Five Bahraini activists held by Israel returns home

Manama: Five Bahraini activists held by the Israeli Navy on Tuesday as they were heading towards Gaza, have returned home after they were handed over directly to an official Bahraini delegation at Ben Gourion airport.

The extraordinary development marked the first time that Bahraini activists, three women and two men, were held by the Israeli navy and also the first time that a Bahraini official delegation sets foot in an Israeli airport.

"Upon directives from King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa and Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa and based on Bahrain's keen interest in the wellbeing of its nationals abroad and in their conditions and personal freedom, the foreign ministry has made several contacts with international organisations and parties as well as with sisterly and friendly countries to ensure the release of the Bahraini nationals held by the Israelis," the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by Bahrain News Agency.

"The contacts have led to the agreement by Israel to hand over the Bahraini detainees to representatives of Bahrain. The foreign ministry, in cooperation with the interior ministry, dispatched a delegation to Ben Gourion Airport to receive the Bahraini detainees," the ministry said.

Controversy

Bahrain, like most Arab countries, has no diplomatic relations with Israel. A call last September by its foreign minister to form a regional forum that includes all Arab countries, Turkey, Iran and Israel, had waded into controversy after it was staunchly resisted by pan-Arabist MPs who oppose any form of normalization with Israel, but strongly supported by liberal local MPs and columnists and international leaders. The initiative was however frozen after Israel launched attacks on Gaza in December.

The five Bahraini activists, Kaltham Ghuloom, Fatima Al Attawi, Juhaina Al Qaed, Khalid Abdul Qader and Khalid Al Shinhoo, were held for two days by Israel after its navy intercepted their vessel, a Greek island ferry renamed Spirit of Humanity, on its journey to Gaza.

The five Bahrainis were among the 19 activists from 11 countries who on Monday made the attempt to break Israel's punitive blockade of the Strip and provide the besieged Palestinians with medical and reconstruction supplies and children's toys.

Ramzi Kysia, an activist with the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement that helped organize the sail, said from Cyprus that the Bahrainis had been held apart from the others in a cramped facility.

Condemned

Richard Falk, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, condemned Israel's action as part of its "cruel blockade of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibiting any form of collective punishment against an occupied people."

In a statement from Geneva on Thursday, Falk said that the seizure of the boat was unlawful and that the Israeli blockade of Gaza constituted a "continuing crime against humanity."

According to the American expert on international law, the ship was inspected by Cypriot authorities prior to leaving Cyprus in response to Israeli demands to determine whether it carried any weapons. "None were found and Israeli authorities were so informed," Falk said.