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and Ebrahim Kamal; all were founding members of the HEC. 431 The first fundraiser

took place on Friday 11 November during a friendly football match between teams

that represented the city of Manama and others of Muharraq. The three sons of the

Ruler, Sheikh Isa, Sheikh Khalifa, and Sheikh Mohammed contributed to the fund

with 15,000 Rupees from Sheikh Isa and 10,000 Rupees from Sheikh Khalifa and

Sheikh Mohammed. 432 Sheikh Isa also bought a portrait of Nasser in an auction for

3,100 Rupees. The total amount collected was estimated by the Residency to be

around 200,000 Rupees. 433

Al-Watan headlined the news of the fundraiser on its front page saying

‘Bahrain is fighting a back battle for the sake of Egypt’s Army’. The opening

sentences of the feature that covered the fundraiser saw the event as a call in

support of the Palestinian cause. It also claimed that during the event an unnamed

Egyptian from Egypt’s educational mission gave a speech thanking Bahrainis for

organising the event. The newspaper indicated that the first fundraiser raised

107,300 Rupees from around thirty-eight donors. 434 A second fundraiser consisted

of eighty-nine donations totaling to 77,099.15 Rupees. 435 The total amount of

donations of the first and second fundraiser was 184,399.15 Rupees, making the

final figure close to the approximate figure of the total funds the Residency believed

431 ‘Bayan min Lajnat Musa’adat Taslih Al-Jayish Al-Masri’ [A Statement from the Committee Assisting
in Arming Egypt’s Military], Al-Watan, 18 November 1955, 7.
432 ‘Al-Bahrain Takhouth Ma’rakah Khalfiyah min Ajil Al-Jayish Al-Misri’ [Bahrain is fighting a battle
behind the scenes for Egypt’s Army], Al-Watan, 18 November 1955, 1 and 12.
433 ‘Bernard Burrows, Residency’s Report for the Month of December 1955’, in Political Diaries of the
Persian Gulf, vol. 20 1955-1958, ed. R.L. Jarman (London: 1990), 1-8 (3).
434 ‘Al-Bahrain Takhouth Ma’rakah Khalfiyah min Ajil Al-Jayish Al-Misri’ [Bahrain is fighting a battle
behind the scenes for Egypt’s Army], Al-Watan, 18 November 1955, 1 and 7.
435 ‘Bayan Tasleeh Al-Jayish Al-Masri’ [A Statement on Arming the Egyptian Military], Al-Watan, 22
December 1955, 6.

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