person:isa al khalifa

  • US Syria withdrawal may speed up Arab-Israeli detente, well-connected rabbi says | The Times of Israel
    https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-syria-withdrawal-may-speed-up-arab-israeli-detente-well-connected-

    The rabbi, Marc Schneier of New York, also predicted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Bahrain next month, and that the small Gulf kingdom will soon establish formal ties with Israel.

    (...) Schneier, the founder and head of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, has for many years conducted extensive ties with the rulers of many Muslim countries, including nearly all Gulf states.

    Earlier this month, he was named a “special adviser” to the king of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. In this unpaid position, the rabbi was tasked with assisting the King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence based in Manama, and to “help in preserving and growing the country’s Jewish community,” he said.

    (...) “There’s a growing interest on part of Gulf leaders to developing Jewish life,” said Schneier, who established and runs a Jewish community in the Hamptons.

    Earlier this month, The Times of Israel for the first time revealed the existence of a tiny Jewish community in Dubai. Jewish communities exist also in Bahrain and Qatar, according to Schneier.

    “There is a genuine commitment and desire to establish relations with Israel,” he said. “It used to be, ‘Let the Israelis and Palestinians work our their differences and then call us.’ Now it’s, ‘Let the Israelis and Palestinians be in discussion and at the same time we can discuss establishing relations,’” he said.

    “I predict that in 2019 it will happen. You will see one or two Gulf states establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. I think Bahrain will be the first.”

    N’allez surtout pas croire que cet étrange rabbin soit le moins du monde un fonctionnaire israélien officieusement en poste dans ce petit Etat du Golfe...

    #israël #bahreïn #normalisation

  • saudi Press agency
    http://www.spa.gov.sa/english/details.php?id=1266949

    Paris, Dhu-AlQa’dah 2, 1435, Aug 28, 2014, SPA — France’s President Francois Hollande met here today with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain who is currently visiting Paris.
    During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries in all fields, including the infrastructure and urban planning in addition to the latest developments in the world.
    The two sides confirmed continuing cooperation between Bahrain and France to work together to bring about security and peace in the Middle East and combat terrorism wherever it was.
    –-SPA
    22:50 LOCAL TIME 19:50 GMT

    • Des ONG veulent l’arrestation en France du prince de Bahreïn, soupçonné de tortures
      Le Monde.fr | 29.08.2014
      http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2014/08/29/des-ong-demandent-l-arrestation-en-france-du-prince-du-bahrein-soupconne-de-

      Le Cheickh Nasser Ben Hamad Al-Khalifa est un bon cavalier, qui participe à ce titre aux Jeux équestres mondiaux se tenant actuellement en Normandie. Mais l’homme, fils du roi de Bahreïn, est aussi accusé par plusieurs organisations non gouvernementales (ONG) de torture d’opposants. Le prince est soupçonné d’avoir ordonné, voire d’avoir pratiqué lui-même, des actes de torture sur des dissidents politiques lors de la révolte qui a secoué son pays en 2011, dans le sillage du printemps arabe.

      Selon Action des chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture (ACAT), la présence du fils du roi sur le territoire français est « un véritable pied de nez fait aux victimes, avec la complicité passive de la France ». « En faisant participer le prince Nasser aux Jeux équestres mondiaux, les autorités bahreïnies montrent qu’elles considèrent comme acquise l’impunité des tortionnaires, notamment au plus haut niveau du royaume », poursuit l’association dans un communiqué.
      (...)
      Jeudi après-midi, le père du prince, le roi Hamad Ben Issa Al-Khalifa, a été reçu à l’Elysée par François Hollande pour un entretien qui ne figurait pas à l’agenda officiel du chef de l’Etat. La présidence n’a pas précisé quel était l’objet de cette visite.

  • Entretien du Roi du Bahrein avec une étudiante en journalisme d’Harvard.

    Nieman Reports | « Terrorism Has No Religion »
    http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102880/Terrorism-Has-No-Religion.aspx

    “Terrorism Has No Religion”
    Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, talks to 2013 Nieman Fellow Souad Mekhennet about terrorism, Twitter, freedom of the press, and democratic reform

    Interview by Souad Mekhennet

    • Et cette déclaration du Wifaq, datée du 10 mai

      A noter le site du Wifaq qui a fait peau neuve (effaçant notamment le nom complet qui mentionnait jama’iyya al wifaq al watani al islamiyya )

      No solution without democracy and power-sharing | alwefaq
      http://alwefaq.net/cms/2013/05/10/19641

      10th May 2013
      The national democratic opposition parties said Bahrain is undergoing a bitter conflict between the political majority demanding democratic transition and the rigid dictatorship that is blocking change and refusing to respond to the people’s will. The conflict that has entered its third year will only end with real democracy that responds to the people’s aspirations to build a state of freedom and democracy.
      The opposition parties issued a statement following a mass protest march titled, “Back down is fantasy” on Friday 10th May, west of the capital Manama. The statement stressed that the expropriated powers must be given to the people who must be the source of all powers and sovereignty.
      The opposition parties stressed that the mentioned principles make the base of the conflict between the dictatorship that insists on its control of the nation’s powers and wealth and the people who look to build a modern civil state through an elected government and a full power parliament made out of fair electoral districts with an impartial and independent judiciary and diversified security services.
      The opposition parties also mentioned in their statement that the security services in Bahrain practise torture according to a deep rooted methodology and a deviant security mentality.
      The opposition parties stressed that the suppressive crackdown cannot end the people’s movement, adding, all attempts to circumvent the inclusive political solution will fail and the people are well aware of the regime’s attempts.

      10th May 2013
      Bahrain national democratic opposition parties:
      AlWefaq National Islamic Society (AlWefaq)
      National Democratic Action Society (Waad)
      National Democratic Gathering Society (AlQawmi)
      Unitary National Democratic Assemblage (Wahdawy)
      Ekhaa National Society (Ekhaa)

  • Ici on t’apprend à faire la différence entre vrai Printemps arabe et faux Printemps arabe : Our Friends in Manama - By Ronald E. Neumann
    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/04/19/united_states_interests_reform_bahrain

    But the calls for reform that began in 2011 have a long history in Bahrain, and almost everything else over the past couple of years is as disputed as it is complicated. There are disputes over whether the government was sincere in offering negotiations led by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. Did the opposition miss its best opportunity by rejecting talks and demanding that the government make extensive advance concessions? Or were the negotiations a government ploy to justify forceful suppression? The government’s narrative notes that it released prisoners, allowed exiles to return, and withdrew its forces from the streets until the demonstrators tried to close down central areas of the capital, Manama. The opposition notes deaths of protesters, claims it wants only democratic reform, and says that human rights violations continue in nightly raids on Shiite villages. But one thing is for sure: Bahrain differs markedly from other “Arab Spring” countries with which it is frequently lumped.