Bahrain's bloggers have moved on this week to comment on a protest held outside the Iranian Embassy in protest against an editorial by Iranian editor Hossein Shariatmadari, who stated that Bahrain should become a part of Iran. Others talk about Embassy interviews for Visas, the release of a Guantanamo detainee, why Bahrain is vying to build the highest skyscraper and preparing for the new release of Harry Potter. Bahrain and Iran Last week we reported on the brouhaha surrounding comments by Hossein Shariatmadari, Iranian newspaper editor and government advisor, stating that Bahrain should be returned to Iran. This led to a demonstration outside the Iranian Embassy in Manama, and Mohammed AlMaskati gives his opinion of what occurred: Now, away from the nonsense of Shariatmadari; there is absolutely no excuse for the shouts recited on that protest, referring to Iran as “Majusia” (a term originally meaning Zoroastrians) and used back in the 1980s, majus was part of Iraqi propaganda vocabulary of the Iran-Iraq War to refer to Iranians in general. … Thus, in their eyes, this protest against Iran took on the dimensions of not only a struggle for Arab nationalism and Bahraini Patriotism, but also a campaign in the name of Islam. What they forgot (and by they, I am referring to Members of the Parliament, religious figures and activists that were present in the protest and recited such racist chants) that the accusation, or point of view was that of Hossein Shariatmadari and only Hossein Shariatmadari, what they forgot is that he does not represent the Iranian Regime, or even anyone for that matter except for himself. This very same story happened when the Danish Newspaper published cartoons of depicting the prophet and the entire Muslim world went on a rampage accusing the Danish government of blasphemy. Mohammed is equally unimpressed with a placard showing Iranian leaders greeting anti-Zionist Jewish leaders, used to imply that Iran is collaborating with Israel in a Zionist plot. Mahmood is also angry at the sentiments expressed at the demonstration, especially at the (self-contradictory) slogan ‘Nazi Zionist Republic of Iran’, and believes the demonstrators were jumping on a sectarian bandwagon: Let me state that the morons who printed that slogan above do not represent me and are not speaking in my name, nor for that matter the vast majority of Bahrainis from whichever religious persuasion. They are sullying their own name by once again exposing their racial and sectarian intentions. Butterfly feels there was a lost opportunity: Fareed Esa is looking at the silver lining: Anti-secular sentiments LuLu looks behind the recent calls by the senior Shi'i religious scholar in Bahrain, Shaikh Isa Qassim, to mobilise against secularism, and sees different forces at play: So this has been the new “big thing” in Bahrain for the past couple of weeks. Shaikh Isa Qassim, head of the “Olama” Islamic Council (highest Shia religious body in Bahrain), had given a Friday sermon at Al-Sadiq mosque in Duraz 2 weeks ago in which he demonized “seculars” and “secularism” as enemies of Islam and of the people of Bahrain. “Down with the seculars!”, the crowds shouted.. As usual, a religious message had a political background. The Shaikh's message comes following the controversy over the 1% unemployment insurance tax scheme, which the Olama council had decreed un-Islamic, as it compels employees to pay contribution against their will. The so-called seculars, and this term is used loosely, as all of them had indicated their commitment to Islam as the official state religion, disagreed. Some figures in Wa'ad and parliament had called on the Olama Council to refrain from rushing to use religious fatwas to silence the debate on this issue. Apparently, this call had struck a nerve. In that sermon and those that followed, Shaikh Qassim continued to accuse the “seculars” of waging a war on Islam and called upon his followers to fight the “demon.” For more details of LuLu's analysis, see here. Visa problems A number of bloggers have recounted their experiences with foreign embassies this week. I'll Have One of Those is shocked at the treatment that Bahrainis have apparently received from the French Embassy in Manama recently when applying for visas: The French embassy in Bahrain is an inept disaster area. First of all, let me just be frank. These people do not want us anywhere near their countries; or at least that is what we are to understand from their barbaric and rather uncivilized visa application process. From their behavior, it can be concluded that they aim to make attaining a visa as difficult as it possibly can be in order to limit the number of rag head sand monkeys entering their wonderful and flawless countries.