MANAMA: Bahraini opposition groups have rejected a decision to normalise relations with Israel with a leading Shia Muslim leader calling on the people of the region to resist.
Muslim scholar Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, who lives in Iran, said on Sunday he was against normalisation between Arab countries and Israel, in a statement published by dissolved Bahraini opposition party Al Wefaq, a group close to Qassim.
The accords struck between Israel and the UAE last month and between Israel and Bahrain on Friday go against the will of the people, he said.
“There is a great divergence between the rulers and the ruled in thought, mind, aims and interests. Governments are experiencing a psychological defeat and want to impose it on the people and the people have to resist this defeat,” Qassim said.
Joint statement
A group of Bahraini political and civil society associations, including the Bahrain Bar Association, on Sunday voiced their opposition to the deal in a joint statement.
“What results from normalisation will not enjoy popular backing, in line with what generations of Bahrainis have been brought up on in terms of adherence to the Palestinian cause,” the statement said.
The head of Bahrain’s highest court ordered judiciary employees not to criticise government policy or express opinions harming national unity, Al Bilad newspaper reported on Sunday.