Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Recently, Interior Minister Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa returned from a tour he made to the United States, where he met with Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Stacey Dixon, and participated with her in a panel discussion on security cooperation between the two countries. Rashid bin Abdullah also met with US Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, and signed joint memorandums of understanding with him. The Bahraini minister receives clear US support, although he is a very similar copy of another minister criticized by the US, who prefers not having to deal with him. He's the Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Before he became the national security minister, the US media quoted US and Israeli officials saying it was unlikely that the administration will work with radical leader Itamar Ben Gvir, who serves as Israel's national security minister.

Global criticism haunts Ben-Gvir for his role in the rise of brutal violence against Palestinians, his public calls for killing them, the formation of militias among settlers, his continuous provocation against Muslims by repeatedly desecrating Al-Aqsa Mosque, his support for death sentences against Palestinian prisoners, and his opposition to the introduction of meat or chocolate to prisoners.

On the other hand, a judicial committee that has public US support; i.e. the Bassiouni Commission, which was personally appointed by the King of Bahrain, documented the killings of a number of prisoners of conscience under torture during the reign of Bahraini Minister of Interior Rashid bin Abdullah, and the killing of demonstrators, the demolition of some 38 Shiite mosques, and multiple violations that are still listed in the commission's report. However, despite this, he is welcomed by the Biden administration.

In 2011, during the reign of the Minister of Interior, loyalist militias were established and provided with weapons to kill citizens. The people of Bahrain have not forgotten the killing of Majeed Abdula'al in the northern village of Al-Sahla by the bullets of a naturalized man who was armed with weapons. The residents of Iskan A'ali did not forget the shooting in their town, as well as the case of Dar Kulaib, whose safe houses were attacked by the militias.

In a public video, Rashid bin Abdullah openly called on Shia citizens to leave their homeland of Bahrain for Iran.

Rashid bin Abdullah is responsible for at least two massacres, the massacre of February 17, 2011, as well as the massacre of Diraz in 2017, which left five killed and dozens of people injured, after a 2-year siege.

The Minister of Interior oversees prisons where prisoners of conscience died of medical negligence, prisons from which every day unanswered distress calls from sick prisoners complaining of negligence are made.

For the second week in a row, Rashid bin Abdullah imposes blockade on Friday prayers in Diraz and prevents many worshippers from reaching the mosque there. Rashid bin Abdullah in Bahrain and his ministry are the official authority responsible for exporting and managing hate speech and incitement against opponents of the government.

This minister is involved in closing off the entrance to the Sa'a'saa bin Souhan shrine with bricks, after citizens of the country demanded that it be reopened so that they can visit it.

What is then the difference between bin Abdullah and Ben-Gvir? Why does the US administration open its doors to him as an official who is not pursued by suspicion and did not commit crimes? It is to note that in his recent US visit, he threatened the opposition in his speech, and after his return, a harsh phase of sectarian harassment and persecution began.

The credibility of the American position with the people of Bahrain is similar to the credibility of the British position, as the British chose to take the side of tyranny and benefit from the corruption of the authorities and its need for support in the face of the Bahraini people's aspirations and demands for freedom and democracy.

Arabic Version