Editorial: Questions about Normalizing Restaurant

2022-06-01 - 7:42 p

Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): These are questions that Bahrainis should consider well, especially those who oppose normalization and love Palestine, who constitute the majority. However, the minority normalizers do not concern us. The questions are about the normalizing restaurant, as the discussion about it can help answer many of the issues and incidents that we will find ourselves facing a lot in the coming days as the government's normalization path continues.

  • If the use of Israeli citizenship by "the 48 Arabs" within the occupied territories is "obligatory" by virtue of their residence and their attachment to living in their homeland, are these principles applied to the use of the Israeli citizenship outside Palestine? 

  • Isn't investing outside borders, such as opening a restaurant in Bahrain or other normalizing countries, a benefit from the free and optional privileges granted by holders of Israeli citizenship?

  • Isn't the opening of the Rose Marine restaurant the result of signing the recent Abraham normalization agreements between Bahrain, the UAE and Israel?

  • Can the owner of the mentioned restaurant "Nader Mohammed Awad" open his restaurant or invest in a non-normalizing country?

  •  Have the opening procedures for the restaurant in Bahrain all been completed without any transactions with the Israeli Embassy in Manama? Who guarantees that? 

  • Is the position of the majority of the Bahraini people on the normalization agreements and their consequences "absolute rejection" or "partial rejection", mean that some of the advantages of these agreements can be accepted if they are related to the Arabs of 48?

  • Is the opening of a restaurant in Bahrain on behalf of Palestinians holding the Israeli nationality an innocent act or does it come as part of a particular plan?

  • Is questioning and raising questions about this ill-intentioned or is this what should really be done, since extreme caution and apprehension are due, especially in light of the government's rush to make normalization normal?

  • Is Al-Bilad newspaper hosting and interviewing the first Israeli Ambassador, under the chairmanship of Abdul Nabi Al-Shaala on "Israel Independence Day", which is actually the day of the anniversary of the Nakba and the occupation of Palestine, innocent?  Is its whitewashing the restaurant owner's page and is shedding light on the Palestinian part of the subject innocent and sufficient to wash away suspicions about this issue or is it an incentive to raise more doubts?

  • There are "48 Arabs" who work in the Israeli military and police as the Gadsar unit, which is a purely Arab unit operating in the West Bank, as well as the Hay Raf battalion, which consists of the Druze of Palestine. One of the prominent Druze names in the occupation army is Ghasan Alayan, who leads the Golani brigade. Is the use of the term "48 Arabs" on normalizing business owners in our countries sufficient to remove doubts surrounding them? 

  • Why did the restaurant owner choose a small country that is economically and politically distressed, such as Bahrain to invest in, and did not choose the UAE, for example, which is a huge market where he can achieve more profit? Why did they choose Bahrain, and precisely Al-Budai street?

  • The owner of the restaurant stated that he is one of the "48 Arabs" and that him holding an Israeli citizenship was not a choice, but because he and his grandparents defended their right and insisted on staying in their country. Why did he come to invest in Bahrain after normalization using the post-normalization advantages that Bahrain opened to holders of Israeli citizenship? 

  • Even worse, why did he suddenly decide to leave his ancestral land and come with his family to live in Bahrain, "I came to Bahrain as an investor after several visits and saw the kindness and authenticity of the Bahraini people and was convinced of living here with my family." Where is his insistence on remaining in his homeland? This is what he said to justify holding an Israeli citizenship?

  • When he talks about his project in Bahrain as a branch, does he have another major branch in Israel? Does it have anything to do with the restaurant which holds the same name, Rose Marine, in the occupied city of Netanya? So which economy serves this branch and that?

  • In his remarks to the normalizing newspaper, the restaurant owner called on people who want to know him to visit him in the restaurant and not search him online. Why doesn't he want us to search him on the Internet? Is there anything he's afraid of being unveiled?

  • Last but not least, was the owner of the restaurant chosen to be sent to Bahrain or is he just an opportunist?

Arabic Version