Alwaght-Back in February 2011, Bahrain, the Persian Gulf island state, witnessed the biggest demonstration ever against the US-backed ruling elite. Some 200,000 people took the main highway leading to the financial district in the capital, Manama, shouting in unity for the regime to go. Repeatedly, the protesters will tell you that they have had enough of the Al Khalifas’ predatory rule.
Bahraini authorities - backed by Saudi invader troops- committed a list of dreadful crimes against places of worship and other religious establishments. Many of them have been very demolished without any prior notice or taking into account the presence of copies of the Holy Quran, which in turn were burned.
According to official statistics issued by the Department of Al-Awqaf Al-Jaferia (Administration of Shiite Religious Sites), at least 35 mosques were demolished and vandalized as well as eight places of worship and two cemeteries. These numbers were correct at the time of preparing the statistics, while more infringements could have occurred later.
The Bahraini government has justified these crimes - which are classified as crimes of genocide under the UN Convention on Genocide (1948) – by claiming that those mosques and facilities were not licensed and that some had been built on lands owned by the state. There are official documents that prove the ownership of these mosques by Al-Awqaf Al-Jaferia and the building of some of them dating back for decades.
The first demolishment goes back to Thursday, 31st March 2011, where unidentified people also attacked Sayeda Zainab Mosque at dawn of with Molotov cocktails, which led to the burning of the mosque's walls and furniture. Bahraini authorities did not conduct any investigation to uncover the perpetrators.
Later on Tuesday, 12th April 2011, security forces proceeded to Um Albanein Mosque at round about 13 in Hamad Town and removed it completely.
On the afternoon of Thursday, 14th April 2011, the Bahraini and Saudi invader troops vandalized Kareem Ahl Albait Mosqueand destroyed the speakers. They also demolished Abo Talib Mosque at that day.
One hour before midnight of that day, a large group of masked Bahraini security forces - mostly from other Arab and Asian countries and working as mercenaries - entered many villages in civilian clothes, carrying arms and accompanied by the Bahrain and Saudi invader troops with armored vehicles and bulldozers. Without any prior notice, they started demolishing and dismantling small cabins where people distribute free food on religious occasions and celebrations.
One of the demolished mosques is Abi Mosque, which was demolished on April 15th 2014. Mohammad Jamil el-Ghazal, who is in charge of the mosque, told us that the mosque is old, and was established in the early fifties. On that day, Security forces also went to Sheikh Mohammad Mosque and damaged its contents.
Moreover, on the same day, militant groups at around 9 p.m. attacked the worshipers at Salman al-Mohammadi Mosque in Hamad Town and asked them to evacuate the mosque, preparing to be demolished at 11p.m. of the same night.
Bahraini government did not stop here, at that date ten more mosques were destroyed in Nuwaidrat Town: Al-Moamen Mosque, Al-Imam al-Baqir Mosque, Al-Imam al-Jawad Mosque, Al-Imam al-Hassan Mosque, Salman the Persian Mosque, Abo Dhar al-Ghafari Mosque, al-Imam al-Hadi Mosque, Al-Imam Sadiq Mosque, Shaikh Yousuf Mosque, and Al-Dowaira Mosque.
The list is extensive. No single town was able to escape from the barbarism of Bahraini and Saudi invader troops: Al-Rasool Al-Adham Mosque in Karzakan, Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque in Salmabad, Fadak Al-Zahraa Mosque in Hamad Town, Imam Ali Mosque and Fatima Al-Zahra Mosque in the town of Zayed, Al-Khudhur Mosque in Bani Jamrah, Sheikh Maitham Mosque in Juffair, the historic 400-year-old Amir Mohammed Barbagi Mosque all were completely leveled.
Religious gathering places (Matam) and Cemeteries were not spared and became the scene of violations by the Bahraini regime, backed by the Saudi invader troops.
The demolitions are carried out daily with work crews often arriving in the dead of night, accompanied by police and military escorts. In many cases, the workers have hauled away the rubble, leaving no trace, before townspeople awake.
The Ministry of Information also blocked the al-Awqaf al-Jaferia website, after it published documents, proving that many of the mosques that were demolished are licensed and documented in the official governmental site.
Bahrain's Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Khalid bin Ali bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, defended the demolitions in an interview, claiming that any mosque demolished had been built illegally, recently, and without permission.
"These are not mosques. These are illegal buildings," he said.
In a press conference, held on 3rd May 2011, the Bahraini Minister of Justice insisted and denied that there is a targeting of places of worship.
Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet and has provided facilities and forces for the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. military sales to Bahrain jumped massively in 2010, to $200 million from $88 million in 2009. The 2010 sales included exports of rifles, shotguns, and assault weapons. In addition, the U.S. administration turns a blind eye on the Bahraini governments’ violations of civil liberties and human rights.
As clearly demonstrated, one side alone promulgates the dark specter of sectarianism. In a desperate attempt to safeguard their thrones, the Al-Khalifa family has resorted to imprisoning, torturing, and razing mosques in manifest violations of civil liberties and human rights.
All are efforts employed to demean and erase the identity of a people.
