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Does the Kingdom of Bahrain Exist to Serve Israel? 

Targeting of Pro-Palestinian Activist Ebrahim Sharif Suggests So… 

By Iqbal Jassat 

Bahrain, one of the Arab world’s most despotic regime has jailed a prominent human rights activist for the “crime” of “criticising Israel”.

Though Ebrahim Sharif’s imprisonment is a travesty of justice, it is symptomatic of the regime’s iron-fisted reign and pro-Israel stance.

Bahrain’s ruling monarchy has outlawed criticism of its deeply unpopular ties with the settler colonial regime and more so following its embrace of the so-called “Abraham Accords” and “normalisation”.

Is the targeting of Sharif intended to intimidate “anti-normalisation” activists?

It seems so as reports reveal that Sharif has been in prison since November 2024 on alleged charges of “spreading false news on social media” and “making offensive remarks against sister Arab states and their leaders.”

However, a week ago he was pulled before Bahrain’s Criminal Court and slapped with a fine and six months jail term.

The charges against him are not only ludicrous and laughable; they are void of any reason.

Reports indicate that as per the court, Sharif, in an interview with Lebanese Lua Lua TV in Beirut, had said that Arab states failed to support the Palestinian cause.

In the interview, Sharif had denounced Arab leaders who were gradually normalizing diplomatic ties with the Israeli regime.

Sharif had “made statements containing false and offensive information about Arab countries, accusing them of collusion and conspiracy, and calling on their people to resist and rise up against their governments,” Bahrain’s public prosecutor’s office claimed in a statement posted on Instagram.

Given widespread public outrage against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Sharif’s outspoken stance in defence of Palestinian rights, has the potential to mobilise further support among activists.

From media coverage, we learn the “normalization” of Manama-Tel Aviv diplomatic ties has been met with strong criticism from pro-Palestine campaigners in Bahrain and beyond, with anger over the move dramatically escalating after the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.

Sharif was arrested at Bahrain International Airport on November 12, 2025, upon his arrival from Beirut, where he had attended the Arab National Conference.

This is the 10th time that Bahraini authorities have arrested, interrogated, or prosecuted Sharif since 2011, all on the basis of exercising his right to peaceful assembly and speech.

Fifteen years ago he was sentenced to five years in prison following his participation in the peaceful 2011 uprising in Bahrain.

The authorities held him incommunicado for months, and at times in solitary detention, with no access to family members prior to his first appearance before the special military court.

On his current jailing, according to Middle East Eye, the advocacy director at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, said the move was a “new low” for the Bahraini government.

“This sentence sets a chilling precedent: a prominent public figure is being criminalised for standing with Palestine and challenging governments that have normalised relations amid Israel’s genocide,” he said in a statement.

“It signals a grave escalation in Bahrain’s assault on free expression and marks a new low for the Bahraini government.”

Bahrain’s unelected monarchy shares with Israel a deep enmity towards Iran, and relies on the United States, which stations its Fifth Fleet on the tiny but strategic archipelago.

Iqbal Jassat

Executive Member

Media Review Network

Johannesburg

South Africa

Iqbal Jassat
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