Page 371 - Records of Bahrain (6)_Neat

Anti-Palestine disturbances, 1947 359

SECRET.
NOTE ON THE ANT I-PALESTINE PARTITION DISTURBANCES.

On Tuesday 4th December shopkeepers in Manamah and
Muharraq did not open their shops and offices. In Muharraq
a few shops opened in the morning but when boys ran around
the bazar calling "close your shops" the shopkeepers closed
them. The closing of the shops was a voluntary action by
the Moslem merchants but Hindus, Christians and Jews followed
the example of the Arabs and closed their premises. Government
offices remained open and His Highness, as is his habit on
Tuesdays, came to the Adviserate. The question of closing
schools was discussed at the Adviserate as there was informa­
tion that some sort of demonstration had been organised for
the day, but His Highness decided that it was not desirable
for the Government to close the schools as this would be tanta­
mount to giving support to a demonstration. His Highness's
attitude was that though he and his people sympathised with
the Arabs of Palestine he did not consider that affairs in
Palestine called for any action in Bahrain. He regarded the
closing of the shops as an action which the merchants and
shopkeepers were at liberty to take without consulting the
Government.

2. Many of the older boys did not come to school in
Manamah and Muharraq but during this day and the following
two days all the village schools, including Hedd, functioned
normally. All the schoolmasters were present in Manamah and
Muharraq. At about 11 a.m. the older boys in the Muharraq
school walked out and when this happened the younger boys
folllowed them. They came to Manamah in buses and on foot
and some of them went to the Manamah schools where they called
on the boys to come out, this the boys did and soon all the
schools were empty, except for the masters and a few of the
children in kindergarten classes. In the meantime a procession
had been formed by a number of young men from the clubs under
the organisation of a group of men who have for some time been
taking an active part in local affairs. A note dealing with
the principal members of the group is attached. These are
the politically minded young men, who, with small justification,
describe themselves as, "the popular front" etc,, etc. They are
believed to have been responsible for the trouble that occurred
in Bahrain during the summer, for some of the abusive articles
which appeared in the foreign press and for the anonymous letters
and notices which have been issued lately. The majority of them
are "Holis", Persian Sunnis whose near ancestors came to Bahrain
from Persia but who claim that they were originally Arabs. They
are not regarded as Arabs by the real Arabs of Bahrain but today
they are the most influential mercantile community. They are
fairly closely connected with the Persians.
/3. The