Bahrain: Appeals for protest and solidarity
Bahrain authorities open fire on protesters on February 18, 2011. The protesters are chanting "peacefully, peacefully".
On February 14, dubbed the "Day of Rage," Bahraini activists organised a mass rally in Manama to call for political reform in Bahrain, where the Khalifa Dynasty has ruled for nearly 200 years. Bahraini authorities responded brutally to the protest, killing as many as nine people and injuring many others. On February 18, soldiers near the Pearl roundabout in Manama fired upon pro-democracy protesters, with at least 66 people injured, several with gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Opposition political leaders have rejected the royal family's call for a "national dialogue". Also on February 18, reported Al Jazeera, thousands observed funerals for the four people killed in a pre-dawn raid on a protest campment at the Pearl roundabout a day earlier. Riot police had used clubs, tear gas and bird shot to break up the crowd. They tore down their tents, and blockaded the roundabout with police vehicles and barbed wire. More than 200 were wounded in that raid. At the funerals, many chanted slogans against Bahrain's ruling Al Khalifa family.
On February 19, Al Jazeera reported, thousands of protesters reoccupied the Pearl roundabout after troops and riot police retreated from the symbolic centre of their anti-government uprising. The cheering protesters carrying Bahraini flags, flowers and signs that said "Peaceful, peaceful" marched to the traffic circle on Saturday. They chanted, "We are victorious." Protesters kissed the ground in joy and took pictures of about 60 police vehicles leaving the area.
Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, the crown prince, had earlier in the day ordered the military to withdraw, saying that the police would now be responsible for enforcing order, the Bahrain News Agency reported. Soon after the crown prince's directive, protesters attempted to stream back to the roundabout, but were beaten back by the police. According to the Reuters news agency, about 80 protesters were taken to a hospital after being hit by rubber bullets or teargas.
The protesters, however, were successful in the next attempt, after riot police withdrew as well from the traffic circle.
An appeal from activists inside Bahrain
February 15, 2011 -- The Progressive Democratic Forum expresses deep condolences to the masses of Bahraini people, the families of martyrs and Fadel Ali Mushaima, who was shot at the hands of security forces, which brutally dealt with young people who marched [on February 14] in peaceful marches to demand constitutional rights, and better political and living conditions.
Those who were martyred in less than 24 hours have joined the martyrs of our people for democracy and political rights and for a free and dignified life.
Generations of Bahrainis from various sects and groups have struggled to end the monopoly of power and wealth, and this is demanded by today’s youth.
The Progressive Democratic Forum deplores the excessive use of force by security forces, demands respect for the rights of the people to demonstrate to demand their rights. Repression will only worsen the situation in the country, and will not stop the protesters claiming their goals.
In the opinion of the Progressive Democratic Forum the conditions in our country in this critical period requires a breakdown of powers, renewed political and social development in the country, and the two communities, Alkarimtin Sunni and Shia, to form a national body (such as the National Union in the 1950s), to embrace the people’s rights and demands for constitutional political and economic reform, preserving and protecting the fabric of people’s national unity.
Eternity to the memory of martyrs and Fadel Ali Mushaima.
Victory for the will of the people.
Appeal for solidarity
February 17, 2011
Dear comrades of various leftist parties and organisations,
The Bahraini people went out on the streets on February 14, the 10th anniversary of the National Action Charter -- the national reform document on which people voted in a referendum in 2001, with 98.4% in favour.
The people have decided to demand that the royal regime start to implement the political reforms it promised. The demands include the beginning of effective procedures towards reforming the political regime, combatting corruption, abolishing racist and sectarian discrimination in Bahrain and guaranteeing fair distribution of wealth.
These protests were faced with a crazy reaction from the Bahraini authorities, the number of casualties until now is seven so far. This repressive campaign continueswith the use of live ammunition, blocking entrances to a number of villages and towns, raiding and attacking homes, in addition to the spreading of armed military tanks.
This repressive attack is considered an abandonment by the government of the reform project which guaranteed to the people their right to protest as per the 2002 Bahraini constitution.
Henceforth, we call on all Arab and International organisations to begin a protest campaign to expose these practices of the Bahrain authorities and to protest in front of Bahrain embassies and UN headquarters in their countries and to maintain contact with human rights organisations regarding this matter.
We also call on them to send protest letters to those embassies or to the Bahrain Ministry of Foreign Affairs against these policies. The Bahraini people await your courageous stance for its struggle for its legitimate right to live in freedom, justice and dignity.
Our path as you know is rough
and filled with thorns, death on all sides ... but we will march on.
Please send your solidarity appeal to: the MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (MMFF),
Phone: +973-17227555 +973-17227555
Fax: +973-17212603, +973-17210575, +973-17225107
Bahrain's Progressive Democratic Forum appeals for solidarity
By Hussein Ureybi
February 17, 2011 -- MRZine -- Security forces raided at dawn today on Pearl Square, which was the centre of protests in the Bahraini capital Manama, and used all means of force, including exploding bullets, to disperse the protesters and to seize the square.Bahrain's Progressive Democratic Forum issues the following statement as the Bahrain's rulers deploy riot police and mercenaries to attack peaceful protesters camped in Pearl Square.
This led to the deaths of at least five people and injuries to hundreds of others. They also surrounded the Sulamanieyh hospital where the wounded and the martyrs were supposed to be taken. The Bahraini people's protests were peaceful in every sense of the word.
We are calling for reform, social justice and negotiation with the executive power. The video footage shows a peaceful crowd chanting as they receive a barrage of rubber bullets and tear gas.
Everything was normal until 1 am, but then the treacherous security forces attacked the protesters, including women and children, beat foreign media correspondents and confiscated their cameras.
The security forces are still surrounding the entrances to a number of villages and searching homes.
What we've seen are dozens of tanks deployed in different areas of Bahrain and news reports on the use of Saudi military.
We invite you to call for a demonstration of solidarity in front of Bahrain's embassies or any of the headquarters of the United Nations and send messages of protest to the embassies of Bahrain and international agencies in your countries.
That the Bahraini people need in these times the courage to struggle this tyrannical regime.
Hussein Ureybi
Coordinator general for external relations
Progressive Democratic Forum
Some background to the Bahrain left
The Bahraini left has a long and interesting history. The communists was the largest political party in the 1970s, and vied to take power. Repression was harsh and many cadres spent 1-2 decades in exile.
Notably Bahrain is the sole Gulf state that has a sizeable indigenous working class, and thus a real trade union movement.
There are two main left groups: Wa'ad (http://www.aldemokrati.org/) and the Progressive Democratic Tribune (or Forum) (http://www.altaqadomi.org/). Wa'ad is the legal continuation of the People's Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, linked to PFLP.
The Progressive Democratic Tribune is the legal continuation of the National Liberation Front -- Bahrain, the pro-Soviet communist party. Main political difference between the two is tactics, how to build opposition front. Wa'ad is somewhat more open to cooperation with the Shia islamists than the Progressive Democratic Tribune.
"Bahraini Seculars Against Oppression" علمانيون بحرينيون ضد الاس
"Bahraini Seculars Against Oppression"
Who are We?
A group of Bahraini Secular Youth Supportive of the #Feb14 Youth Movement. We aim for democratic change and to gather all the Bahraini leftist youth.
Our Demands are:
1. Calling for Reformation of the Regime
2. Guaranteeing Social Justice among the People of Bahrain
3. Combatting discrimination, sectarianism and divide-and-conquer tactics practiced by followers of the regime
4. Emptying prisons from political prisoners or what we call "prisoners of opinion
5. Holding the corrupt officials and executioners within the regime
Bahrain, we sacrifice our blood for you..
NO Sunni or Shiite .. We are all against sectarianism..
NO to random naturalization .. YES to the people's freedom to self-determination
من نحن ؟؟
مجموعة من الشباب البحريني العلماني المؤيد لحركة شباب 14 فبراير و الذي يسعى للتغيير الديمقراطي و يضم كافة شباب اليسار في البحرين، و يطالب بـ :
1. الدعوة الى اصلاح النظام.
2. ضمان العدالة الاجتماعية للشعب البحريني.
3. مكافحة التمييز والطائفية التي يمارسها ازلام النظام.
4. تبييض السجون من سجناء الرأي.
5. محاسبة الجلادين و المفسدين للنظام.
بالروح بالدم نفديك يا بحرين
لا سني لا شيعي كلنا ضد الطائفية
لا للتجنيس، نعم لحرية الشعب في تقرير المصير
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_189789024384904
Juan Cole: What is at stake for the US in the Bahrain unrest?
Posted on 02/16/2011
http://www.juancole.com/2011/02/bahrain-us-naval-base-or-iranian-asset.html
What is at stake for Americans in the Bahrain unrest?
1. Bahrain is a major center for the refining of crude petroleum, refining some 270,000 barrels a day. This amount is not large, but given tight petroleum supplies and a price of over $100 a barrel for Brent Crude, an outage there would certainly put up world prices.
2. Bahrain hosts a naval base for the US Fifth Fleet, important to the US security architecture for the Persian Gulf (the Arabs say Arabian Gulf). Nearly 2/3s of the world’s proven petroleum reserves and 45% of the world’s natural gas reserves are in the Gulf region.
3. Bahrain is an important finance center.
The Shiite majority is attempting to assert itself there. A Shiite-dominated government in Bahrain might well demand a closure of the US naval base. It would not be an Iranian puppet, insofar as Arab Shiites are jealous of their independence and most Bahraini Shiites don’t follow ayatollahs; but it would certainly have warm relations with Tehran. A Shiite victory there would politically embolden other Gulf Arab Shiites, in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (Shiites are a minority in all three). Insofar as Iran enjoys soft power with the region’s Shiites, the net result would certainly favor Iran and at least somewhat disadvantage the United States, which already shot itself in the foot by helping install a Shiite government in Baghdad that has excellent relations with Iran. For the Bahrain government to become more democratic and more Shiite-influenced would annoy the Wahhabi Saudi state, which now sees the Sunni Bahraini king as a strategic asset.
Thousands of Shiite demonstrators came out yet again in Bahrain on February 14. They are demanding that prime minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa step down. An uncle of the king, Sheikh Khalifa has been appointed PM for four decades. The Shiite protesters want an elected prime minister who would reflect their demographic dominance.
The killings of two demonstrators, one on Monday and another on Tuesday, have helped to galvanize the crowds. In an unusual concession, the king, Hamad Al Khalifa, apologized Tuesday for the deaths and promised that the shooters would be brought to justice.
The demonstrators thronged into the downtown Pearl Roundabout, and some are insisting on spending the night there. The main Shiite political party, with 18 seats in the lower house of 40 seats, is Wifaq. It suspended its participation in parliament on Tuesday in protest against the killings of the two demonstrators.
Bahrain has a little over 1.2 million people, of whom 54 percent are expatriate guest workers, nearly half of them from India. I can remember, on the occasions I was in Manama, the way signs in Malayalam festooned the market and the money-changer stalls. The other 568,000 are Bahrainis. Of these, social scientists think about two-thirds, or about 374,000, are Shiites. In turn, about 100,000 of these are Ajamis, i.e. Shiites of Iranian heritage who are now Arabs. The rest are Baharna or indigenous Bahraini Shiites, who mainly adhere to the conservative Akhbari school that does not believe in following ayatollahs. Many of them live in rural villages outside the capital.
The other 187,000 or so are Sunni Bahrainis, the community to which King Hamad Al Khalifah belongs. He has reigned as king since 2002 (having come to power as emir in 1999).
Bahrain
In the Gulf, typically guest workers cannot vote and don’t have permanent residency or a path to citizenship, though it is rumored that the Sunni monarch, King Hamad Al Khalifa, has bestowed Bahraini citizenship on some expatriate Sunnis in a so far vain attempt offset the indigenous Shiite majority.
The Bahrain constitution lets the Sunni king appoint the 40 members of the upper house of parliament. The lower house also has 40 members, and in the 2010 election only 18 of them were captured by the Shiite religious party, Wifaq, led by cleric Ali Salman. The other 22 went to Sunnis of various stripes.
Ali Salman
So, in a country where citizens are probably two-thirds Shiite, Shiites have little representation in the senate and are a minority even in the elected lower house. Not only can the Sunni-dominated upper house veto measures passed by the lower house, but the king himself can veto legislation at will and can prorogue parliament whenever he likes.
Many Shiites in rural areas are poor, despite Bahrain’s riches, derived from its small petroleum industry, its vital finance sector, and strategic rent from the US for the US naval base for the Fifth Fleet. Wifaq not only seeks more equitable representation for the Shiite majority but also a better economic deal for the poor.
Shia and the hand of Iran
Part of the paranoia on the part of western powers when it comes to populist movements in the region is the role of Iran. In Bahrain for instance there are many legitimate grievances on the part of the Shia. Unsurprisingly Shi'te activism is invariably paired with Iranian influence, even though the poverty and alienation experienced by Shia in Sunni dominated US client states is in most instances a localized experience.
It is a mistake to assume that Shia seeking greater levels of equality in a country such as Bahrain favor greater involvement on the part of Iran. It is also however understandable that if they are continually thwarted they may look to co-religionists in Iran and elsewhere for support. This doesn't mean they favor the emergence of a local ayatollah and an Iranian-type system, especially if they are able to broker with groups within the country to arrive at a solution best suited to current challenges.
A Day of Solidarity with the
A Day of Solidarity with the people of Bahrain
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=202522999768372
Please do also join our group to share and find our more the pro-democracy movement in Bahrain and the progress of the situation in bahrain.
The aim of this group is to stop the injustice inflicted to Bahrainis. We can do it by inviting all our friends to join this cause and once we have a substantial number of us, we can influence Governments and the UN.
This group is not a platform for sectarian, religious and political materials. Posts must remain focused on the situation of Bahraini civilians, otherwise posts will be removed.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_187330941308812
A Day of Solidarity with the people of Bahrain
A Day of Solidarity with the people of Bahrain
When?
Saturday, April 9 · 2:30pm - 5:00pm
Where?
Bahrain Embasy,London SW1X 8QB
Created By
More Info
Protest in Solidarity with the people of Bahrain , show your support
THE DAY OF JUSTICE
Bahrain: Wave of Sackings, Threats and Violence against Workers
By the International Trade Union Confederation
4 April 2011: The ITUC denounces the wave of massive sackings, threats
and violence against workers and their trade union representatives in
Bahrain, in reprisal for their participation in legitimate strike and
protest action for greater democracy in the country.
"The international trade union movement is extremely concerned at the
large number of workers, including trade union representatives, who
are being heavily penalised by the authorities simply because they
exercised their legitimate rights to strike and to freedom of
expression and assembly, following the widely-supported call for
strike action by the national trade union centre GFBTU," said ITUC
General Secretary Sharan Burrow. "These dismissals are nothing less
than a 'political purification' in workplaces. This is totally
unacceptable and illegal."
"Such punitive actions, especially dismissals, for having taken part
in legitimate demonstrations, is a flagrant violation of ILO
Convention 111 concerning discrimination at work, which Bahrain has
ratified, and of Convention 87 on Freedom of Association which Bahrain
is obliged to respect. The ITUC will be pursuing this matter, and the
situation in Bahrain in general, at the ILO including at the annual
ILO Conference this June," added Burrow.
About 300 workers have been dismissed for taking part in the strike
and in demonstrations, mainly from the aluminium company Alba
(Aluminium Bahrain BSC) and the Khalifa Sea Port (driven by APM
terminal). Around 40 workers have apparently also been dismissed by
Gulf Air. Furthermore, the aluminium company Alba has announced that
it will make its rules and procedures even tougher, notably through
action in the courts against striking workers.
Abdul Ghaffar Abdul Hussain, President of the trade union at the
Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), has been sacked for having "called
on workers to take part in the general strike" and faces legal action
in the coming days. The company management has threatened to take
legal action against other members of the union as well.
Bahrain University is also the scene of heavy anti-union repression.
The Vice President of the Bahraini Teachers' Association and four
other members of the union's leadership were arrested on 29 March, and
the union's General Secretary the following day. Nineteen students
were also arrested, and the payment of salaries of certain lecturers
and union members was stopped. Students supported by scholarships who
participated in demonstrations have been punished by non-renewal of
their scholarships.
With the GFBTU expecting the wave of sackings to flow to other key
enterprises, the ITUC denounces the dismissals as "an economic
massacre following the deplorable human massacre of the past few
weeks".
The punitive policy being imposed on workers and their union
representatives is all the more unacceptable given that the GFBTU
called on workers to return to work, and received assurances from the
authorities that there would be no punishment for those who
participated in the industrial action. The GFBTU call for a return to
work was done in order to promote a spirit of national dialogue and in
the interests of the country's economy.
"These degrading and unjust actions must stop. The GFBTU, which has
the absolute support of the international trade union movement, must
be allowed to continue to protect its members and their legitimate
rights, in line with the fundamental principle of freedom of
association," said Burrow. "All forms of anti-union repression must
stop immediately -- only negotiation can resolve the political and
socio-economic problems facing Bahrain".
Since mid-February, when the unprecedented popular protests started,
the Bahraini authorities' bloody repression, supported by troops from
neighbouring Saudi Arabia, has caused the deaths of at least 20
people, while some 300 have been detained without any information
available on where they are being held. Several dozen others have
disappeared and 300 have been injured. Some of the most
seriously-injured were further brutalised, and even chained to their
beds, while medical staff were trying to treat them.
Teachers, doctors, artists, human rights defenders, cyber-activists,
members of political parties and others face arrest, and the regime is
also trying to stop the publication of the independent Al-Wasat
newspaper. Armed thugs had already attacked the newspaper's printing
shop some weeks ago.
The ITUC also condemns the replacement of workers who took part in
strike action by non-strikers. It is especially concerned for migrant
workers, who are simply seeking to make an honest living but whose
lives are in danger due to the political machinations of the regime.*
* For more information, see ITUC OnLine of 1 April 2011: 'Bahrain:
Political Exploitation of Migrants Puts Their Lives at Risk'.
The ITUC represents 175 million workers in 151 countries and
territories and has 305 national affiliates. This statement was first
published on the ITUC Web site; it is reproduced here for non-profit
educational purposes. See, also, "Spotlight on Salman Jaffar Al
Mahfoodh (GFBTU- Bahrain)" (ITUC OnLine, 3 March 2011); "Video message
from Salman Jaffar Al Mahfoodh (GFBTU- Bahrain)" (10 March 2011). Cf.
General Federation of Bahraini Trade Unions: <www.gfbtu.org>.
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia's Rulers Goose-Step to the Brink
A Genuine Tragedy Unfolds
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia's Rulers Goose-Step to the Brink of the Abyss
By PETER LEE
April 05, 2011 "Counterpunch" ---- While we are diverted by the opera-bouffe spectacle of the civil war in Libya’s desert, a genuine tragedy—and potential geopolitical trainwreck—is unfolding in Bahrain.
Those plucky demonstrators we saw occupying the Pearl Square roundabout in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, have been swept away by government security forces—together with the 300 foot monument at the roundabout, which came to symbolize the aspirations of the protesters and was therefore demolished by the government in a representative display of heavy-handedness.
The Bahraini government received an important assist from Saudi Arabia, which dispatched troops and tanks under a mutual security pact of the Gulf Co-Operation Council called Peninsula Shield.
The government has gone to great and dangerous lengths to paint the democratic aspirations of the peaceful, largely Shi’a demonstrators for democracy as a sectarian assault on the emirate backed by that Gulf boogeyman, Iran.
The repression has turned into an operation of conspicuous bigotry, brutality, and mendacity that does not bode well for the future of the emirate, political liberalization inside Saudi Arabia, or peaceful coexistence between Iran and the Gulf states.
In recent days, Bahrain has used live ammunition—shotguns—against demonstrators and blanketed Manama with checkpoints, some manned by personnel masked with sinister black balaclavas. After a group of Shia legislators resigned in protest, the government officially accepted their resignations—so they could strip the legislators of their immunity and render them liable to criminal charges. Main opposition newspaper—shut down. Only hospital in Manama—occupied by security forces so that wounded demonstrators can be apprehended, abused, and/or disappeared.
In classic doublespeak, the government declared that the hospital had been “liberated”. “Liberating” the hospital apparently involved beating at least one male nurse senseless in the parking lot.
Beneath it all, a dangerous undercurrent of government fear and rage.
It looks like the Bahrain and Saudi security forces are utterly out of their depth. Their state of reference is pursuing and suppressing terrorists. By treating these peaceful, non-sectarian demonstrators as sectarian terrorists, they seem to be sowing the seeds of the emirate’s eventual destruction.
The expected outcome of systematic government-directed hatred would be ethnic cleansing, but there’s one problem with that. Shi’a are not a marginalized and easily purged minority; they are the majority, accounting for about 70 per cent of the native population. The Sunni—who dominate the island in cooperation with their Saudi allies—are the minority. If one counts the large army of foreign workers in the emirate, the Sunni bosses account for less than 10 per cent of the population.
No wonder the Sunni emir felt he needed some Saudi muscle.
The prognosis seems to be embittered Shi’a majority and paranoid Sunni rulers in Bahrain. Even under ordinary circumstances, Shi’a are inclined to a lively sense of grievance concerning historical and current Sunni persecution, raising the prospect of security problems for Saudi Arabia in handling its own Shi’a minority (about 15 per cent) even after the stompings and beatings quiet things in Manama.
The big story in the Gulf appears to be that many of the governments, with weak to non-existent popular bases, vulnerability to democratic agitation, an inability to accommodate dissent (unless “accommodation” means bouncing a nightstick off somebody’s head and hauling them away), and an uncertain though increasingly optimistic sense of where the Obama administration stands on the whole "democratic values vs. strategic interests" conundrum, are panicking and in need of a scapegoat to justify heavy-handed security measures that will otherwise alienate significant (ironically, significant moderate) sections of their populace.
The spooked regimes are justifying their disproportionate reaction by claiming the demonstrations are part of a seditious scheme sponsored by Iran and Hezbollah. A war of words has already broken out between Iran and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia over the issue. Turning the Gulf states’ rhetoric against them, Iran declared that Bahrain has forfeited its legitimacy, implying that Iran can do an R2P (“right to protect”) intervention on behalf of the embattled Shi’a of Bahrain like the humanitarian intervention the Gulf Co-operation Council incited in Libya.
The clownish nature of reporting on Bahrain was revealed when a leader declared he wanted the emirate to solve its problems without outside interference, Iranian or Saudi. This was of course headlined in the Saudi-owned al Arabiya as Bahrain’s Shiite opposition asks Iran not to meddle.
The seemingly suicidal line of framing the issue as Iran-fueled sectarian jealousy instead of legitimate democratic agitation was carried on in the article by a Bahraini official:
"We want to affirm to the world that we don't have a problem between the government and the opposition ... There is a clear sectarian problem in Bahrain. There is division within society," Sheikh Khaled said.
Don’t forget Kuwait, which is about to execute two Iranians and a Kuwaiti for spying, is expelling three Iranian diplomats from Kuwait, and has withdrawn its ambassador from Tehran.
An informative article on the Kuwait affair in Arab Times quotes an analyst in Dubai as saying that “the Kuwaiti government was ‘under huge pressure from Sunni MPs ... and the media to take action, not to let this go without proving their displeasure.’”
An April 8 article in Arab Times, Persian Conspiracy seen to target GCC countries, gives another hint of where things are going, along the line of runaway paranoia, scaremongering, and propaganda overreach, courtesy of that ubiquitous government mouthpiece, "Sources say":
“KUWAIT CITY, April 3: The Iranian plan includes dangerous plots against the Gulf nations, not just Bahrain. Kuwait, in particular, is one of the targets and the spy network is only a tip of the iceberg, because the main objective is for the Iranian Naval Forces to invade some islands in the country and other Gulf nations under the pretext of protecting Shiites in Bahrain, say security sources in the Gulf.
“Sources disclosed the Bahraini and Kuwaiti foreign ministers revealed the conspiracy uncovered by the security departments in both countries in the recently-concluded meeting of the GCC foreign ministers in Riyadh. After hearing the report, the GCC foreign ministers presented recommendations, which will be implemented soon, because the GCC nations are keen on revealing the truth to the international community.
“Sources said the implementation of the Iranian plan started several months ago, claiming the chaos and conflicts in Bahrain are just the beginning of an attempt to disrupt peace in the Kingdom. Sources revealed the initial plan was for the unrest to continue for two to three weeks in order to give the Iranian, other Arab and international satellite stations enough time to extensively cover the massacre of Shiites in the country.”
Consider that plot to have the international media to "extensively cover the massacre of Shiites" pretty much foiled.
One doesn’t hear much about the brutal suppression of dissent in Bahrain in the Western media.
Ssome say the Libyan adventure was part of a plan to distract the West with a lovely little war against a crazy dictator so the journos wouldn’t be out covering the over-the-top suppression of a bona fide democracy movement by Saudi Arabia’s BFF (and host to Commander, United States Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT) / United States Fifth Fleet and 1500 US personnel) Bahrain.
Credit where credit is due: Newsmax, which often traffics in eye-rolling right-wing paranoia, had a good article on Bahrain by Ken Timmerman. When Newsmax has to carry the load for American news organizations, you know the situation is pretty grim.
Iran’s PressTV has tried to make Bahrain their CNN/Al Jazeera moment.
There is a sizable void to fill, since CNN has reported very little on Bahrain (four of their correspondents were detained and released only after signing "an undertaking not to exceed the limits of their mission"--they ostensibly entered Bahrain to report on "social media" but instead tried to report on the disturbances).
I didn't find any signs that the U.S. State Department stood up for America's press freedom agenda in this particular case.
Al Jazeera, owned by Qatar, has no interest in airing the dirty and/or bloody linen of the emir next door.
Bahraini hospitality toward news-gatherers of the Persian menace obviously has its limits.
Press TV's most recent report featured its Bahrain correspondent, Aris Roussinos, pushing a luggage cart through Heathrow Airport while giving an informative and thoughtful interview on the kinds of things that the Bahrain government was apparently not at all keen on him seeing as he spent a week in Bahrain evading the authorities and observing the crackdown.
If freedom-loving consumers of global media find Iranian reporting intolerable, however, here’s a 17-minute clip from an Australian investigative show called Dateline. It features nervy reporting by reporter Yaara Bou Melhem from inside Bahrain, and a stark picture of the hidden war that we’re not supposed to see.
The report can be viewed in its entirety at Dateline's website.
The reporting is deliberately low-key, a welcome contrast to the hyperventilating outrage needed to keep the humanitarian intervention balloon inflated in Libya (or the anti-Iranian jihad barreling along in the Gulf states, for that matter).
In one sequence, a Human Rights Watch representative directs the reporter’s attention to a crime scene that has come to symbolize the worst excesses of Bahrain’s riot police: the place where a young man, Hani Jumah, was beaten. Apparently, he was not a demonstrator; he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time as riot police swept the area. The camera pans on the bloodstained floor of a deserted construction site as the HRW staffer relates with forensic detachment: “We found fragments of his kneecap...we also found one of his teeth.” And you’re left to wonder: how does someone get beaten so severely a piece of his kneecap is dislodged from his body? The young man was taken to the hospital for treatment, then got disappeared from the hospital. His family was summoned to retrieve his body four days later.
I originally found the Dateline clip on the Facebook page of Bahrain’s leading human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab. He’s featured in the report, describing how 25 masked security personnel paid him a night visit to object to his activities with a three-hour session of interrogation and verbal and physical abuse.
A consistent theme is the persistent efforts of the regime and its personnel to characterize opposition as “sectarian”. One wounded protester described being beaten in the hospital (before he was transported to a police station for further beatings) and being told that he had ruined the country and would be “sent back to Iran.”
Najeeb’s site is mostly in Arabic. But if you open Google translator in a separate tab, you can cut and paste the text and a surprisingly good English translation floats onto the screen like a message from another world—which, if you think in terms of the media blackout in Bahrain, is exactly where it’s coming from.