Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): A scandal only begets another scandal. The Bahraini regime's policy over the past five years was to face all the massive media campaigns that exposed its atrocities and scandals and affected the Arab states' stances towards the island kingdom. This scandal has brought forth a series of scandals.

This time, the Bahraini regime is seeking the support of Israel, openly and without any evasiveness.

It's not a propaganda nor a rumor, but rather confirmed news reported by the Bahrain News Agency (BNA), local Bahraini newspapers and international news websites: The regime will work with The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), i.e. with: Ehud Barak (Former Israeli PM, former Defense Minister and member of MEMRI's board of advisors), Yigal Carmon, the president and cofounder of the institute, who was a former adviser to Israeli prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin and former Israeli military intelligence officer.

Middle East Eye, Al-Bab and Al-Bawaba websites all published articles wondering why groups backed by the Bahraini regime were seeking Israeli help to improve Bahrain's image in the eyes of the international community and whitewash its reputation.

Journalist Alex MacDonald said on Middle East Eye that "This Is Bahrain" campaign, a 200-member delegation from the country currently touring America, has signed a "memorandum of understanding" with "the controversial Israel-linked Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)."

The campaign organizers says that the "memorandum was made in order to change the image of the country abroad," which is seen as a hotspot of human rights abuses.

MacDonald mentioned a statement by Betsy Mathieson, secretary-general of the Bahrain Federation of Expatriate Associations, a pro-government organisation based in Bahrain that is supervising this campaign, who said: "We are set to work closely together to change negative media perception of the situation in Bahrain."

The Middle East Eye reported Mathieson's statement from the English-language Bahraini Gulf Daily News (GDN) website.

Mathieson also stated that "‘This is Bahrain' looks forward to working closely with MEMRI, which does an outstanding job on many fronts."

Alberto M. Fernandez, Vice-President of MEMRI; however, contacted Middle East Eye denying the reports, saying that MEMRI had "not signed, nor do we intend to sign any Memorandum of Understanding with Bahrain or a supposed Bahrain NGO."

Al-Bawaba website, specialized in middle east news, was one of the first media outlets that reported the news, but later deleted parts of its report, claiming that what was previously stated was "an error" and that "no Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed."

What's strange is that the Israeli institute denied this, yet this piece of news is still found on Bahrain News Agency (BNA) and the Gulf Daily News websites as well as Al-Watan newspaper, confirming that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between both parties.

Journalist Brian Whitaker, who is known for following up MEMRI's activities, said in an article posted on Al-Bab website: "It is unclear whether BFEA is aware of MEMRI's Israeli connection."

This is Bahrain!

The Bahrain Federation of Expatriate Associations launched "This Is Bahrain" campaign that has toured in capitals of a number of world powers claiming"to show the real and civilisational image of the kingdom and debunk fallacies promoted abroad to tarnish that image-described as a hotspot of torture and oppression- as part of a media war waged against Bahrain." This is the worn out record that has been played repeatedly by Bahraini government agencies and bodies over the past five years in vain.

Betsy Mathieson, a British national living in Bahrain, is leading this campaign, in which religious, political and civil figures participated, including Sheikh Salah Al-Jowder, Sheikh Mohsen Al-Asfoor, Abdullah Al-Moqabi, Mo'nes Al-Mardi and others.

What the government wants to say through this delegation is that these are the Bahrainis (the majority of them are minorities from various religious sects, some were recently granted citizenships and others are government officials and pro-government figures of both Islamic sects).

Journalist John Lubbock described this event as being organized "by an association of mostly ex-pat Brits in the country, many of whom have received Bahraini citizenship after displaying steadfast loyalty to the regime."

The regime is trying to say that Bahrain is not oppressing the Shia in the country as has been "rumored", but is rather witnessing firm co-existence between different sects and religions under the king's sponsorship and that the atmosphere of "freedom of religion" is widespread across the country, even though Bassiouni said in the BICI report that the Bahraini authorities demolished 38 Shiite mosques at once in 2011!

Salah Al-Jowder & MEMRI Sign!

After videos were circulated showing the participants (including religious clerics) in dance parties, hotels, restaurants and othe r places, the campaign sparked a lot of sarcastic remarks and was even slammed by pro-government parties in Bahrain.

During one of the dance and music parties, Sheikh Salah Al-Jowder stood with the "religiously mixed" group of figures to have their picture taken in front of a MEMRI sign, which is known worldwide for its animosity against Muslims and Arabs, portraying a ridiculous and shameful image that reflects the highest levels of ignorance.

An extravagant touristic delegation aimed at whitewashing Bahrain's horrendous human rights record turned into a sandal, as it aimed at signing a Memorandum of Understanding with a well-known Zionist institution, whose main purpose is to tarnish the image of Arabs and Muslims in the United States and West, and those who accuse it of that are the westerners themselves and not the Arabs.

From London to Washington: Royal Delegation's Tourist Tour

"This Is Bahrain" campaign was launched in May 2014 during an exhibition with the same name in the British capital, London. The British Queen's son Prince Andrew was expected to be the keynote speaker of the campaign, but that was before The Independent mentioned that he was known as "His Buffoon Highness", and before international organizations pressured him to withdraw from sponsoring this propagandistic exhibition, which witnessed a protest satged by dissidents at the gate.

The campaign visited the German capital Berlin in October 2014 and then made a tour this year in the capital of Belgium, Brussels, and started to talk about the "economic and investment aspects of Bahrain," and the number of individuals participating in the campaign's delegation reached 150.

The campaign's fourth event (which usually includes a conference, exhibition and a number of visits) was held in the French capital, Paris, in June 2015.

Last September, the campaign visited the US capital of Washington, where its latest scandal was revealed, which is the supposed Memorandum of Understanding with the Zionist MEMRI institution, in order to continue its campaign of fraud and falsification. This time, 200 persons joined the delegation to shed light on what they described as "Bahrain's civilisational and democratic achievements"!

In our next report...Who is Funding "This Is Bahrain" Campaign?

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