Crocodiles of Arabia

Political Movements in Bahrain: Past, Present, and Future

One year ago, online activists called for a "February 14 Revolution" on the tiny island of Bahrain. Although the ongoing mass protests might come as a surprise for some, political movements in Bahrain and the wider Arabian Gulf have a long history that stretches back a hundred years. To place these movements in context, it is necessary to delve back in history to better understand the present and what harbingers these movements hold for the future. The region witnessed a remarkable development in 1938. Three movements emerged in Bahrain, Dubai, and Kuwait—all then under British “protection”—calling for a greater say in ruling matters, even daring to ask for a ...

Pioneer Bloggers in the Gulf Arab States

Long before Facebook updates and 140-character tweets, a number of cyber activists defined the landscape of non-government led opinion in the Gulf Arab states. In less than a decade, a group of bloggers—many of whom have never met—has paved the way for the emergence of the “other opinion” that was and continues to be largely missing from the government controlled Gulf Arab media. The shake-up to traditional media that these blogging pioneers caused was no less significant than what Al Jazeera’s arrival did to the moribund government-controlled television channels of the Arab world. Today the number of Twitter and Facebook users in the Gulf is estimated to be in the ...

Sectarianism, Opposition Parties, and Online Activism in Bahrain: An Interview with Blogger Chan'ad Bahraini

For the blogosphere in the Gulf region, the name Chan'ad became a reference to all of those who were seeking accurate, well written, and up-to-date inside information from Bahrain in English. Chan'ad, author of the blog Chan'ad Bahraini 2.0, has been a prominent figure of digital activism in Bahrain and the region since 2004 as he works on unveiling regime tactics to fuel sectarian fear, suppress facts, and keep up state repression. After the 14 February uprising, Chan'ad, whose real name is Fahad Desmukh, played an important role in exposing the lies of state-controlled media in Bahrain and the Bahraini regime’s hiring of foreign journalists and firms to whitewash its ...

Bahrain's Assault on Medical Professionals

Bahrain's doctors, nurses and emergency workers treated scores of injured and saw the dead after security forces launched a brutal crackdown on protestors. Many are now paying a steep price for speaking out about what they witnessed. After traveling to Bahrain as part of an Amnesty International fact-finding mission earlier this year, Dr. Hani Mowafi, co-director of the Boston Medical Center Department of Public and Global Health, observed the country's deteriorating human rights situation with great concern. The mission took place just days after at least seven protestors were killed and dozens more injured in a brutal crackdown on protests by activists demanding ...

Bahrain's Independent Commission of Inquiry: A Path to Justice or Political Shield

Tomorrow, 23 November 2011, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), comprised of an international panel of law experts, is due to submit its report following a four-month investigation of the violence that broke out since the February 14 Uprising in Bahrain. Aside from questions of partiality raised by ongoing statements made by its Chairperson, Professor Bassiouni, the more serious question centers on the political purpose that this report will serve. Will it offer justice for victims of the most brutal crackdown in Bahrain’s history? Or will it whitewash the findings by avoiding high-level accountability and offering a political shield for the regime ...

Entrevista con dirigentes de la Federacion General de Sindicatos de Bahrein

[This interview was conducted in Arabic by Bassam Haddad and Ziad Abu-Rish and translated/published from English into Spanish by www.rebelion.org] Entrevista con dirigentes de la Federación General de Sindicatos de Bahréin [Traducción para Rebelión de Loles Oliván] Recientemente tuvimos la oportunidad de sentarnos a hablar con representantes de la Federación General de Sindicatos de Bahréin durante una visita a Estados Unidos patrocinada por la federación de sindicatos AFL-CIO [American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations]. Lo que sigue es una secuencia editada de diferentes partes de la entrevista que se llevó a cabo en ...

Statement by Bahraini Medics Sentenced on 29th September 2011

[The following statement was issued by Bahraini medics in Arabic and English on 29 September 2011. It was recently published on Bahrain Online.] 

Statement by Bahraini Medics sentenced on 29th September 2011: On September 29, 2011, a group of 20 Medics was sentenced in the Bahrain National Safety Court, a military court, to between five and 15 years in prison each. During the times of unrest in Bahrain, we honored our medical oath to treat the wounded and save lives. And as a result, we are being rewarded with unjust and harsh sentences. Thirteen Bahraini medics out of 20 received a sentence of 15 years in prison. The charges that we have being accused of are ...

Bahrain's 14 Feb Coalition Press Release: Winning the Psychological War against a Defeated Regime

[The following press release was issued in both English and Arabic by Bahrain's 14 February Coalition on 24 September 2011.] Winning the Psychological War against a Defeated Regime The call of the 14 February Youth Coalition to the masses to participate in the ‘Friday Crawl’ to Martyrs Square (formerly Pearl Roundabout) was adhered to by thousands and proved a devastating psychological blow towards the blood thirsty Al Khalifa regime, who added to their long list of crimes against humanity by deliberately performing an act of arson by setting ablaze a house in Sanabis[1] leading to severe injuries to its inhabitants. The brutality of the so called ‘Crown Prince’ ...