[The following constitutes a series of email reports from Jadaliyya affiliates in Manama. They will be updated regularly to reflect the latest developments in Bahrain.]
Bahrain - Thursday March 3, 2011
A lot has been happening in a short space of time, and it is difficult to summarize the subtle shifts, dips and changes on the ground - for a nuanced view of events, please see this article on the “now-famous roundabout in the heart of Manama”.
Today six opposition societies (registered as such because political parties are illegal) in Bahrain presented their demands at a press conference, including calls for a 3-week period of dialogue to discuss:
- the abolition of the 2002 constitution;
- the formation of an interim government;
- the release of all political prisoners;
- an investigation into the killing of seven protesters since the beginning of the uprising on February 14.
The conference was fielded by representatives from: the National Democratic Action Society (Wa’ad), The National Islamic Accord Society (Al Wefaq), Progressive Democratic Tribune (Al Minbar), the National Democratic Assemblage (Al Tajammu’), the Islamic Action Society (Al Amal), the National Fraternity Society (Al Ekha), and the Nationalist Democratic Assembly Society.
Later in the day, two participants from the conference Munira Fakhro (member of Wa’ad) and Mansour Al Jamri (editor-in-chief of Alwasat newspaper) spoke at the Pearl roundabout to protesters, many of whom are skeptical about beginning dialogue with the government before any concrete concessions have been made. Tweeters from the roundabout reported that Fakhro urged protesters to participate in talks with the government, saying:
“A hand of dialogue was extended to us, why not accept it and see the consequences… We don`t want to spill more blood, we need you on the ground not under it.”
Feedback from the ground is varied. Some youth groups accuse opposition ‘old guard’ political societies of dividing the movement; others see it as a pragmatic approach ostensibly to avoid further government violence against dissenters and gain real concessions from the current momentum. Opposition societies and protesters both agree, however, that protests should be allowed to continue without facing violence or repression. After a brief lull, demonstrators at Lulu appear to have been re-strategizing and galvanizing the movement with a series of rallies. Those include: a march to the infamous Interior Ministry ‘fort’ demanding the release of prisoners; a demonstration of students outside the Ministry of Education; and a sit-in outside the Parliament and Shura Council buildings and the Bahrain Financial Harbor. Students (some as young as primary school, to much uproar) joined strikes, and the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (with workers in aluminum, oil and transport industries) have issued a statement of support for the opposition, calling for an interim government to bring ‘real political change’.
At the beginning of the week, opposition leader Hassan Mushaima was allowed to re-enter Bahrain, some six months after the Bahraini government placed an Interpol request for his arrest on accusations of collaboration in a ‘terrorist plot’, a move that was received with much popular skepticism. Now, with the release of 23 terrorist suspects in the same high profile trial, it appears even more clearly to have been a politically motivated trial.
The government has also issued a decree to cut citizens` monthly housing costs by 25% and shuffled around a number of government ministers, on the premises of ‘reform’. It seems the widely criticized Minister of Health Faisal Al Hamer (who allegedly prevented ambulances from reaching citizens wounded in attacks by riot police) was replaced with the former Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, Nezar Albaharna. The former Minister of Labor Majeed Al Alawi has been posted as Minister of Housing, replacing Sheikh Ebrahim bin Khalifa al-Khalifa. Perhaps the most noticeable change has been the removal of Sheikh Ahmed bin Attiatullah al-Khalifa from his position as Minister of Cabinet Affairs, and his replacement with Kamal Ahmed, a ‘technocrat close to the crown prince’. The widely despised former CIO head was allegedly responsible for a $2.7 million programme to alter the sectarian demographic of Bahrain by rigging votes, providing social support to Bahraini families which ‘convert’ from Shiism to Sunni Islam, and running a media and media-monitoring team to maintain sectarian division, according to documents leaked in 2006. Unsurprisingly these moves seem to have carried little favor with the public, not least because two days after his ‘removal’ Ahmed bin Attiatullah was reportedly seen in pictures with the King on his visit to Kuwait to mark that country’s National Day celebrations.
Pro-government supporters also held a rally outside the (Sunni) Al Fateh mosque on Wednesday with some local media counting the attendance as up to 450,000. While calling for unity, the speaker and former opposition member Abdullatif Al Mahmoud stepped up the rhetoric against protesters at the Pearl roundabout, calling the movement “an attack on the security of a nation” and condemning teachers for participating in the strikes. Al Mahmoud re-affirmed support for the ruling Al Khalifa family, and called for the country to “return to normal”. Critics claim that while preaching unity and anti-sectarianism, Al Mahmoud remained silent as the crowd chanted “الشعب يريد إزالة الدوار؟” (the people- want- the removal of the roundabout).
Today ended with reports of clashes among youth in Hamad Town, where school fights have broken out in the past between ‘naturalized’ Bahrainis and other students. Riot police were deployed. Sources suggest that the clashes were connected to current events, but details are not clear and have not been confirmed. This report follows earlier ones that claimed fights had broken out at a public girls’ school, also related to current events.
For a summary of international responses to the current uprising in Bahrain:
The deeply respected and acclaimed musician Marcel Khalife announced his withdrawal from Bahrain’s government sponsored ‘Spring of Culture’ programme of events, in a ‘humanitarian’ gesture of support for the Bahraini protesters.
According to Reuters, had Bahrain not withdrawn from hosting the Formula 1 opening race scheduled to begin on March 11, Williams and potentially other teams would likely ‘not have gone’.
The US and GCC have stepped up their rhetoric bolstering the Bahraini regime, with US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman ‘re-iterating his country’s support for national dialogue in Bahrain’ after meetings with government officials including the Crown Prince and the GCC announcing a ‘Marshall Aid Plan’ to assist Bahrain and Oman as they (by this, read the regimes) face instability.
Apparently, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal also supports national dialogue in Bahrain. And to summarize the most recent developments, Hilary Clinton is back – and she wants you to know, that along with your favorite sweater that is missing, most things that are bad in the world can (and should by all means) be blamed on Iran.
[To be updated . . . ]
[Also see our Notes From the Bahraini Field Update 1 and Update 2]