Bahrain Mirror: Social media outlets were outraged after the Israeli Embassy in Bahrain held a ceremony marking the anniversary of the so-called "Independence Day", which marks the anniversary of the Nakba in Palestine, amid Israeli praise of this step.

On Thursday, the Israeli Embassy in Manama held a ceremony marking the 74th anniversary of Israel's so-called "Independence Day" for the first time, in the presence of more than 300 guests, including Bahraini government officials, namely Bahrain's Deputy Foreign Minister, a member of the ruling family, Abdullah bin Ahemd Al Khalifa.

The ceremony included the Bahrain Orchestra playing the Israeli anthem "The Hope" amid a cheerful atmosphere and the raising of Israeli flags, as well as the cutting of a large cake decorated with the Israeli flag, in the presence and participation of the U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain.

What happened is "a betrayal of the Palestinian cause" and the Palestinian people, who are living in difficult conditions in light of the apartheid policy practiced by occupation forces, specifically as the march of Israeli flags that would pass through the occupied Al-Quds neighbourhoods approached to provoke Palestinians, tweeters wrote.

"Celebrating with the thief on the occasion of the anniversary of the establishment of his state on a usurped land is a participation in the crime of ethnic cleansing and betrayal of the most basic human principles," wrote Bahraini opposition leader Ibrahim Sharif. 

"When the participant is a cousin of the owner of the usurped land, there is no word in the dictionary that reflects the amount of decadence that normalizers have reached," he added.

For her part, Lamis Azzam commented: "On the outskirts of the march of the flags, the anniversary of the unification of Jerusalem and a charged atmosphere in Al-Quds, and a Zionist insistence on judaizing it and blocking the voice of truth, Bahrain chose to stand by killing, judaization, falsification and criminality."

"The Israeli Embassy in Manama celebrated Israel's independence over the blood of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims."

"The embassy of the apartheid regime in Bahrain celebrates the rape of Palestine and the dispersal of its people," Qatari activist Nasser bin Rashid Al-Nuaimi said.

"Bahrain's Al-Ayyam newspaper refers to it as Independence Day!!!! Independence from which colonization, I wonder? Palestine was under colonialism, and there was no Israel. That's the truth."

"In Manama, the Bahraini regime shared with Zionists their joy of the 74th anniversary of the occupation of Al-Quds and Palestine. To which level of shame did the regime in Bahrain reach? Isn't there a wise man?" writer Majed Al-Zebda stressed.

On the other hand, the diplomatic institutions of the occupation regime welcomed this step, which they described as historic. The Stand Together Foundation Executive Director commented saying: "Amazing... Normalization of peace in the Middle East."

Israeli analyst and activist Arsène Ostrovsky wrote: "What is happening before us is beautiful...Who among us would have believed this was going to happen two years ago? Who would have believed?"

Palestinians around the world commemorate the Palestinian Nakba, which falls on May 15 each year. 

Nakba Day marks the 1948 forced expulsion of Palestinians from their land by "armed Zionist gangs".

Some 800,000 Palestinians were forced to leave their homes that year, which witnessed the establishment of Israel, to escape "massacres committed by Zionist gangs", which killed about 15,000 Palestinians, according to a Palestinian government report.

In 2020, Israel signed agreements to normalize relations with four Arab countries: the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.

Out of the 22 Arab States, those four have declared official ties with the Israeli occupation entity.

Arabic Version