MANAMA (Dispatches) – Taking its “normalization” with Bahrain to a whole new level, the Zionist regime has reportedly “bought an island” in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom, drawing outrage from social media users.
Arabic-language news websites said TV7 Israel News reported that Israeli company Himnota, which is owned by the ultra-right Jewish National Fund (JNF), bought a private island with an area of 9,554 square meters for $21.5 million in an auction.
The TV channel claimed that the island is residential and suitable for investment projects of special nature, quoting a source within Himnota as saying that skyscrapers can be founded on the island and can be used for evacuating Zionists in the event of war.
According to the report, Avery Shnayer, representative of the Blue and White party on the board of directors of Himnota, said talks will be held with the “friendly” Bahraini regime to transfer sovereignty over the island to the regime.
Although the TV7 Israel News report was immediately deleted without clarification, it sparked anger and outrage among Bahraini activists and social media users who expressed concern that the sale is a prelude to the occupation of another Arab territory.
“Reports emerging (posted by Israeli news then deleted) that Israel has bought an island in Bahrain - best described as colonial expansion - from a foreign ruling family that occupied Bahrain violently and has been ruling it violently since,” Bahraini human rights activist Maryam Alkhawaja said in a tweet.
Jawad Fairooz, a former Bahraini lawmaker and the head of SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights (SALAM DHR), described the report as “a very dangerous and worrying signal.”
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates signed U.S.-brokered normalization agreements with the Zionist regime in Washington in September 2020.
The move sparked widespread condemnation from various Palestinian resistance factions and ordinary civilians as well as Muslim nations and human rights advocates across the globe.
The tiny Arab country has been rocked by anti-regime protests since 2011 with people demanding the ouster of the ruling family and the establishment of a democratic political system.
A Bahraini protest movement says the country’s 2011 uprising will continue until the fall of the Al Khalifah regime and the establishment of a democratic political system in Bahrain.
The February 14 Youth Coalition said in a Sunday statement that the Bahraini people will continue their struggle until the victory of their revolution and the establishment of a pluralistic and democratic political system.
“The flame, sparkle, and motivation of Bahrain’s popular revolution, which started on February 14, 2011, is still alight given the righteousness of its demands, and it will not be extinguished until the fall of the Al Khalifah regime, the overthrow of Hamad the dictator, and the expulsion of his oppressive and occupying clan as well as his allies and mercenaries,” the movement said, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.