Bahraini delegation kicked out from Aqsa Mosque

CAIRO – 10 December 2017: Palestinians kicked out a Bahraini interfaith delegation from Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday, according to Palestinian news agencies.

The Bahraini delegation, which consisted of 24 members of “This is Bahrain” Association, is visiting Israel for the first time publicly, Palestinian media reported.

Earlier, Israeli media revealed that the Bahraini delegation visits Israel for four days for “co-existence and dialogue among different religions, [and] not for political reasons.”

On Saturday, the 24-member delegation visited the Old City of Jerusalem in the company of an Israeli TV reporter, the Israeli media reports added.

This visit takes place amid Arab and Palestinian rage at the American administration’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel.

Last September, Israel’s Jerusalem Post newspaper (JPost) revealed that Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa had condemned the Arab boycott of Israel, noting that Al-Khalifa had met with two American Rabbis last February in Manama, Bahrain.

“The Bahraini King expressed his willingness to allow Bahrainis to visit Israel freely despite missing diplomatic ties between the two states,” JPost added.

In spite of the small numbers, Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo, who is Jewish, served as the Bahraini diplomat in the U.S. from 2008 to 2013, becoming the first Jewish woman to represent any Arab country on a diplomatic mission, JPost reported last September.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city and the relocation of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. All Arabs and most western countries reiterated their refusal and resentment over the “illegal and illegitimate decision” as described by the Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki during a press conference in the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo on Saturday.