Thousands March In Bahrain
Against US, Israel
11-21-3
MANAMA (Reuters) - Protesters in the pro-Western Gulf Arab state of
Bahrain set fire to U.S. and Israeli flags on Friday in a
10,000-strong anti-Israeli demonstration.
The mainly Shi'ite Muslim demonstrators carried huge portraits of
Iran's late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his
successor Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"Death to Bush, Death to Sharon," they chanted, referring to President
Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The march passed
peaceful through a wealthy suburb of the capital, Manama.
A U.S.-backed peace "road map" envisaging establishment of a
Palestinian state is all but dead after months of Israeli strikes
against Palestinian targets in the West Bank and suicide bombings by
Islamist militants in Israel.
Protesters, who see Israel as the unyielding guilty party in the
stalemate, also set ablaze British flags to mark International
Jerusalem Day, an Iranian-inspired event held each year on the last
Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan to promote Palestinians'
claim to Jerusalem.
Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet and was
formally designated by Bush last year a major non-NATO ally. "We are
angry with America, with Israel and even with Britain. Britain was the
one that started the Palestinian problem," said Ali, as he poured fuel
on a British flag before setting it afire.
"life is like a mushroom, they feed you ***** and keep you in the dark"
.
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