MANAMA, 29 October 2005 — Some 5,000 Bahraini demonstrators, mainly Shiites, took to streets yesterday for the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day, repeating demands that Israel “be wiped from the map”.
They also carried placards repeating Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s remarks that caused a diplomatic backlash against Iran in the West and Israel, in apparent support of the Iranian stance.
The organizers of the rally, which was led by Shiite religious figures, criticized the recent government decision to lift the ban on Israeli imports, announcing the launch of a petition signing effort to reject normalization of relations with Israel.
They also called on Arab and Islamic countries to bar the United States from using their grounds as a launchpad for attacks against other Arab and Muslim nations.
