MPs seek criminalising cooperation with Israel

Manama : A parliamentary panel is seeking to implement a new law that criminalises any cooperation or attempt to normalise relations with Israel.

The Permanent Committee for the Support of the Palestinian People in the House of Representatives yesterday announced that it will present a bill and parliamentary proposal to criminalise all sorts of cooperation and normalising of relations with the “Zionist Entity” and to hold violators of these new regulations legally responsible.

Committee member MP Mohammed Al Ahmed explained in a statement that the matter has been referred to the office of the Speaker of the House Ahmed bin Ibrahim Al Mulla, in accordance to the official procedures, so it will be referred to the concerned committees in the house for studying and approval before it could be voted on by the 40-member council.

This came during the regular weekly meeting of the committee, chaired by MP Mohammed Al Emmadi.

Al Ahmed also stated that “committee members reviewed a report prepared by the Parliamentary Division of the Kingdom of Bahrain on its attendance at the 25th emergency meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Ribat, Morocco last July, with the aim of reiterating the parliamentary stances of Arab states in support of the Palestinian cause and the people of Palestine, in the light of the flagrant Israeli violations of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem”.

“Committee members decided to communicate with the speaker of the house once again with regards to two previous requests submitted by the committee that weren’t fulfilled. The first request was to issue an official statement from the House of Representatives reaffirming on the rejecting stance of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the decision recently taken by the US President Donald Trump declaring Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and relocating the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to it,” Al Ahmed said.

He continued, “The second request was to send an official letter to the Legislative Authority in the US (Congress) explaining the point of view of the Bahraini Legislative Authority of the American decision and reminding the American side of the dangerous impact of the decision on the security and stability of the region, wasting the peace efforts and doubting the US role in instating peace and taking sides against the people of Palestine.”

As reported earlier on DT News the committee sent an objection letter to the US Congress few days after President Trump announced his decision. The committee also organised a symbolic stand at the House of Representatives in solidarity with the Palestinian cause last month.