BUDAIYA, 11 August 2006 — A two-day fund-raising drive and an art exhibition to support the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance began here yesterday. Volunteers from several women and youth societies started collecting donations in Jawad Complex in Budaiya, west of the capital Manama, for a 12-hour period that began at 10 a.m.
The money collected will be directed to help the Lebanese and Palestinian people following the recent Israeli attack on Lebanon and Gaza.
Artists from the Al-Hussaini Society for Islamic Arts, also held an open air exhibition where they painted pieces that supported Hezbollah and depicted the struggle of the Lebanese and Palestinian people.
The society also placed 42 paintings and 85 caricatures, which had been painted last week in a similar exhibition, on display.
The majority of the caricatures mocked US President George Bush and the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. The drawings were also highly critical of what organizers described as the lack of action by the international community to stop the war. Proceeds from the paintings sold will also be directed to the fund supporting the Lebanese and Palestinian people.
The President of the Hamad Town Women Society Ebtihaj Al-Orrayed said that the event was one of a many being organized in conjunction with other societies across the island to help raise funds to support the resistance and the people in Lebanon and Gaza.
“We wanted to help and at the same time we wanted to get the message out about the suffering of the Lebanese and Palestinian people,” she said.
“Volunteers from the societies are working very hard to collect the donations. The paintings had attracted a lot of attention from locals and expatriates alike,” she added.
Last Thursday two major solidarity campaigns with the Lebanese people kicked-off in Bahrain with one aiming to raise aid and the other seeking to help children cope with the conflict. The first campaign was organized by the Lebanese Embassy and civic bodies that launched a two-day aid drive in nine of Bahrain’s major shopping malls.
The mall drive alone managed to raise 42,000 Bahraini dinar in two days.
A substantial amount of the donations came from Gulf nationals, particularly Saudis, who had turned to Bahrain after canceling their vacation plans to Lebanon.
Bahrain’s Be-Free Friends Club and the Bahraini Women’s Society also last week launched the second campaign in two of the country’s largest shopping malls hoping to help Bahraini, Gulf and Lebanese children to cope and express their views on the war.
Children placed their drawings and written messages on makeshift galleries that were set-up under the theme “Bahraini Children Support Lebanese and Palestinian Children”, with many of them expressing sadness over what is taking place.
The Bahraini government had moved to help raise funds for the Lebanese people and government by setting-up a national committee with an initial $5 million donation.
The Bahrain Red Crescent Society (BRCS) is also leading a drive to raise more than $3 million additionally that will be directed to the Lebanese government and its agencies.
