Bahrainis stage rally to condemn normalization, voice solidarity with Palestinians

According to Arabic-language Khalij al-Jadeed website on Saturday, the protesters chanted “death to Israel” as they staged a rally in Sitra, located five kilometers south of the capital Manama, to voice their opposition to the celebration of the so-called Jewish festival of Hanukkah in the country.

The demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, chanted pro-Palestinian slogans and carried banners against any normalization of ties with the occupying regime.

The protesters reiterated that the Palestinian cause will remain their primary matter of concern, and that they reject all forms of normalization with the Tel Aviv regime.

The demonstration was disrupted as Bahraini regime forces arrived at the scene and did not allow the demonstration to continue.

Bahrainis have repeatedly expressed their opposition to the normalization of ties with the Israeli regime by holding demonstrations.

Bahrain’s main opposition group al-Wefaq and the kingdom’s top cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim have also repeatedly condemned the normalization move made by the al-Khalifah dynasty.

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates signed US-brokered normalization agreements with Israel in an event in Washington in September 2020.

Sudan and Morocco followed suit later in the year and inked similar US-brokered normalization deals with the occupying regime.

The move sparked widespread condemnations from the Palestinians as well as nations and human rights advocates across the globe, especially within the Muslim world.

Palestinians slammed the deals as a treacherous “stab in the back” and a betrayal of their cause against the decades-long Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Palestinians are seeking an independent state in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East al-Quds as its capital.