More than 400 Bahraini judicial activists have warned against any normalization of relations with Israel, expressing their support for the Palestinian cause.
The activists blasted Bahraini officials for hosting an Israeli celebration last week, Bahrain’s LuaLua TV reported on Wednesday.
They also called on the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry to punish its members, who took part in the Hanukkah ceremony, and to make them apologize for their participation in the event.
The judicial activists further voiced solidarity with the Palestinian cause and underlined the need for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.
The ceremony, which was held on Saturday, was also reportedly attended by members of the country’s small Jewish population, foreign businessmen and local Bahrainis.
The Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, denounced the event in the wake of mounting criticism about the Tel Aviv regime’s illegal activities in the occupied territories.
In a statement, Hamas condemned the ceremony as a “humiliating and disgraceful display,” where Bahraini dignitaries and traders “hosted a Jewish, Zionist, racist, extremist delegation and danced with them.”
Last year, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifah hosted the Hanukkah celebration in the capital Manama, the first such event in the tiny Persian Gulf country since 1948.
Bahrain and Israel have no formal diplomatic ties.