Manama: A society dedicated to resisting the normalisation of ties with Israel has urged the upper chamber of the bicameral parliament to endorse a draft law to criminalise contacts with Israelis.
"With the end of the current parliamentary term weeks away, we urge the Shura Council to take up the draft law submitted by the lower chamber on criminalising cooperation with the Zionist entity," said Abdullah Abdul Malek, the spokesman of the Bahrain Society for Resisting Relations with the Zionist Enemy. "Failure to address the issue now means that the draft law will be dropped since it cannot be transferred to the next parliament's term," he said in a statement.
Possible steps
The lower chamber in October approved legislation penalising contacts with Israel.
According to the Bill, "whoever holds any communication or official talks with Israeli officials or travels to Israel will face a fine and/or a jail sentence of up to five years."
The MPs said that the move aimed at blocking possible steps to hold talks with Israeli officials or delegates who take part in events in Arab countries.
In an unprecedented and far-reaching op-ed piece in The Washington Post in July, Crown Prince Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa wrote that Arabs should convey their points of view and explain their peace initiatives by communicating directly with the Israeli media, the main source of information for Israelis.
Abdul Malek said that he was not aware of the reasons behind the Shura for not including the draft law in its weekly agenda, but hoped that it was not due to pressure from the government or other sources.
"Regardless of the reasons, Shura Council members should press their bureau to include the issue on the agenda in response to the wishes of the Bahraini people to fully support the Palestinians," he said.
Credibility
"It is now a matter of credibility for them, and they should be up to the responsibility of meeting the people's aspirations to end all forms of contacts with the Zionists. I sincerely look forward to Bahrain becoming the first country in the Gulf that criminalises contact with the Zionist entity," he said.
A draft law must be approved by the lower chamber and then the upper chamber before it is passed to the government.
Bahrain, like most Arab countries, has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Its foreign minister, Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, waded into controversy following a meeting with the then Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni. A stormy standoff ensued at the lower chamber.
