Bahrain Mirror: Over the past week, a number of significant incidents have taken place. These incidents must be taken into consideration, as they show the reality of the popular and official stances regarding the massacres being committed in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces.

It is interesting, for example, to see hundreds marching in masses that we have not seen in a long time, and clashing with security men who want to prevent any activity in solidarity with the Palestinian people by the force of arms. Moreover, sports fans (and sports commentators) have been banned from entering stadiums for carrying the Palestinian flag or wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh, which is apparently banned.

We have also read the statement of the Al-Wahdawi, which revealed that it had submitted an official request to hold a march in solidarity with Palestine, but its request was rejected, so it submitted another request to hold a solidarity vigil in Al-Maqsha Square, which was also rejected over the pretext of security reasons.

We also followed the statement of the University of Bahrain, which threatened to implement the "Sanction List" and prosecute and punish anyone who participates in any solidarity event with the Palestinian people, in addition to the (unannounced) directives given to schools to neither show any form of solidarity nor allow students to express such support. It is noteworthy that no one has been able to implement these directives with children under the age of ten, who decided to stand in solidarity with the children of Palestine and the people of Palestine through a number of activities in more than one school, spontaneously.

Nonetheless, all of these steps and other measure did not reach the level of what we read today, coming from the Minister of Finance, who is one of the figures very close to the Crown Prince, and implements the financial policies adopted by Salman bin Hamad. The minister brazenly and meekly stated that "the war between Israel and Hamas should not impede the economic integration that has emerged in the region between Bahrain, the UAE and Israel."

But why is this statement rude and insensitive? Because it comes just days after the horrific Baptist Hospital massacre that killed hundreds of martyrs and wounded others. And it's because the Zionists are killing between 400 and 700 Palestinians every day in ongoing massacres that have specifically targeted women and children, who now constitute 67% of the total number of martyrs, according Palestinian Ministry of Health figures. This prompted citizens supporting putting an end to normalization agreements with Israel to raise their voices.

 Of course, the statement of the Minister of Finance is inflammatory, in which he and those behind him (the king and his crown prince) challenge the growing popular demands to annul the normalization agreement with the Zionist entity, but it is also a ridiculous statement. It is a statement that proves to citizens that the ruling family has strategically linked its fate with the fate of a temporary entity, which is experiencing a serious existential crisis and is unwilling to listen to the demands of its people in this regard. Is there any sane person who would explain to them that linking their fate to them can mean something beyond political defeat if the resistance in Palestine achieved victory?

Arabic Version