Bahrain youth ‘cleanse’ site of menorah-lighting ceremony

Bahraini youth “cleanse” the site of a menorah-lighting ceremony sponsored by Bahrain’s king, stressing full opposition to normalization with Israel in a recent online video. 

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) posted a video this week showing a “cleansing” operation by Bahrain’s “Youth for Jerusalem” branch at the location of a menorah-lighting ceremony that took place on the first night of Chanukah and was sponsored by King Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa.

“We will wipe away this stain on the shining history of our lands,” the participants said in this video which was translated by MEMRI. “We the youth of Bahrain will not forget our cause, and we will keep marching on this path until Palestine is regained in its entirety.”

The participants apparently viewed the menorah-lighting ceremony as a sign of normalization of ties between the Persian Gulf Sunni monarchy and Israel.  Throughout the video, there were individual camera shots on each scrubber, all of whom wore labcoats with years written on their backs corresponding to landmark times of Bahrain’s support for the Palestinians vis-a-vis Israel.

Such years included the year of Israel’s independence in 1948, when “Bahrainis participated in mass demonstrations and waged Jihad with their money and souls against the Partition Plan and the occupation of Palestine.” Many Palestinians and their supporters refer to Israel’s independence as “nakba” Arabic for “catastrophe.”

The video concluded with a trend tweet of “#Bahrainis_against_normalization.”

Bahrain, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, is estimated to have several dozen Jews living in the country.

By: World Israel News Staff

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