I should have done this a long time ago. As Nido points out, Abdullah Mohsin, an activist and a blogger, is one of several people who have been locked up by the government since December on charges of “stealing weapons”. There have been serious allegations of torture of the detainees. Abdullah has been suffering from kidney problems, having to be admitted to hospital briefly.

As Nido points out, Abdullah would not hurt a fly, and the charges against him are clearly cooked up. I got to know him at the countless protests and demonstrations he attended, always in his dark suit and white shirt (no tie), quiet, very polite, and an extremely nice guy.

Another regular activist who has been detained is Hassan Abdulnabi. I have only met him once, but always saw him at the protests. He was always at the frontlines doing his best to prevent any conflict between the riot police and the demonstrators. He has been in and out of jail because of his activities with the Unemployment Comittee, and was seriously injured at least once after being attacked by riot police in 2005, leaving him on crutches for several weeks.

Once again he faces state violence.

Obviously, the men have been rounded up not because there is any evidence against them, but because they dared to speak out. They will hopefully be released eventually — but not without first giving them, and other potential activists, something to think about before speaking out again.

From neighbouring Kuwait:

Ghada Jamsheer, of the Women’s Petition Committee, issued this call on International Women’s Day. Rightly, she points out that the Supreme Council for Women is more an institution of royalist patriarchy in Bahrain, than of women’s empowerment (and certainly not feminism).

One point I was not aware of before reading this is that the women of the royal family are not subject to the rulings of Sharia Courts, like all other women in the country. I’d like to know more about that.

Quite cheekily, the letter is addressed first to the “Spouse of the King”, rather than to the President of the SCW (embodied in the same person). Apparently, the statement has been prohibited from being published in the local press, but it is available on Ghada Jamsheer’s blog.

A letter to the spouse of the King of Bahrain Sheikha/ Sabika Ibrahim Al Khalifa, President of the Supreme Women’s Council

Our best wishes from the honest citizens, we convey to you their hopes and inspirations which all what is left from it now is only a fading image, due to the continuous rejection of their demands, which encouraged them at the end to call to dismantle the Supreme Women’s Council for the following reason:

1. its becoming clear that the Council by time is becoming a place to employ the daughters of the ruling family, and to make a good use of the job’s expenses.
2. The Council falls under the supervision of and the strategy of the Royal Divan. It was obvious in the last elections, and the negative stand adopted by the Council concerning the Personal Status Law, the last assaults on women at the Prosecutor’s Office and attacking houses which was in consistency with the famous report of Dr Salah El Bandar.
3. Its also clear from the structure of the Council, and the repetition of the same faces, that the Council is dominated by the women of the ruling family in addition to women from families affiliated with the Royal Family who are trying to gain favor and personal interests.
4. The Council is based on discrimination between women in the society, as the women of the ruling family don’t fall under the rulings of the Legal (Sharyia) Court like other common women of this country.

Read the rest here, or the original in Arabic.

Further reading on very similar stuff: Women’s Organizations in Kuwait, Haya al-Mughni

Footage of the protester’s clash with the riot police on Wednesday… from the vantage point of the protesters:

Brave photographer!

Another youtube reporter, Abualisalman, has more footage from the front lines of recent clashes in Bahrain.

Once upon a time in Bahrain:

ارقص على تعبي واحلم

The riot police has yet again attacked a seminar in support of Mushaima and Al Khawaja, this one near Mushaima’s home in Jidhafs. Below are photos from the attack on yesterday’s seminar in Nuwaidrat.

Here you can see some of the troublemakers in action, from left to right: Haq secretary general Hassan Mushaima, member of parliament Jalal Fairooz, and Wa’ad chairman Ebrahim Sharif (who received a rubber bullet in his knee):

Photo source: ShaheedBH.com

The seminar attendees take cover as the riot police shower it with tear gas and rubber bullets:

Mission accomplished:

It should be obvious from the photos that the seminar organizers were violent terrorists who threatened national security. The government obviously had no choice but to use violence against them to save the country from calamity and disaster.

Riot police attacked a seminar this evening in support of Hassan Mushaima and Abdulhadi Alkhawaja. They used tear gas and rubber bullets. According to some online reports, Waad’s Ibrahim Sharif was injured, possibly by a rubber bullet, and had to be taken to hospital. Other personalities who were at the event were Abdulwahhab Hussain and Shaikh Isa al Jowder.

This attack comes just a day after the King ordered the public prosecutor to drop the case against the activists.

I’ll try to update this post with photos as they come in. Expect more fireworks in the coming days (there will be another similar seminar in Jidhafs tomorrow).

“150 dinars + no house = poverty and deprivation” — Photo source: ShaheedBH.com

Statements from the prime minister that “new steps are being taken to help needy families in Bahrain” are a dime a dozen. We read about them every few weeks, as the local press always makes sure to give it front page coverage. It’s been like this for as long as I can remember, but those statements are just words, as the underprivileged sections of society continue to be denied this country’s wealth.

What gets much less coverage on the front page of the papers are the conditions of this country’s poor. Some folks have been trying to organize weekly “marathons”, in which they march through various residential areas of Bahrain to raise awareness of poverty and unemployment. The latest march on Saturday took place in Sitra; the area which houses much of Bahrain’s oil and industrial wealth, but where the local residents are amongst the most marginalized. (More photos here and here)

Demonstrators march in front of the Sitra oil storage facility — Photo source: BahrainOnline.org

In theory, government ministers are supposed to be servants of the people — they take their salary out of the people’s pockets. Yet, as Abdulhadi Al Khawaja pointed out at the end of the march (see the video below), these government ministers and members of the King’s family are the wealthiest people in Bahrain; while farmers and fishermen, who work six days a week, don’t have enough money to buy food for the household. It doesn’t have to be this way.

The front page of the GDN announced yesterday:

His Majesty also praised the one-family spirit in the kingdom as he received villagers from Al Jasra and Budaiya at Al Safriya Palace.

Of course His Majesty would praise the “one-family spirit”. The “one-family spirit”, it would seem, is the notion that all of Bahrain’s land and resources are the chattel of just “one family”. For if you refuse to be loyal servants of that “one family”, then get ready to deal with this:

Photo source: BahrainOnline.org

To see more photos of the “one-family spirit” in action yesterday afternoon, check here.

Some Urdu poetry.

A couplet from Asrar ul Haq Majaz:

This scarf that covers you is beautiful indeed
It would be better if you made it into a flag of revolt

and a reality check from Kishwar Naheed:

It is we sinful women
Who, when we emerge carrying aloft the flag of truth
Find highways strewn with lies
Find tales of punishment placed at every doorstep
Find tongues which could have spoken, severed.

Photo source: Reuters/Hamad Mohammed

Some extremely disturbing news. This morning Abdulhadi Al Khawaja, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, along with Hassan Mushaime, secretary general of the Haq Movement, were arrested from their homes early this morning by Bahrain special security forces.

And you probably heard already that yesterday, the two “leaflet detainees“, were sentenced to prison (Dr Mohammed Al Shlawi got 1 year, and Hussain Al Habshi got six months) for intending to distribute leaflets encouraging a boycott of the parliamentary elections.

This is, of course, deplorable, and makes clear exactly how this regime views freedom of expression in Bahrain. But let’s be serious. The real reason why this happens is because the regime knows they can get away with it. Even if the detainees are released after investigation, or if they are given a royal pardon after being sentenced, the government has achieved its goal: harassing and intimidating the people out of demanding their rights. So while the constitution may claim that the people are granted freedom of expression, the reality is that the regime reserves the right to freedom of intimidation.

And why does the government get away with it? Because we let them. All we do is blog about it, or condemn it when asked about it, but nothing more. Why would the government then not continue to harass activists?

According to Bahrain Online, there will be a demonstration today at 3pm to demand the release of Abdulhadi Al Khawaja and Hassan Mushaime.

Sorry for being inactive for so long. I’ve had to deal with some other stuff, but will hopefully be blogging again soon.

In the meanwhile, let me put the spotlight on an excellent new Bahraini blogger: Nido. S/he has only written a few posts so far, but the blog is already one of my favourites in the Bahraini blogosphere. It is a real breath of fresh air.

The blogger focuses on a specific generation and socioeconomic class in Bahrain that s/he calls “the Nido Generation”. This is the generation of middle/upper class in Bahrain who grew up drinking Nido milk. The blogger argues that most of the Nido-ers are in many ways culturally colonized people, who play the role of the “native informant”, serving the interests of the imperial masters.

The author clarifies his/her personal relationship to the Nido generation:

I am a product of the nido-generation myself. I hate it, no doubt about it. I try to change this and break free from its shackles, but the nido bubble is a strong self-enforcing entity which always comes back to encircle you with its charms and misdeeds. I am a self-hating nido-er. This blog is a chance for me to exorcise my nido demons. God-damn you, nido.

Part of the reason why I like this blog so much is because I too am a self-hating Nideo-er (the expat variant).

In the her/his latest post, the blogger critiques the uber-capitalist view of society, which is, sickeningly, becoming increasingly popular in Bahrain:

I can’t help but laugh when I hear these big Hamours on TV or newspapers complaining that “the new generation of Bahrainis are lazy and expect too much, unlike the older generation. That’s why my company (more like serfdom-factory) exclusively employs 5000 indians. They are hardworking, they don’t need a lot of money, and they don’t demand too much. The moral is Bahrainis have to suck it up, work hard, and not expect too much immediately. ” Well that’s all good and dandy Mr. big shot, but not everyone is so poor that he has to accept slavery conditions in order to make a pittance of an earning to support his family 5000 miles away. Why exactly should someone start toiling under the unforgiving Arabian sun for 14 hours, under miserable work conditions and for piss poor pay? Sure, you can always find someone somewhere around the world who is so destitute that he’ll accept these conditions and travel half around the world to be your serf, but do you seriously expect most people to do that? Does that sound fine to you while your kids get to deck it out in the finest schools, the finest universities, and the finest jobs, simply because they were born rich? Is it fair that while your kids can afford to play video games, flirt in malls, smoke spliffs, drink up, live it up in Marbella or London, and just take it easy for a good chunk of their life these other kids have to start working by the age of 14? Knowing the most that life ever has to offer them is serving your kids in one way or another?

The blog is a must read, especially if you recognize yourself in the description of a Nideo-er.

And if you haven’t done so already, please sign the petition to release the Bahrain Leaflet Detainees.

Ghada Jamsheer of the Women’s Petition Committee spoke at a seminar at the House of Lords in London yesterday, about the situation of women in Bahrain. I’ve produced the entire statement she delivered at the end of this post, as it well worth reading for everyone.

She does an excellent job of blasting the myth that the current Al Khalifa regime is the defender of women’s rights in Bahrain. Rather, she explains that women have become the battlefield upon which the males fight out their political and sectarian battles. She points out how the government’s gerrymandering of the electoral districts prevented any pro-women candidates from entering parliament; how the regime engages in tokenism rather than genuinely ceding power to women; how women are affected by the unfair distribution of wealth; how the regime has used the Family Law as nothing more than a bargaining chip; and how the government-controlled Supreme Council for Women has been used to prevent independent women’s groups from working towards genuine change.

We need more Ghada Jamsheers in Bahrain; more women who are willing to give up their coffee-mornings and charity photo-ops for the cause of their less well-off sisters; who are ready to break out of the male-defined rules of engagement; who recognize patriarchy in all of its forms — state, tribal, religious, corporate, or in the household — and are willing to challenge it; who don’t merely seek the right to wear miniskirts or remove the hijab, but who want an equitable distribution of wealth and power.

Anyways, check out her statement below. Also worth reading is her statement last month regarding the appointment of Sharia court judges. And if you haven’t already watched it, see her famed appearance on Al Arabiya TV here.

Women in Bahrain and the Struggle Against Artificial Reforms

Intervention by: Ghada Jamsheer:
President of “Women Petition Committee” in Bahrain
House of Lords, UK, 18 December 2006

It is my pleasure to address this meeting. I consider myself a liberal Muslim, but I am obliged to clarify that I belong to a Sunni family, in order to refute the allegation that only Shia stand for freedoms and rights in Bahrain.

I am going to talk briefly about aspects of women’s rights in Bahrain. This is an issue which has become increasingly complicated.

For, on the one hand, there is a lot of talk about progress and achievements in regard to women rights, especially concerning human development or participation in the elections and acquiring high governmental positions.

While, on the other hand, the injustice and suffering continues. Women have become victims of the power struggle, sectarian differences, mismanagement of the government, and unfair distribution of national wealth and resources.

Read the rest of this entry »