Gulf | Bahrain
MP calls for the reopening of Israel boycott office in Bahrain
A leading MP has called for the reopening of the Israel boycott office in Bahrain, saying that it is the minimum that the country can do to affirm the people's opposition to the normalisation of ties with the "Zionist entity".
- By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
- Published: 16:20 April 30, 2008
Manama: A leading MP has called for the reopening of the Israel boycott office in Bahrain, saying that it is the minimum that the country can do to affirm the people's opposition to the normalisation of ties with the "Zionist entity".
Calling Israel "the spoilt daughter of the state that witnesses crimes but remains silent [US]", Adel Al Mouawda, representing the Salafi bloc Al Asala, launching a scathing attack on the meeting between foreign minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa and his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni in New York last October.
"We do not know the context of the meeting and whether it was bilateral or multilateral, but we do know that the people of Bahrain who refuse any form of rapprochement with the Zionist entity were not consulted about it," Al Mouawda said during a debate at the lower house on Tuesday afternoon.
Bahrain, like most Arab countries, has no diplomatic relations with Israel, but has closed down the Israel boycott office in 2005 as part of a Free Trade Agreement with the US.
Israel boycott office in Bahrain was shut down in 2005 as part of the deal with the US to pass the Free Trade Agreement.
The office was under the customs office and it made sure that no product made in Israel was allowed into the Bahraini market. It was established according to an Arab League decision to boycott Israel on all levels. The Damascus-based Arab office was active between 1951 and until early ninties, when the peace process was launched in Madrid, Spain.
Shaikh Khalid met Livni on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly and later explained that the meeting was within the Arab League drive to promote the Arab peace initiative. Palestinian authorities and their ambassador to Bahrain said that they backed the encounter.
But Al Mouawda, who chairs the parliament's foreign affairs, defence and national security committee, and most MPs dispute the claims and feel that Bahrain should not make any move towards the Israelis.
"Bahrain was never mandated by the Arab League to have any contact with Israel. We are not stupid and we do know that only Egypt and Jordan were asked to communicate with Israel," Al Mouawda said as other MPs lifted banners urging Arabs not to "betray the blood of martyrs" and not to "shake hands with assassins, and to regard normalisation with Israel as absolute evil".
"There has been no breakthrough with the Israelis and the Indianapolis conference yielded nothing to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians. What are the results of this conference? There is no honour for Bahrain to be associated with it or with meeting Livni. In fact, the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians have steadily increased since Indianapolis," he said.
Shaikh Khalid was last November summoned to the parliament to explain his meeting with Livni, but the debate ended in chaos after Islamist MP Nasser Al Fadhala urged him to wash the hand that touched the "dirty" Israeli minister with water seven times. Shaikh Khalid did not attend the debate on Tuesday.
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