Thousands of demonstrators took part in rallies throughout Bahrain yesterday to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people and to protest against the atrocities being carried out against defenceless people by the Zionists.
The demonstrators chanted slogans condemning the outrageous Zionist terrorism and urged support for the Palestinian people in their struggle to defend Arab dignity and Muslim holy places.
They called on Arab and friendly countries, together with the UN, to take all necessary steps to lift the siege against the Palestinian people and their leader President Yasser Arafat and to end the massacres of hundreds of people committed by Israeli occupation forces.
The demonstrators called for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories and urged Arab nations to sever all ties with Israel, declare jihad and give every support to the Palestinian uprising.
Rally disrupted by 'infiltrators'
Bahrain security forces were compelled to intervene when a number of people "infiltrated" a rally in support of the Palestinians and threw Molotov cocktails and stones at the US Embassy yesterday, said Interior Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa last night.
He said the rally was heading peacefully towards the US embassy when the attack on private property took place.
"As a result, the security forces in co-operation with the organisers of the rally, were forced to deal with such infiltrators in order to preserve the normal order and security enjoyed by the kingdom," said Shaikh Mohammed in a statement.
The Minister said he regretted these acts and stressed that while such rallies were allowed to take place in recognition of people's feelings towards the Palestinians, public security had to be maintained.
He added that disturbances and attacks on public and private buildings as well as diplomatic missions could not be allowed.
Shaikh Mohammed said the actions of the infiltrators did not reflect the civilised and democratic spirit of the people of Bahrain.
He said the Interior Ministry would take appropriate measures to ensure such actions were not repeated and would bring people who violated the peace to justice.
The Minister said he also regretted that infiltrators had prevented the protesters from submitting their demands to the US embassy which was ready to accept them.
Women to support intifada WOMEN of all nationalities are to hold a silent demonstration in support of the people of Palestine in front of the UN House in Hoora today.
The hour-long vigil will be held from 4pm and is being organised by Irish Fiona Gaffney in conjunction with the global phenomenon Women in Black.
It is a loose network of women worldwide committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to war and other forms of violence.
Ms Gaffney expects at least 100 mostly expatriate women to turn up for the demonstration.
However, Bahraini women are also more than welcome to join.
Women in Black vigils were started in Israel in 1988 by women protesting against Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, demanding peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Participants will be asked to sign a letter to be sent to the UN, care of the UN Information Centre in Bahrain.
It calls for the UN and the signatories' countries to protest to the UN Security Council at the maltreatment of the people of Palestine at the hands of Israel, to end the siege of Ramallah, the virtual imprisonment of Yasser Arafat and the blockades of Bethlehem, Tulkarm, Bait Jala, Jenin and other West Bank Cities. For more information, contact Ms Gaffney on 9424232.
Silence of the US Lambs By Maha bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa
The most frightening aspect of America is that it is not by accident that many US officials, both good and ordinary men, are committing murder against the Palestinians.
The latest massacres carried out by Israelis against Palestinian people and the total "Silence of the American Lambs" penetrates to the heart of that darkness which we call the 2002 Palestinian Holocaust.
The entire Arab community feels utterly dismayed at the indirect American involvement in the mass murder of the Palestinians.
Arab governments expect America to play a crucial role in finding a final solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The murderous record of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is a true reflection of the social background and actions of individual men.
His barbaric record offers some of the most powerful and disturbing evidence to date of a savage human capacity for extraordinary inhumanity.
In short, the Israeli attack on the Arabs of Palestine was not a short intense wave of mass murder, but a gradual programme of terrible hardship, deprivation and persecution of the Palestinian population.
This offensive, moreover, came just when the Arab world refused to support a direct American strike against Iraq.
In other words, Israeli aggression surfaced after America had failed to convince Arab governments to participate in decision-making involving a strike against Iraq.
The grass-roots perpetrators became "professional killers" because of failed operations. Even historians will encounter numerous difficulties in trying to write about a unit of such men, among them the problem of sources.
In recent decades the historical profession in general has been increasingly concerned with writing history "from the bottom up", with reconstructing the experiences of the bulk of the population ignored in the history of high politics and high culture hitherto so dominant.
In America in particular, this trend has culminated in the practice of "blaming others" achieved through a "thick description" of common experiences of ordinary people such as in the Oklahoma bombing when an Arab was initially blamed for a failure in American internal politics.
But all along it was a man of pure American blood who was responsible because of his anger at his own government.
When such an approach of illegitimate accusations has been applied to the era of technology of information, however, some have criticised it as an evasion - a way to shift attention from the unparalleled horrors of the new Nazi Israeli regime's genocidal policies to those mundane aspects of life that continue relatively undisturbed.
America must understand that darkness will never be light. Not trying to understand the perpetrators in human terms makes it impossible, not only in this war, but in any history of a nation defending their own land.
Palestinians are in a situation with no more choices. Most people carrying out suicide bombings do so because the American government has made it clear that human responsibility is ultimately an individual matter.
That anyone thinks posting the editorials and news articles above means I endorse the sentiments expressed in them is rather astounding Understanding your MO doesn't make it so astounding. You posted a pure propaganda piece and alerted Vets by adding what you did to the title. There are many other articles on this protest at the EMBASSY. But your title made it seem as if US Troops were directly involved in this and they weren't. The long and short of it is that I simply don't believe you were concerned at all about the truth of anything or you would have posted the truth. The Fifth Fleet is not in danger and Bahrain needs us too much to allow them to be put in harm's way at any rate.
How is it you say your brother-in-law is Military but you didn't know there is not an Air Base of ours there? Why is your relative in Bahrain evry week? 'Splain yourself, Larry. Inquiring minds want to know.
Shaikh Isa Air Base, Bahrain
25°55'06"N 50°35'26"E
Shaikh-Isa Air Base is located on the 240-square-mile island nation of Bahrain, situated off Saudia Arabia’s eastern coast. The first expeditionary force went to Shaikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain in October 1995. The 366th Air Expeditionary Wing deployed to Shaikh Isa AB [aka Sheik Isa / Shaikh Asa], Bahrain from 24 September 1997 through 02 Octber 1997, with 6 F-15C, 6 F-15E, 10 F-16, 2 B-1B, and 2 KC-135. The 366 AEW from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, deployed F-15s, F-16s, B-1 bombers, and KC-135s to Shaikh Isa, Bahrain. During its deployment, the wing flew 444 sorties in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH. Elements of a Patriot Battery from the 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Bliss, Texas, were also sent to Bahrain to provide ground air defense for the AEW. Enhanced Southern Watch activities included deployments to Prince Sultan and Eskan, Saudi Arabia; Al Jaber and Ali Al-Salem, Kuwait; Al Dhafra, United Air of Emirates; Seeb, Oman; Al Udeid, Qatar; and Shaikh Asa, Bahrain. Following the arrival of the wing’s 44 aircraft and 1200 personnel at Shaikh Isa Air Base, Bahrain, in March 1999, the 366th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron developed an environmental program that utilized available host nation resources. For the next 75 days, the wing met the stringent requirements of the Overseas Environmental Baseline Guidance Document (OEBGD) and the Air Force Handbook 10-222 Volume 4, Environmental Guide for Contingency Operations. Their efforts resulted in the operation of a highly effective hazardous waste management program and the Air Force’s first-ever full-scale recycling program for an Air Expeditionary Force (AEF). The 366th Wing processed more than 70 hazardous waste increments and recycled more than 50 tons of material within 45 days. To accomplish this task, the wing sought out existing resources and formed proactive partnerships with the US Navy Administrative Support Unit (ASU) Environmental Office in Manama, Bahrain, and a scrap recycling firm in the host nation.
During Operation Desert Shield in 1990, Air Force RED HORSE units constructed a taxiway and hard stands to help protect fighter aircraft which had been parked wingtip-to-wingtip at Shaikh Isa AB in Bahrain. Virtually every square inch of ramp space in Saudi Arabia had already been taken or spoken for. Central Command assigned Marines two small airfields in the Jubayl area: Jubayl Naval Air Facility and King Abdul Aziz Naval Base. Even with these, there was no room for most of 3d Marine Aircraft Wing's fighter and attack aircraft. Marine MajGen Jeremiah Pearson, Deputy Commander, Marine Forces Central Command, approached an old friend, Shailth Khalifa bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, minister of the Bahrain Amiri Defense Forces. The Shaikh immediately offered use of a base nearing completion of construction, Shaikh Isa Air Base, plus space at the already crowded Balirain International Airport. The lack of ramp space required the services of another traditional partner of Marines in combat: the SeaBees. Captain Michael R. Johnson, USN, commanded the four naval mobile construction battalions that were forward deployed from the US Pacific Fleet. One of the first of their many engineering feats was the enlargement of ramps at Jubayl Naval Air Facility and King Abdul Aziz Naval Base and at Shaikh Isa Air Base on Bahrain.
When the Commander in Chief called for redeployment of Operation DESERT THUNDER troops and equipment, 60,000-pound Aircraft Cargo Loader/Transporter "Tunners" were pressed into action. They deployed to Shaikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain to support outload operations.
By March 2000 efforts continued towards establishing the Marine Corps as an important component player within the CENTCOM AOR. Base Support plans for Bahrain included the deployment of Marines to build 6 K-spans to support beddown plans at Shaikh Isa Airbase.
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Now find out what your brother-in-law knows about all that, and get back to me with facts instead of propaganda for female suicide bombers in the West Bank, which had absolutely NOTHING to do with any thing EXCEPT pro-pal propaganda.
That's an answer???? Thanks. It 'splains everything, doesn't it, Lar?
I don't understand why you are so exercised with the title to this thread. While I agree with you that I don't think the locals showing their support for their Arab bretheren in Palestine jeopardizes our operations in that country, I don't think the title was misleading at all. The protest happened (and was not/will not be the only one), Bahrain is the site of the Naval base and there is a large military presence there. I really don't think you should be so upset about this thread. If the local sentiment is turning against the US, then yes, I think the Americans there could be in danger from a small but deadly segment of the population (even if it is Saudis). Half of Saudi Arabia trundles over the causeway on Thursday night to do what Allah doesn't allow them to do at home...