'Arch Foe': Sheikh Isa Qassim says Bahrainis reject Bennett's Manama visit
Bahrain's leading religious scholar and resistance leader Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim says the people of Bahrain reject the presence of Zionist entity’s premier Naftali Bennett in the tiny Persian Gulf island State.
Taking strong exception to Bennett’s two-day visit to Manama, Sheikh Isa Qassim dubbed him “an arch foe”, adding that the nation of Bahrain rejects the Israeli regime, as reported by Lebanon’s el-Nashra newspaper on Monday.
The spiritual leader of Al Wefaq, Bahrain's largest political opposition, stressed that “the proud Bahraini people” resolutely resist and denounce Bennett’s maiden visit to their country.
Bennett arrived in Manama earlier on Monday in the highest-level visit since the two sides normalized their relations under a 2020 US-brokered deal.
Palestinians slammed the deal as a treacherous “stab in the back” and a betrayal of their cause against the decades-long Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
Bennett’s visit to Manama coincided with the 11th anniversary of the February 14 uprising against Bahrain’s pro-Israel and pro-West Aal-e Khalifa regime.
Earlier, speaking at a ceremony to mark the revolution anniversary on Monday, Sheikh Isa Qassim said Bahrainis will sustain the popular uprising until all their demands are met.
In a televised address from the holy city of Qom, he urged people in his country to demonstrate perseverance and remain steadfast and united in their struggle against the Aal-e Khalifa regime.
“Faithful peoples will exercise patience in their struggle against oppression. Nobody can emerge triumphant by sitting idle. Victory can only be achieved through unity and solidarity,” he stated.
Bahrainis took to the streets of Manama and other cities and towns across the country on Monday to mark the 11th anniversary of the uprising and to protest Bennett’s visit.
“Eleven years of patience and steadfastness on the path of truth,” al-Wefaq National Islamic Society said in a statement.
“Our demands are just… Bahrainis are demonstrating on the anniversary of the February 14 revolution, as reaffirmation of the continuation of the movement demanding rights,” it said.
The protesters on Monday demanded that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power and allow a just system, representing all Bahrainis, to be established. They also decried Bennett’s visit.
"We, the people of Bahrain, will remain defenders of the Palestinian cause and do not accept any normalization deal with the occupying regime,” said Hossein al-Dihi, deputy secretary-general of Bahrain's main opposition group.
"Our nation seeks a dignified life and freedom, and the fight against political and financial corruption and the plunder of public property,” he added.
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