Page 87 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

CO
between the Government, the Company and the Merchants’ Association. The Association objected
to certain clauses in the agreement which was to be made between the Company and the subscribers.
New Buildings.—A number of new buildings in Manama were completed or in the process of
construction during the year. The Post Office and Police Station and the flats above them were
finished and occupied; building was commenced on a large hotel behind the Pearl Cinema in Prior
Road, the property of Abdul Noor Bastalci; a motor show-room and shop with a flat above it was
built on His Highness’s land on the east of Yusuf Kanoo’s offices ; three large blocks of staff quarters
were built on the Rafaa road by Cable & Wireless and work was continued on the B.O.A.C. Rest
House which will, eventually, be the largest single building in Manama town.
Government Gazette.—Throughout the year the Government issued a monthly gazette in
Arabic, containing all Government proclamations, land registration notices, reports on meetings.
Budget figures, statistics and information of general interest. Until the printing press, which was
acquired by the Government, is in use, the gazette is being produced on a duplicator.

Obituary.-—The death occurred, in the month of Ramadhan, of Syed Said bin Syed Khalaf,
one of the leaders of the Shia Community. By profession he was a pearl broker and also a consider­
able landowner. He was a prominent member of the committee of the Minors’ Department and
took an active part in local affairs.

ANTI-PALESTINE PARTITION DISTURBANCES
A serious riot of a type unknown in Bahrain during the last twenty years occurred in Manama
on 21st Muharram (3rd December 1947). The riot developed from a demonstration which was
organised by the local Arabs, most of them young men, as a protest against the partition of Palestine.
It culminated in an attack on the houses and shops of the local Jews.
The Jewish community in Bahrain consists of about 200 persons, who live almost entirely
in Manama in houses which are scattered throughout the town. In one street in the bazaar there are a
large number of Jewish shops. Most of the families came originally from Iraq though there are a
few Persian Jews among them. Many of them are Bahrain subjects. As a community they are, :
on the whole, law-abiding and inoffensive.
.
On 2nd December all shops and offices and schools remained open. During the morning thp ;
school boys, first in Muharraq and then in Manama, walked out of school and formed a procession
led by a number of young men, among them prominent members of the various clubs. The procession
paraded the town and attracted behind it a rabble of women and loafers. A few minor incidents
took place, several cars were stopped, stones were thrown at the windows of the Eastern Bank and an
elderly Jew was beaten by persons unknown. The demonstrators passed by the girls schools where
they called on the teachers and students to join them. They then went to the Juma Mosque where
prayers were said and the flags of the Arab nations, which they carried, were deposited.
On the second day there was a similar procession in which a larger number of people took
part. Special precautions were taken by the Government, police were stationed in various parts
of the town and police accompanied the procession marching with the demonstrators as is the custom
during the Muharram processions. There were no incidents and the crowd behaved in an orderly
manner. On the same evening however arrangements were made between the organisers of the
demonstration and the people of the Persian matem and one of the Bahrain matems for the procession
to visit the matems on the following day. Until now the Persians and the Shia Bahama had not
taken much part in the affair.
On the third day although the schools were open few boys were present. A very large proces­
sion was formed led by an open truck from which various people made speeches. As before the
procession was accompanied by police which apparently gave rise to the belief that the demonstration
was sponsored by the Government. In the rear of the procession followed a rabble of Persian coolies,
men from the boats in the harbour and the worst elements from the bazaar. The demonstrators

4