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April 14th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda John Yates, an advisor to Bahraini police, gave the assurance about the situation in Bahrain while anti-regime protesters are being killed in demonstrations that have engulfed the Persian Gulf for more than a year.
The activists also say the F1 go-ahead is a clear insult to the families of the protesters killed by the al-Khalifa regime as participants in the Grand Prix enjoy “live concerts and parties, in the middle of the island.”
“There’s going to be popping champagne corks, live concerts and parties, in the middle of the island, which is a huge provocation to the families of victims who have been killed, and those of hundreds of political prisoners,” said the British-born Bahraini academic and activist, Dr Ala’a Shehabi.
The rally organized by the February 14 Youth Coalition – the date when the Bahrainis began their uprising against Al Khalifa authoritarian rule – comes as two pro-democracy activists, Ali Mushaima and Musa Abd Ali, have gone on hunger strike in London in solidarity with the Bahraini opposition leader Abdulhadi al-Khwaja who has been refusing food for the past 64 days while in prison in the Persian Gulf country.
The world racing authority FIA announced on Friday that the Bahraini Grand Prix would go ahead after getting assurances from officials, including former London police assistant commissioner John Yates, that Bahrain is quiet and ready for the race.
Yates wrote to FIA president Jean Todt saying he feels safer living in Bahrain “than I have often felt in London.”
However, the announcement triggered an online storm on Facebook and Twitter and angered human rights activists.
Comments by 50,000 people supporting the February 14 Youth Coalition on its Facebook page stated that they are opposed to the F1 Grand Prix with Bahrain “occupied” and protest “leaders … in danger.”
Also on Twitter, an Egyptian calling himself Demagh MAK said “when you buy a ticket for Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bahrain you support the killer king authority. Stop Formula 1 in Bahrain.”
Another tweet highlighted the bloody crackdown on demonstrations by the Bahraini regime.
“With F1 around the corner, those of you coming to Bahrain please bring your tear gas masks. Bullet proof vests too just in case,” Amira al-Hussaini, whose page is supported by 26,000 people, tweeted.
Activists say Bahraini security forces have killed more than 70 people, 20 of them mostly senior citizens and children by toxic tear gas.
Meanwhile, some 600 “political prisoners” are now behind the bars, among them, al-Khawaja whom Amnesty International has called a “prisoner of conscience, detained solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression.”
Activists are mainly concerned that the British-backed go-ahead to F1 in Bahrain serves as a green light to both suppression of people per se, and killing of protesters “because of” the F1.
“I’m afraid we might see local people who will be killed in the coming days because of the F1,” said Nabeel Rajab, from Bahrain Center for Human Rights.
Such speculations are especially relevant when considering the fact that Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who is the commander of the country’s armed forces, owns the right to the nation’s Grand Prix.
“The dictator is benefiting from that, the dictator wants to tell the outside world that the whole thing is back to normal… they want to come back from isolation and say that everything is back to normal,” Rajab said.
“But on the other hand they are killing people, detaining people, torturing people. Everything is not back to normal and F1 should not help Bahrain’s leaders to [think it is] so,” he added.
The reactions to John Yates’s support for the F1 event in Bahrain, which was instrumental in FIA’s decision to hold the race were summed up in a tweet by the British-born Bahraini academic and activist, Dr Ala’a Shehabi.
“When John Yates says that Bahrain is safer than London, most Bahrainis in this video would totally agree” Shehabi said in the tweet which was followed by a YouTube link of footage showing Bahraini security forces attacking protesters.
AMR/MA/HE
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