Washington, Sept. 24 (BNA): “This is Bahrain” function is set to start from the USA today after previous successes in Brussels, London, Berlin and Paris to shed light on the major achievements brought about in the prosperous era of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa since the launch of his reform project.
Participation of the kingdom’s delegation in the trans-Atlantic function with 200 representatives of all components of the Bahraini society is a noble message of tolerance and co-existence from Bahrain to the whole world and an assertion of the kingdom’s renunciation of all forms of terrorism and violence.
“This is Bahrain” will be held in Washington and New York from September 24 to 29 and will feature a press conference and an exhibition to showcase Bahrain’s civilisational and democratic achievements. Participating parties are the Sunni and Jafari endowment, the Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches, the Jewish, Sikh, Hindu and Buddhist temples, the Shura Council, ministries, the business community and non-government organisations.
The Bahraini delegation’s visit to Washington today coincided with the historic visit of Pope Francis to the White House. Therefore, the Bahraini delegation voiced happiness to seize the occasion to convey Bahrain’s cross-continental message of tolerance, peace and co-existence. A memorandum of understanding was also signed by “This is Bahrain” and Washington-based Institute for Middle East Studies during a visit by the delegation to the institute’s premises.
The institute is concerned with the Middle East press and issues and translates selected articles from Arabic into foreign languages. It has got many branches all over the world, including mainly London, Tokyo, Rome and Berlin.
Secretary General of the Bahrain Federation of Expatriate Associations (BFEA) Betsy Mathieson spoke at the meeting at cast light on the pioneering royal reform project which was approved by a majority of 98.4% of the Bahraini people. She stressed freedom of religion in Bahrain, pointing out that the aim of “This is Bahrain” function is to show the real and civilisational image of the kingdom and debunk fallacies promoted abroad to tarnish that image as part of a media war waged against Bahrain.
Within the same context, President of Bahrain Journalists Association (BJA) Mones Al-Mardi spoke about the war waged against Bahrain by some human rights organisations which are showing hostility to Bahrain for extremist and unrealistic reasons. He also pointed out mobilisation of children by the extremists to serve foreign agendas and undermine social cohesion in Bahrain.
The delegation also paid a visit to the French embassy in Washington where they met its Advisor for Middle East and North African Affairs who asserted that Bahrain represents a model of co-existence and freedom in the Middle East thanks to the royal reforms.
The BFEA Secretary General Betsy Mathieson welcomed the French embassy staff and highlighted to them the goals of “This is Bahrain” and related previous activities, including the function’s visit to France. She also underlined the need to combat terrorism and eradicating it through concerted efforts by all.
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BNA 1538 GMT 2015/09/24