycott prohibits direct trade between Israel and the Arab nations. It is not clear whether this statement is legally binding, though the USTR has claimed that it is binding. The commitment is not enforceable under the Agreement. The “secondary” boycott blacklists companies that do business in Israel, while the “tertiary” boycott applies to companies that have relationships with companies that operate in Israel. Bahrain theoretically has not enforced the “secondary” and “tertiary” boycotts on Israel since 1994, though periodically, Bahraini government documents contain language related to these boycotts.

The boycott decision has been controversial in Bahrain and has led to a strong backlash against the Bahrain FTA – the lower chamber of Bahrain’s Parliament (the House of Deputies) voted overwhelmingly to oppose lifting the boycott. However, this vote was largely symbolic as the Government of Bahrain stands by its statement that it intends to lift the boycott.

The Administration agreed in the Statement of Administrative Action for the Bahrain Act to report on Bahrain’s progress in dismantling its boycott of Israel.

Since the US and Bahrain concluded the agreement, trade between the two countries has increased by over 50% . Perhaps it is time for the US to revisit how well Bahrain is sticking to its side of the bargain?