Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): About six months ago, in mid-November last year, Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, an imprisoned prominent human rights defender who is sentenced to life in prison, made a phone call to his family informing them that the security and judicial authorities had decided to initiate new malicious and political charges against him. 

This was neither surprising to his family, nor to the people of Bahrain, as a prominent human rights activist such as Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja is a permanent target of the authorities, whether he is free or behind bars, but the strange and unexpected thing was to charge him with "insulting Israel", after anti-normalization slogans were raised in the prison yard coinciding with the visit of the Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in February 2022.  

This incident opened a wide door for any Bahraini or resident in Bahrain to be brought to trial on the vague and provocative charge of "insulting Israel", if one expresses support for the Palestinian cause or resistance to the Israeli occupation. 

It seems that the authorities in Bahrain have had enough with being challenged by the public on the issue of normalization. It has become clear more than two years after that agreement of shame that the enthusiasm of the Bahraini people towards the Palestinian cause has not been affected, on the contrary, it has increased, and activities held in solidarity with the Palestinian people have increased as well.

The Al Khalifa family once again saw itself on the wrong side of history, standing with the Zionists, with no one to defend its position except for a limited number of families and personalities who benefited and continue to benefit from normalization through positions, funds and donations. Meanwhile, the people of Bahrain have a different opinion.

Recently, the security authorities summoned prominent eulogy reciter, Abdulamir Al-Biladi, and interrogated him over one of the poems he recited during the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), in which he attacked the Zionist entity and voiced his support for Al-Aqsa and the Palestinian people.

The authorities decided that simple words at the mourning procession held on the religious occasion, denouncing the Zionist repression practiced against worshippers at Al-Aqsa during the month of Ramadan requires a prison verdict and a referral to trial.

Of course, it is not a matter of a couple of poetry verses, but of what these verses express and who they represent. They are verses saying that after more than two years, normalization is an unforgivable betrayal, and that the Israeli presence in Bahrain will not become normal, neither today, nor tomorrow, nor after decades.

For this reason, precisely, the authorities are treating the attack on Israel as an attack on the dignity of the ruling family itself, which unilaterally decided to take this fateful step. Criticizing Israel subjects the critic to legal and judicial prosecution, which the authorities do not apply to critics of some Arab or Gulf countries.

Any follower of the state press published in Bahrain has read dozens of articles and reports attacking an ally such as the United States, or Arab countries such as Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Qatar, which are criticisms that would not have been issued without the authorities' approval.  

According to the law in the country, Israel has turned into a brotherly country, more important than Arab and Gulf countries, and more important than the United States as well, where criticizing it is forbidden and punishable by law. But when did the people of Bahrain ever respect the dictator's decisions!

Arabic Version