He asked them to wash their hands from the blood of Palestinians and accused the parliament of failing to engage in civilised dialogues. He was expressing his anger over comments by MPs of Al Manber Islamic Bloc that represents the brotherhood movement on Bahrain’s plan to end its Israel boycott.
The heated argument occurred between the minister and Al Manber MP Nasser Al Fudhala when the latter asked Shaikh Khalid to wash his hands seven times and then dry them with sand to purify them after shaking hands with the Israeli foreign minister.
Shaikh Khalid objected to the attitude of Al Manber MPs and said that there should be civilised manners in discussions. “Before asking me to wash my hands you (brotherhood MPs) should wash yours that are stained with Palestinians’ blood,’ the minister said, adding with astonishment that leading Egyptian Imam Yousif Al Qaradhawi (influenced with the brotherhood thoughts) wasn’t like Al Manber MPs.
After accusing brotherhood MPs, the minister walked out from the session, despite the demands of MPs, mainly Al Fadhala to explain what he meant from his comments.
Al Manber bloc has been campaigning from the beginning of summer against what they claimed as the government’s move to end the boycott on trades with Israel, despite the executive authority assurances that the boycott wouldn’t be ended before the approval of the Arab League. Shaikh Khalid in previous session said that his meeting with the Israeli foreign minister was part of the assignment carried by him for the Arab League.
Al Fadhala, who demanded an apology from the minister, wondered why he felt offended by such a statement and said that one GCC Prince was asked the same thing for having relations with Israeli officials and he did not response negatively.
