Reactions to Sh. Salman's call for dialouge with Israel

As I expected, Bahrainis weren’t pleased with Sh. Salman’s article in the Washington Post yesterday. Al-Wefaq’s opposition MP Jameel Kadhim announced on al-Alam News channel (Iran’s preposterous Arabic language news channel) that Bahraini opposition rejects Sh. Salman’s call for Arabs to engage citizens of Israel in dialogue to promote peace, as he saw it as another form of normalization with the Jewish state. Mr. Kadhim stated that “the Zionist entity in its entirety, both government and citizenry, poses a threat to the region”. Consequently, he sees that engaging them in dialogue is meaningless and improper.

This criticism comes from a member of a Shia Islamist bloc that is eager to tarnish the reputation of the Bahraini government and suck up to Iran’s turbaned puppet-masters. Similarly, his statement was presented on an Iranian propaganda agency eager to denounce the Bahraini government for its ties to the United States and, now according to them, Israel. I suppose that says something about the credibility of Mr. Kadhim’s statement. After all, al-Alam does represent the views of Holocaust denying Ahmedinejad. So let’s go over this once more. Bahraini religious zealots teaming up with Iranian Holocaust deniers. what a match!

I suggest everyone read Ms. Mariam al-Sharooqi’s article in al-Wasat (7/19). For those of you unfamiliar with al-Wasat, it is a Bahraini opposition paper that serves the Shia community. It also is, in my opinion, infamous for its fondness for over exaggeration and constant nagging (who can blame them, their Bahraini. It runs in our blood). Ms. al-Sharooqi’s editorial highlights the benefits of Sh. Salman’s proposal, even if the majority of al-Wasat’s readership is quick to dismiss it. She relates a personal experience in which, following a lecture at the University of Minnesota, an Israeli student asked her about Arab society’s views on terrorism and the Holocaust. She responded by saying that Islam rejects terrorism and that Arabs do not deny the Holocaust (like al-Alam and Ahmedinejad do). The Israeli added that not all Israelis oppose the peace process and that some even recognize Israel’s involvement in the Deir Yassin and Sabra and Shatila massacres. Ms. al-Sharooqi ends her article with an appeal to her dismissive audience. Dialogue will do more for the future of our children and the future of Palestine than mutual resentment.

Link to Mariam al-Sharooqi's al-Wasat article

http://www.alwasatnews.com/2508/news/read/172948/1.html