Bahrain Brings Back the Sectarianism
Posted By Marc Lynch
Wednesday, March 16, 2011 – 8:12 PM Share

While the American and international debate over Libya continues, the situation in Bahrain has just taken a sharp turn for the worse. A brutal crackdown on the protestors followed the controversial entry of security forces from Saudi Arabia and three other GCC states. Media access has been curtailed, with journalists finding it difficult to gain entry to the Kingdom (I was supposed to be in Bahrain right now myself, but elected not to try after several journalists let me know that they were being denied entry and several Embassies in Doha warned me off). The road to political compromise and meaningful reform — which appeared to have been within reach only a few days ago — now appears to be blocked, which places the long-term viability of the Bahraini regime in serious question.

The response of the Bahraini regime has implications far beyond the borders of the tiny island Kingdom — not only because along with Libya it has turned the hopeful Arab uprisings into something uglier, but because it is unleashing a regionwide resurgence of sectarian Sunni-Shi’a animosity. Regional actors have enthusiastically bought in to the sectarian framing, with Saudi Arabia fanning the flames of sectarian hostility in defense of the Bahraini regime and leading Shia figures rising to the defense of the protestors. The tenor of Sunni-Shi’a relations across the region is suddenly worse than at any time since the frightening days following the spread of the viral video of Sadrists celebrating the execution of Saddam Hussein.

The sectarian framing in Bahrain is a deliberate regime strategy, not an obvious “reality.” The Bahraini protest movement, which emerged out of years of online and offline activism and campaigns, explicitly rejected sectarianism and sought to emphasize instead calls for democratic reform and national unity. While a majority of the protestors were Shi’a, like the population of the Kingdom itself, they insisted firmly that they represented the discontent of both Sunnis and Shi’ites, and framed the events as part of the Arab uprisings seen from Tunisia to Libya. Their slogans were about democracy and human rights, not Shi’a particularism, and there is virtually no evidence to support the oft-repeated claim that their efforts were inspired or led by Iran.

The Bahraini regime responded not only with violent force, but also by encouraging a nasty sectarianism in order to divide the popular movement and to build domestic and regional support for a crackdown. Anti-Shi’a vituperation spread through the Bahraini public arena, including both broadcast media and increasingly divided social media networks. This sectarian framing also spread through the Arab media, particularly Saudi outlets. The sectarian frame resonated with the narratives laid in the dark days of the mid-2000s, when scenes of Iraqi civil war and Hezbollah’s rise in Lebanon filled Arab television screens, pro-U.S. Arab leaders spread fears of a “Shi’a Crescent”, and the Saudis encouraged anti-Shi’ism in order to build support for confronting Iranian influence.

Now, the struggle for democracy and human rights in Bahrain seems to have been fully consumed by this cynical sectarian framing, and the regional Saudi-Iranian cold war which had been largely left behind by the Arab uprisings has suddenly returned to center stage. The sending of Saudi and GCC security forces to Bahrain follows on similar political campaigns, while the regime’s positions and sectarian framing have been backed across the Gulf media — including al-Jazeera Arabic, which has barely covered Bahrain even as it has focused heavily on Libya, Egypt, and Yemen. Meanwhile, leading Shi’a political figures across the region, from Hassan Nasrallah to Ali Sistani, are rushing to the defense of the protestors. Both have the effect of reinforcing the sectarian frame and distracting from the calls for democratic change.

The United States may see the preservation of the Bahraini regime as essential to its strategic position, given its concerns about the Fifth Fleet and about losing a key part of its decades-long strategy of containing Iranian power. But what the Bahraini regime is doing to maintain power may badly hurt America’s position as well. The harsh repression, immediately and publicly following the visit of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, suggests either American complicity or impotence. The refusal of serious reform probably makes the survival of the regime less rather than more likely. And finally, the sectarian framing of Bahrain has the potential to rebound upon other Arab states with significant Shi’a populations, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. It may also drive Iraq’s leaders into a more assertively Shi’a and pro-Iranian stance, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his rivals seek to win popularity with Iraqi Shi’a who identify with their Bahraini counterparts. If the Obama administration hopes to define a new vision for the region, it needs to leave behind such outdated concepts and lines of division. Bahrain, sadly, with the help of its regional allies, has brought them back into fashion.

http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/16/bahrain_brings_back_the_sectarianism

The Saudi intervention in Bahrain will fuel sectarianism, not stifle it
In Bahrain as elsewhere the uprising began in a spirit of hopeful nationalism. But now religious divides are being exploited

Madeleine Bunting
guardian.co.uk
Sunday 20 March 2011

A man in jeans and a jumper is standing in the road, waving his arms in brave defiance as bullets crackle around him. A few seconds later, he crumples and is loaded, bleeding, into a car to be taken to hospital. It’s a few minutes of footage from the streets of Manama in Bahrain and the kind of incident that has become familiar in the last few months of Arab uprisings. But pause a moment, because this image of extraordinary, reckless bravery can become iconic in different ways to its many web audiences. Do we understand all of them?

Westerners see a political activist; some Sunni Muslims see a Shia troublemaker; and Shias across the Muslim world see a martyr. There is no more powerful a mobilising idea in Shia Islam than the martyr. For nearly one and a half thousand years, Shias have revered Ali, the prophet’s son-in-law, who was assassinated, and the prophet’s grandson, Hussein, who was killed in battle at Karbala; betrayal has become a passionate narrative of identity.

What has filled western observers with optimism is that the spirit of the Arab protesters in recent months has been so unequivocally non-sectarian. Egyptian Muslims and Christians side by side on the streets, Bahraini Shias and Sunnis insisting they were Bahrainis first and foremost, jointly demanding political reform. But as the revolutions grow older, the highly fluid politics shifts, secular national identities can fragment and religious identities gather force; can the latter be contained? Everyone is haunted by Iraq; after the fall of Saddam, Iraqis celebrated “as Iraqis and as Muslims”, but what ensued was the deadliest sectarian conflict the region has ever seen. How does peaceful nationalism fail to hold its ground?

The question is emerging in Egypt, the country at the centre of the Arab spring. The recent burning of a church and the rough handling of a demonstration of Coptic Christians in Cairo has set nerves on edge. Christians are anxious about newly confident Islamist groups; their leaders urged them to vote no to constitutional amendments in the referendum at the weekend, while Islamist leaders were urging a yes vote.

But it is, above all, in Bahrain that a popular political reform movement is increasingly being framed in sectarian terms, and as a result takes on entirely different dimensions with repercussions across the region. Bahrain’s significance is out of all proportion to its tiny size. An island at the centre of western oil dependency and US military capability – as home of the US Fifth Fleet – Bahrain is bang on the faultline of Islam’s deepest and most embittered of divisions between Sunnis and Shias. It is a division that the west has often failed to understand, and it has frequently miscalculated how it is being used and for what purposes – as was very evident in the Iraq war. Could it be doing so again?

A majority of the Bahrain population is Shia and they are governed by a Sunni monarchy with a long history of discrimination. There are very few Shias in the army and police, they suffer disproportionate unemployment and lack access to housing. For years there has been periodic unrest. In recent weeks, as the violent repression by the Sunni monarchy in Bahrain has intensified, the Shias have been radicalised, moving beyond the demand for constitutional reform to one of regime change, and that has cost them their Sunni allies. But the factor that has transformed a delicate situation into an explosive one was the intervention of the Saudi and Gulf Co-operation Council’s troops last week in support of the Bahraini king.

The Saudis are using the threat of sectarianism as cover, insisting that urgent action was necessary to prevent what they are, in fact, fuelling. Senior figures in Saudi justified their action in Bahrain as necessary to prevent Shia fitna (chaos), points out the Middle East analyst Mai Yanami. Provoking the fear of Shias meets domestic requirements; it inhibits the cautious Saudi version of the Arab spring – a nervous internet petition movement asking for reforms had been gathering strength.

With violent unrest in Yemen on its southern border and in Bahrain, Saudi government figures are edgy, pouring money into food subsidies and pay rises; they warn that democracy risks “60 years of bloodshed”. It’s an old trick for repressive regimes to exploit fear that change could unleash unmanageable forces, but for a region that has just witnessed the sectarian violence of Iraq, it doesn’t sound like an empty threat.

Highlighting sectarianism serves Saudi well with another constituency – its American allies. There have been plenty of thinly veiled references to Iranian links with their co-religionists in Bahrain; presumably, allegations of “foreign interference” in Bahrain have been poured into American ears to keep them on side. Saudi’s treatment of its own nearly 2 million Shia minority is infamous. Children are taught that Shias are apostates; to some Wahhabi clerics, Shias are worse than infidels.

Religious identities have always crossed the arbitrary, colonial-imposed borders in the Arab world – ideas and people have followed the Shia pilgrimage routes to sites such as Mashhad near the Iranian-Afghan border, and to Najaf and Karbala in Iraq – building strong links and family networks. The Gulf is what Toby Mathiesen, of the School of Oriental and African Studies, calls a transnational space. The internet reinforces this; just as it helped spread the Arab political uprisings, so it can reinforce religious identities. In the last few days there have been demonstrations against Saudi intervention in Bahrain in Shia communities in Iraq, Lebanon, Iran and the crucial Saudi eastern province of Qatif, where most of its Shia live – and where Saudi oil is also concentrated.

For the US, this amounts to a massive headache that makes even Libya look straightforward. Its invasion of Iraq in 2003 inadvertently boosted the reach and influence of Shia Iran in the region; for the first time in centuries the Shias have gained power and there has been much talk of a Shia revival, points out Rosemary Hollis, professor of Middle Eastern studies at City University. This has made Sunnis throughout the Middle East increasingly anxious. Instability in the Gulf risks higher oil prices, and that risks global recession. But the repressive response can only work in the short term, while it makes nonsense of America’s narrative of human rights and democracy. Increasingly, the danger is that America – and thus Britain – are on the wrong side, alongside regimes that can no longer secure their interests, and whose brutality blows apart western claims to the moral high ground.

One final point. Britain’s intimate relations with the Bahrain royal family now look embarrassing. The island was one of the last outposts of the empire, and close relations have been sustained through military co-operation, commercial links and royal visits. Britain exports weapons and military advisers and imports Bahraini offspring to Sandhurst. The king of Bahrain was on the invitation list for Prince William’s wedding and rapid diplomatic manoeuvrings are being deployed to avoid the event being hijacked by pro-democracy demonstrations; reportedly the king has now declined. That still leaves the issue of the Saudi king turning up at Westminster Abbey. Every wedding has its share of necessary but unwelcome guests, but the presence of Middle Eastern despots risks exposing the seediness of British foreign policy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/20/bahrain-saudi-intervention-religious-divide?CMP=twt_gu

The ancient loathing between Sunnis and Shi’ites is threatening to tear apart the Muslim world

By JOHN R BRADLEY

Last updated at 1:43 PM on 19th March 2011

Comments (60)

Religious tension: About 70 per cent of Bahrain is Shi’ite, though the Sunnis rule the nation
The bitter, bloody feud between the two branches of Islam, the Sunnis and the Shi’ites, has gone on for centuries and now this vicious sectarian strife is exploding again in Bahrain, threatening to cause an even greater conflict in the Middle East between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The implications of the worsening hostility for the world are nightmarish, for the entire region could soon be gripped by turmoil, bloodshed and economic meltdown. What was naively seen a few weeks ago as a fight between freedom and autocracy could descend into an epic clash between two Muslim ideologies, the savagery made all the worse by their long history of enmity.

The roots of the hostility between Sunni and Shia lie not in profound theological differences, but in the political intrigues that took place in the Muslim world in the 7th Century. When the Prophet Mohamed died in AD 632, the question of the succession to his leadership was dominated by family rivalries and disputes.

Essentially, there were four candidates to succeed as ‘caliph’, or leader, and one group in particular, which went on to form the Shi’ites, strongly favoured the claims of Ali, the grandson of Mohamed. Even the name, Shi’ite, derives from ‘party of Ali’. But three times in succession, Ali was passed over as each of the other candidates was chosen before him.

The opposition to Ali deepened the sense of anger among his supporters. Eventually, in this climate of tribal factionalism, Ali became the fourth caliph, though the indignation of his followers was provoked when he was then brutally assassinated.

The tribal feuding in the post-Mohamed era reached its climax at the Battle of Karbala in AD 680. This is really the key moment in the creation of the Shi’ite movement, the point at which the fissure was permanently established.

At the battle, Ali’s grandson, Hussein, was killed and, in the aftermath of his death, he came to be regarded by the Shi’ites as a martyr. The split between the Shi’ites and the opposing faction which took on the name Sunni, or ‘tradition’, has existed ever since that battle, causing endless sectarian trouble across the Middle East and the Arab world.The division soon acquired the trappings of theology. In turn, this has worsened the bigotry and hatred.

For example, fundamentalist Sunnis regard the Shi’ites as heretical because they say the worship of Ali and Hussein contradicts the Muslim belief that Mohamed was the last Prophet. However, most Shi’ites would dispute this, arguing that they revere Ali and Hussein, but do not worship them like they do Mohamed.

The Sunni belief in the heresy of the Shi’ites leads to repellent prejudice in Saudi Arabia, which has an overwhelmingly Sunni population and where the Shi’ites are widely loathed. Sunnis, for example, often say that you should never accept any food from a Shi’ite because he will spit in it before he hands it over.
Although the two sects live alongside one another, it isn’t an easy coexistence. Shi’ites face outright discrimination.

Partly this hostility stems from the fact that Saudi Sunnis are mainly Wahabbis, a cult which adopts the most literal and narrow brand of Islamic theology. Indeed, according to the most extreme Wahabbi mentality, the act of killing a Shi’ite infidel will improve a Sunni zealot’s chance of entering heaven.

In reverse, the Shi’ites do not regard Sunnis as infidels or heretics and do not feel they have anything spiritually to gain by killing them.

Merciless: In Iraq, the country’s Shi’ite majority were persecuted ruthlessly under the rule of Saddam Hussein and his Sunni-dominated Baath Party

This explains why nearly all suicide-bomb attacks against Muslims have been perpetrated by Sunnis (Al Qaeda is a Sunni group).

The consequences of this split have been devastating. For although only 10 to 15 per cent of the Muslim world are Shi’ites, they are concentrated in strategically vital areas.

A round 85 per cent of the Iranian population is Shi’ite. Similarly, 70 per cent of Bahrain is Shi’ite, though the Sunnis rule the nation. In Yemen, around half the population are Shi’ite. In Saudi Arabia, where Sunnis make up 85 per cent of the population, the Shi’ites are the majority in the eastern province where most of the oilfields are.

This is a recipe for worsening conflict. We could now be witnessing a repeat of the storm that swept through the world after the Iranian revolution of 1979, when the Shi’ites overthrew the Shah of Persia, and Ayatollah Khomeini urged the overthrow of Sunni dictatorships and monarchies throughout the region.

There is a chilling echo of that today as the Iranian regime vociferously backs the Shi’ite rebels in Bahrain and encourages upheaval in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

In response, the Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia are determined to crush all sparks of Shi’ite rebellion in Bahrain, which is why they have sent in troops. We may be in the first stages of a major conflagration between the Saudi Wahabbi bigots and the Iranian Shi’ite zealots.
But within country borders, too, bloody conflict between the sects is hardly less serious.

In Iraq, the country’s Shi’ite majority were persecuted ruthlessly under the rule of Saddam Hussein and his Sunni-dominated Baath Party. Shi’ites are thought to constitute between 50 and 70 per cent of Iraq’s 31 million people. Since the fall of Saddam, Shi’ite-led fundamentalist parties have dominated the political scene and the country has been riven by violent sectarian divisions.

In Pakistan, there are similarly violent problems, even though Shi’ites make up only between five and 20 per cent of the population of 170 million. Recent decades have seen frequent attacks on the minority Shi’ites, and bloody retaliation. Up to 5,000 from both sides are thought to have been killed.

Analysts point to two main causes: the spread of hardline Sunni Islam from Saudi Arabia, and the return of Sunni jihadis — extremists who believe they are fighting a holy war — from Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. The latter, fired up on jihadi fervour and armed to the teeth, are fighting what they perceive as Western influence.

Support: Kuwaiti Shiites protest in support of Shiite-led Bahraini anti-government protesters in Kuwait City yesterday

Even in Iran, the only Islamic country that is officially Shi’ite, there is a long-simmering, violent Sunni insurgency against the Shi’ite regime in the south-east of the country.

This antagonism between the two groups does not exist everywhere in the Muslim world. In much of North Africa, the lines between the two creeds are blurred, with none of the bigotry that scars the Middle East. In overwhelmingly Sunni Egypt, for example, the population happily coexist with their minority Shi’ites. The only tragedy is that this attitude does not prevail more widely.

Our Foreign Office is predictably making the right soothing noises about lowering the temperature of conflict. But in our imperial past, we played a regrettable role in encouraging tensions in the Middle East.

Different nations same beliefs: Supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr hold Bahraini and Iraqi flags during a demonstration to support the anti-government protesters in Bahrain

Bahrain is the classic example. In the 1860s, the British brokered a deal with the Al-Khalifa royal family, who still rule Bahrain to this day, and installed them as rulers. Bahrain effectively remained a Sunni-dominated British protectorate until independence in 1971, and the army now shooting protesters on the streets of Manama is partly trained, funded and armed by Britain.

The ruling family in Saudi Arabia conquered a vast area of the Arabian Peninsula in the 1920s with the enthusiastic diplomatic and financial support of the British. Saudi Arabia’s first king, Ibn Saud, who was on the British payroll and whose top advisers were British, founded the extremist Wahabbi kingdom in 1932 with full British blessing.

Divide and rule was a pragmatic device of empire and Britain was adept at cultivating the Sunnis at the expense of Shi’ites.

Now it looks like we and the rest of the Western world could be paying a terrible price for our past policies.
John R. Bradley is the author of Saudi Arabia Exposed and Inside Egypt.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1367435/Middle-East-unrest-Sunni-Shiite-conflict-threatens-tear-Muslim-world-apart.html#ixzz1HBLIjldS

Shia is not your enemy, Mr Tarek Fatah.

Please don’t reduce the Bahraini people’s struggle for rights and democracy to Racism. Don’t stereotype all Shias into one category to construct petty strawmanning. Don’t let your Shia-Phobia take over the better of you! We assume you are much more tolerant and reasonable than what you have written below.

An unedited conversation from Twitter (read from down-up):

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
What’s with Canada’s Shia Muslims from EastAfrica. They’ve become enslaved to the Iranian $ Bahrain Mullahs & hostile to Indo-Pakistanis

@Bonga14 said
@TarekFatah @hnkhan @angryarabiya who are you to categorize ppl like books! Get it through your head Shi’aism is a sect of Islam regardless of which country, time or era – Iran just happen’s to be Shi’a. Iran was a Sunni state for more than 500 years did hear you guys complain about that. Read history.

alimjiwa Alim Jiwa
@a_picazo clearly according to Tarek Fatah, the only good Muslim in this world is Tarek Fatah! Everyone else is a “jihadi”

a_picazo Alheli Picazo
No joke: @TarekFatah ‘exposes’ Y Harper ejected student frm rally! (Scroll ↓ April 5 update) wp.me/p1dyFZ-2B #elxn41 #cdnpoli #p2ca #lpc

a_picazo Alheli Picazo
Islamophobe @TarekFatah still yammering http://bit.ly/g8Dd9T full story http://bit.ly/e7XkBz #elxn41 #cdnpoli #p2ca #lpc cc @TorontoStar

http://youstayclassy.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/you-stay-classy-national-post-newstalk1010-tarek-fatah/

http://youstayclassy.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/you-stay-classy-tarek-fatah/

a_picazo Alheli Picazo
Cue the @TarekFatah & @EzraLevant pants-soiling – Washington To Host US-Islamic Annual World Forum For First Time rttnews.com/Content/Genera…

riazbehra riaz
@
@a_picazo @TarekFatah of past had a passion for justice and was capable of multiple critiques.I miss that Tarek. http://bit.ly/ekqVMb

greatgodfrey greatgodfrey
@
@a_picazo @TarekFatah @nenshi About Tarek, I have lost must respect for him in the past few months!

dontcarewuthink Mirza
@
@TarekFatah You are jumping to assumptions and are actually quite rude. I’m only 18. They say w/ age comes wisdom… obv. not in your case
7 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@Bolshevik Did I ‘daa’nt’ you? Sorry. Just pissed off with Pakis who believe they are Nadir Shah’s left testicle & Bin Qasim’s Arab anus.

dontcarewuthink Mirza
@
@TarekFatah How am I ok with Ayatollahs killing Iranians? And how can u assume I hate Jews… what the?! you’ve got me totally wrong buddha

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@dontcarewuthink (contd) You seem to be suffering from a serious bout of inferiority complex that forces you to be a lapdog for Hamas or Hez
7 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@pakdawgie Your sensitivities r pretty selective. you hv no issue with Pak’s 60-year occption of B’tan, but are ok with Arabs lynching Paks

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@pakdawgie How do u no all Baluch side with ‘despot’? And why shld it matter whether it is Khameniei or Khalifa? Why do u back the Iranians?

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
#Bahrain to deport 90 Lebanese Shias for alleged ties to #Hezbollah and #Iran

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@pakdawgie Are you from Bahrain? If not, what is yr interest about a place that treats you like garbage.

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@dontcarewuthink (contd) but get worked up on Israel’s attack on Palestinians? What sort of a mindset allows u to look the other way (contd)

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@TheseLongWars Sorry, I have no info about what you seek, but faking Arab or Persian identities can be injurious to one’s mental health.

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@dontcarewuthink Only a visceral hatred of the Jew can explain why a Pakistani wud be ok with Ayatollahs killing 100,000 Iranians (contd)

pakdawgie Naveed
@
.@TarekFatah Still waiting for you to propose constructive solutions – isn’t that what needed in the world these days?

dontcarewuthink Mirza
@
@TarekFatah What do you mean Mirza is a unique Palestinian name? I am Pakistani.
24 Mar Favorite Retweet Reply

dontcarewuthink Mirza
@
@TarekFatah No I love my fellow Pakistanis. Any khoon is khoon. Thing is, the whole thing has been hyped up- including the Bahraini protests

pakdawgie Naveed
@
@TarekFatah So status quo (pre-strife) in Bahrain is what you advocate?
24 Mar Favorite Retweet Reply

pakdawgie Naveed
@
@TarekFatah Thanks for setting me straight – can u enlighten us on what you think is a good solution there? Or do you only criticize?

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@pakdawgie Of course you are not from Bahrain. Your interest in that country is purely sectarian, not humanitarian, so stop the charade.

pakdawgie Naveed
@
@TarekFatah I’m not from Bahrain but am embarassed at my countrymen’s roles in the despotic regime

pakdawgie Naveed
@
@TarekFatah I’m really interested in what you think should happen in Bahrain I are you for/against representative gov’t?

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
#Bahrain to deport 90 Lebanese Shias for alleged ties to #Hezbollah and #Iran

Winghunter Winghunter
@
@KashifShahzada TarekFatah is saying ‘Be willing to forego the satisfaction of the radical pose for the satisfaction of radical ends’, idiot

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@Bolshevik That is yr defense of lynching? Has it come down to the indignity Pakistanis will find a justification for their own humiliation?

Bolshevik Urooj Zia
@
@TarekFatah Serious qs: Weren’t they lynching Pakistani mercenaries for hire who had been sent from here to kill protesters?

sanasaleem Sana Saleem
@
@TarekFatah Baffled at your response and use of terms such as ‘lapdog’ etc.don’t know what part of the piece made you conclude that.

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@dontcarewuthink @sanasaleem No, it isn’t Faisal Kapadia, but some shameless, lapdog Pakistani happy he is spit upon by an Arab or Iranian

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@sanasaleem I am not referring to you, but to those who find Honour in the insults that are heaped on them by any Iranian or Arab or Turk.

kissmyroti Roti Fan
TarekFatah makes me very angry with his clear discrimination against Shias. Newsflash: Not every Shia is a slave to Iran. Get a clue!

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@TarekFatah I abhor anti-Semetism and theocracies just as much as I abhor Shia phobia. Strawmanning arguments is a petty tactic.
54 minutes ago Favorite Reply Delete

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
Just had to block two more Jew hatred; one Pakistani the other Arab, both blaming Israel for current woes in Middle East. Unbelievablly dumb
1 hour ago Favorite Retweet Reply

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri @libertas114 I was waiting for Jew-baiting to flow from the gutter. Took a few hours, but out poured the hate. Never fails.
1 hour ago

libertas114 libertas
by AbdulNishapuri@
@TarekFatah @AbdulNishapuri what hv u got agains the Shias? #bahrain is united. its not about shias and sunni, it is about Bahrainis freedom
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah I wish you are as loud and clear against Israeli apartheid / racism against its own Arab citizens? @libertas114
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah Today you have shown enough of your ShiaPhobia. Save the rest for another day? #Bahrain #Racism
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@libertas114 @abdulnishapuri Bahraini’ freedom? U gotto 2 b kidding. Yr freedom is only for Arabs, not Dark-skinned Asians. Racism nvr works
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah But you have seen thousands of Shias being massacred by some practical (not theoretical) #ShiaPhobes in Pakistan. Haven’t you?
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri Yes, I’ve seen the tens of thousands of Pakistani Shias march against Ahmedinejad & Khamenei. Yeah , that’ll be the day!
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri Bahraini people? I doubt you consider the 2 Bangladeshis to be as Bahraini as u being Pakistsni
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah You assume Shias = Iranians = Khomeini lovers. You are WRONG. You stereotype and assume a lot.
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah There you go again. Shia = Iran = Murder by association. Then you claim you are not ShiaPhobe?
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri Problem with shias like u hv worshiped Khomeni to the extent, his murderous blood-soaked regime has blinded u. Million died
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri @razarumi The difference is I I know who I am; an Indian born in Pakistan, not a Persian leftover by an invader nor an Arab
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri @optimisticaly @libertas114 Why shd I? I am a Pakistani Canadian. I don’t get my orders from the King or the Mad Ahmedinejad
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
LOL. True. Let’s remain focused on #Bahrain @Optimisticaly @TarekFatah @libertas114
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Bahrain’s king agrees with @TarekFatah Iranian sectarian plot foiled in #Bahrain with the help of Saudi Arabia and GCC http://bit.ly/fa14kK
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah You are assuming too much, Tarek. Pause and reflect. Respect Bahraini people, respect democracy, get out of ShiaPhobia
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah Sectarian is exactly the word used by Saudi and Bahraini dictators to crush the people’s movement for rights & democracy
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri I can’t get my head around the fact a sectarian like you is a PPP activist seeking reform. Lord hv mercy if Iran is yr ideal
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri Personal!!! I wdn’t touch Ahmedinejad’s apologists with a 10-foot pole. Pity, the twit has so many slaves in #Pakistan
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@TarekFatah Instead of being personal, you should refrain from reducing the Bahraini people’s struggle for democracy to “Racism”.
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
Saudi are damn slow in their job. Kill all Rafidis/ Iranians RT @VoiceOfBahrain Your usual lies! when did your reach 100 deaths in #Bahrain?
2 hours ago

Total deaths in Bahrain R significant for a country of only 600,000 people;100 deaths in #Bahrain = 30,000 in #Pakistan http://tiny.cc/j98b7

Specimen of @faisalkapadia source on #Bahrain RT @khattak99 @craigcatt so it is, u are shia. evidnt wen u take ur uncl Yazid’s name wid love

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
It’s revealing to see Qaradawi and @TarekFatah united to denounce the people’s movement for democracy in #Bahrain http://bit.ly/gQ2eTM
22 minutes ago Favorite Reply Delete

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
What kind of services are we rendering to the peoples’ movement in #Bahrain by playing the #Saudi sectarian and Arab-Ajam (racism) card?
25 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
Nishapuri, Rumi, Tarek all Arab/Persian names or identities. Let’s start the charity at home : ) @Razarumi @TarekFatah
27 minutes ago

Razarumi Raza Rumi
@
@TarekFatah Fully agree.Arab/Persian ancestry is a bogey.We have clear #SouthAsian roots which nd 2 B acknowledged @AbdulNishapuri #identity
31 minutes ago

BahrainRights Bahrain Human Rights
#Bahrain telecoms company founded by opposition leader has licence withdrawn thenational.ae/business/telec… #bahrain #feb14 #lulu via @Bh_activist
31 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Thank you Gen Kayani for releasing this man to kill racist Shias in Pakistan http://criticalppp.com/archives/35205
31 minutes ago

BahrainRights Bahrain Human Rights
Good first-hand footage from Aljazeera English. Report on Alhujairi’s death by #bahrain govt youtube.com/watch?v=x8U3SD… via @OnlineBahrain
32 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Thank u Gen Kayani for sending these handsome Pakistanis to save #Bahrain’s Khalifa from racist Shias http://criticalppp.com/archives/42628
33 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Pakistani Soldiers and Bahraini Mogambo – by Danial Lakhnavi #Urdu #Bahrain http://criticalppp.com/archives/42668
37 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Why is US backing force in Libya but not Bahrain, Yemen? – by Andrew North http://criticalppp.com/archives/43026
41 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
US embassy cables: Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists raise funds in Saudi Arabia http://criticalppp.com/archives/32089
42 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
How Saudi Arabia has corrupted Yemen to spread Wahabism http://criticalppp.com/archives/6915
43 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Killing of Shias in Pakistan: FIR should be registered against Saudi embassy and the ISI http://criticalppp.com/archives/19317
43 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@khattak99 @faisalkapadia Shia-phobia of Saudi Arabia and the genocide of Shia Muslims http://criticalppp.com/archives/32473
47 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@khattak99 @TarekFatah @faisalkapadia Shia genocide in Bahrain shows Islam’s replacement by Wahhabism http://criticalppp.com/archives/40692
48 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
Thanks to @khattak99 for proving my point about #ShiaPhobia Shia = Iranian = Jew = Bad name = Hang him @TarekFatah @faisalkapadia
49 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Was the people’s movement in Tunisia or Egypt a Sunni movement? Why are we recycling the Saudi #ShiaPhobia discourse in Pakistan? #Bahrain
52 minutes ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri @razarumi @faisalkapadia Its what u do with names Do we ‘buy’ into this fake heritage or reality we r all Hindu converts.
57 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@TarekFatah @khattak99 @faisalkapadia Racism? Baloch nationalists reject #Pakistani #mercenaries in #Bahrain http://bit.ly/fXUvig
59 minutes ago

Razarumi Raza Rumi
MUST WATCH: Rights groups condemn Bahrain violence http://youtu.be/x8U3SDDrhJM v @Saudiwoman
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@faisalkapadia better write a post on our saviours in Aabpara who mentor Sipah-e-Sahaba and Taliban @TarekFatah @khattak99
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah @khattak99 @faisalkapadia Any Jew who does not recognize anti-Semitism = Any Muslim who does not recognize ShiaPhobia
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri @khattak99 @faisalkapadia Any Muslim who cares more for his sect deserves to b the blind who couldn’t see Darfur Genocide.
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
How can any one claiming to fight anti-Semitism be so blind to #ShiaPhobia in #Bahrain, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia?
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah did you notice that @khattak99 is one source of @faisalkapadia Read his time-line to see the #ShiaPhobe with your own eyes
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
RT @faisalkapadia: @AbdulNishapuri My sources are #Bahrainis who are screaming the other side of the story without anyone listening
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
Arab/Persian names r fine? RT @TarekFatah I have nothing but contempt for Pakistanis faking Arab/ Persian ancestry @razarumi @faisalkapadia
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri @razarumi @faisalkapadia Please understand I have nothing but contempt for Pakistanis faking Arab or Persian ancestry.
1 hour ago

wikileaks WikiLeaks
Open Letter to the US government from the people of Bahrain http://wlcentral.org/node/1505

AbdulNishapuri
I am surprised at the audacity / dishonesty of those who are importing the #Saudi Sunni-Shia discourse to describe the movement for democracy in #Bahrain

craigcatt گورا بلی کریگ Craig
by AbdulNishapuri
@faisalkapadia I’ve asked around, allegation of fatwa was denied, & shame on Pak nationals who are mercs of barbaric Alkhalifa tyranny
2 hours ago Favorite Undo Retweet Reply

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
Absolutely RT @craigcatt I respect dawn.com but that piece [by @faisalkapadia ] was jang league and if not please provide sources #Bahrain

AbdulNishapuri
Racism? Baloch nationalists reject #Pakistani #mercenaries, support democracy movement in #Bahrain http://bit.ly/fXUvig

AbdulNishapuri
The institution dat is killing Balochs in Pakistan & Bahrainis in #Bahrain has tasked proxies 2 misrepresent #Bahrainis movement 4 democracy

amnesty AmnestyInternational
by AbdulNishapuri@
@justice4bh We issued a report on violations in #Bahrain last week. Read more here: http://ow.ly/4j8Wv
9 hours ago Favorite Undo Retweet Reply

JamesJohnsonOHR James Johnson
by AbdulNishapuri
RT @KellyAnneSmith RT “@allawati: Amnesty International report on #Bahrain protests calls security forces “brutal” bit.ly/ihsS0b ”
1 hour ago

alphaleah Leah McElrath
by AbdulNishapuri@
@weddady Thoughts re how I can help a tweep in #Bahrain who is receiving death threats? (A physician) I’ve written to @amnesty to ask same.
5 hours ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Advertisement: Ex-soldiers are needed to to fight racism and sectarianism in #Bahrain http://criticalppp.com/archives/42347
18 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
From mercenary troops to mercenary reporters? @faisalkapadia @Razarumi @ShabbirShah @khattak99
21 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah Tarek, Are Saudi troops (Arabs) killing Bahrainis (Arabs) because of their race? @Razarumi @faisalkapadia
24 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
No further comments RT @faisalkapadia will never respect a movement which is murdering my countrymen @Razarumi @ShabbirShah #Bahrain
23 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@faisalkapadia Next time please don’t misrepresent facts; respect #Bahrain movement for democracy @Razarumi @ShabbirShah
28 minutes ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri @Razarumi @faisalkapadia There r Pakistanis who if pissed on by an Arab wld say “its drizzling”. If an Iranian spit on them?
29 minutes ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
So tired of Pakistanis faking either a Persian or Arab ancestry by denying their Indianess. Wearing last names to ensure they are not Pakis
31 minutes ago

faisalkapadia FK
a soldier has no origin he follows orders just because he is frm Pakistan the community should not suffer! @Razarumi @TarekFatah

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
Thanks for correcting. Pakistani troops in #Bahrain not mercenaries RT @faisalkapadia @Razarumi @ShabbirShah
35 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah you ignored the Lahore mercenaries link that I sent you, How honest! @Razarumi @faisalkapadia
38 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
LUBP Archive on Baloch Nationalism: http://criticalppp.com/archives/tag/baloch-nationalism

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri @Razarumi @faisalkapadia Blind or not, You do know about the Baloch? Those dark-skinned guys no one in Pakistan wants 2 know
40 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Of course you are not a ShiaPhobe RT@TarekFatah You should go and join the Bahraini shias.
40 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
That’s why they term peoples’ movement in #Bahrain as Sunni-Shia feud RT @TarekFatah Pakistanis r so obsessed with religion @ShirinSadeghi
41 minutes ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri You should go and join the Bahraini shias. Once they detect your Pakistani ancestry, they’ll educate you about your worth
42 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah Baloch mercenaries? R you blind? http://criticalppp.com/archives/42628 @Razarumi @faisalkapadia
44 minutes ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri @ShirinSadeghi Pakistanis are so obsessed with religion, they haven’t got a clue abt racism, when they face it or use it.
44 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@faisalkapadia how innocent, only a few Pakistanis in #Bahrain army and police. @Razarumi @ShabbirShah
45 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
From Dawn, 20 March, 1,000 Pakistanis recruited for Bahrain forces http://tiny.cc/9rzvz Sunni-Shia feud? Racism? my foot!
48 minutes ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@Razarumi @AbdulNishapuri @faisalkapadia Pak mercenaries? Baloch have been there since 1638. U folks need to taste Arab racism, not dinars.
46 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah Your use of the word Racism to describe the people’s movement in #Bahrain doesn’t help @NickKristof @ShirinSadeghi
46 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah Any evidence of Pakistani “labourers” killed? Did you actually watch the videos I sent?
55 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
ShiaPhobia? @TarekFatah This is the source in your recommended @faisalkapadia article https://www.facebook.com/N0thingButTheTruth?ref=ts
56 minutes ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri @NickKristof @ShirinSadeghi You accuse me of using White Supremicist language from South Africa and then say “what cliches”?
48 minutes ago

Razarumi Raza Rumi
@
@AbdulNishapuri Pakistani mercenaries hve angered the protestors but all Paks wkng in#Bahrain r nt the same @ShabbirShah @faisalkapadia
49 minutes ago

ShabbirShah Shabbir
@
@AbdulNishapuri @faisalkapadia @Razarumi @NickKristof Again clever diversion from the blog. Who says that no problem in Bahrain but oil rich?
53 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@Razarumi Pray tell why are Pakistanis in #Bahrain being targeted by the way? Who R they? @ShabbirShah @faisalkapadia
54 minutes ago

Razarumi Raza Rumi
@
@ShabbirShah regardless of the oil debate, Pakistanis have bn targetted in #Bahrain & we shud B concerned @faisalkapadia @AbdulNishapuri
55 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah What cliches? I sent you articles by @NickKristof @ShirinSadeghi
53 minutes ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri Don’t lecture me with cliches picked up from the street. Why wold a dead Pakistani count less to u than a shia Arab Bahraini
56 minutes ago

ShabbirShah Shabbir
@
@AbdulNishapuri @faisalkapadia @Razarumi LOL We have some great liberals who googles and writes blogs.Prove me the oil rich fact abt Bahrain
58 minutes ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Racism? the language of ruling party in #Bahrain sounds a lot like the language of white South Africans @NickKristof http://tiny.cc/6wiq3
59 minutes ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri Do u believe I suffer from ShiaPhobia? That is such petty nonsense. There are Pakistanis being beaten up in Bahrain; wakeup!
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Revolution in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, but Shia-Sunni feud in #Bahrain? Racism in #Bahrain? Does #ShiaPhobia make us blind?
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@faisalkapadia @ShabbirShah @Razarumi Is This Apartheid in Bahrain? by @NickKristof http://tiny.cc/6wiq3
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@faisalkapadia @ShabbirShah @Razarumi Yes, it is WRONG, skewed, one sided misrepresentation!
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@TarekFatah Why are you using a language which was used by White supremacist leaders of South Africa against Black protesters?
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@faisalkapadia @Razarumi @TarekFatah Photo Identity of Pakistani labourers in #Bahrain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaH6W7VCpIU
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@faisalkapadia @Razarumi @TarekFatah Pakistani labourers in #Bahrain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9W_-0uGN1E
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah Are you sure they were labourers? http://criticalppp.com/archives/42628
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Bahrain Brings Back the Sectarianism – By Marc Lynch http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/16/bahrain_brings_back_the_sectarianism
1 hour ago

BahrainRights Bahrain Human Rights
#Bahrain is very small so the deaths are significant for a country where Bahrainis are only 600,000.” http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/wests-outrage-is-tempered-by-alliances-20110321-1c3pv.html
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
Hate Crimes against #Pakistanis in #Bahrain as Arabs beat up wounded labourers: A bloody ‘revolution’ in Bahrain… http://fb.me/NKtrCukX
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
@
@TarekFatah an excellent op-ed by @ShirinSadeghi ; also some in comments section: http://criticalppp.com/archives/42877
1 hour ago

ShabbirShah Shabbir
@Razarumi @faisalkapadia Salmania Medical Complex was never besieged by the protestors as 99% of its staff supports protesters.
1 hour ago

ShabbirShah Shabbir
@
@Razarumi @faisalkapadia doesn’t even know the BH demographics. By describing Bahrain as oil rich country he proved his complete ignorance.
1 hour ago

Razarumi Raza Rumi
RT @TarekFatah: @AbdulNishapuri Abdul, y r u silent on ths atrocity by Arabs in Bahrain against Pakistanis? … http://bit.ly/feE1oM
1 hour ago

TarekFatah Tarek Fatah
@
@AbdulNishapuri Abdul, why r u silent on this atrocity by Arabs in Bahrain against Pakistanis? Just shia pov not gd http://fb.me/TFVa0pEd
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Most of Pakistan’s urban writers and bloggers are hostage to a #Wahhabi mindset. #Bahrain http://criticalppp.com/archives/40221
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
Shame on Dawn for publishing the crappiest blog on #Bahrain. Reducing the Bahraini people’s struggle to Sunni-Shia feud? @faisalkapadia
1 hour ago

AbdulNishapuri Abdul Nishapuri
An example of propaganda & misrepresentation of facts. Pakistan’s #FCS bloggers R doomed @faisalkapadia http://bit.ly/fPHomS on #bahrain
1 hour ago

mosharrafzaidi Mosharraf Zaidi
very good blog post by @faisalkapadia on the threat against Pakistanis in Bahrain – http://bit.ly/fPHomS

Razarumi Raza Rumi
Please read @faisalkapadia: http://bit.ly/fPHomS on #bahrain and how #Pakistan needs to do more for its citizens
1 hour ago

Bahrain’s King mobilizes his wealthy supporters to manufacture artificial sectarianism and racism

But on Monday night, in the wealthy neighborhood of Juffeir, tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators poured into Al Fateh Grand Mosque to express their support for the embattled king.

¶ The pro-government crowd borrowed some of the opposition’s slogans, including “no Sunni, no Shia, only Bahraini.” But that was where the call for unity started and ended.

¶ This was an affluent crowd, far different than the mostly low-income Shiites who have taken to the streets to demand a constitutional monarchy, an elected government and a representative parliament. The air was scented with perfume and people drove expensive cars. In a visceral demonstration of the distance between Sunni and Shiite, the crowd cheered a police helicopter that swooped low, a symbol of the heavy-handed tactics that have been used to intimidate the Shiites.

¶ “We love King Hamad and we hate chaos,” said Hannan Al Abdallah, 22, as she joined the pro-government rally. “This is our country and we’re looking after it.”

¶ Ali Al Yaffi, 29, drove to the pro-government demonstration with friends in his shiny white S.U.V. He was angry and distrustful. “The democracy they have been asking for is already here,” he said. “But the Shias, they have their ayatollahs, and whatever they say they will run and do it. If they tell them to burn a house, they will. I think they have a clear intention to disrupt this country.”

¶ On that point there is agreement: the Shiite opposition does want to disrupt, but with peaceful protests aimed at achieving its demands. The public here has learned the lessons of Egypt’s popular uprising and the power of peaceful opposition.

¶ “I feel freedom like I never felt it in my life, but I’m also a little worried,” said Hussein Al Haddad, 32, as he marched with the Shiite protesters on Tuesday. “What is going to happen next?”

¶ Last Monday, Shiites tried to hold a “day of rage,” modeled on the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt that forced out autocratic presidents. The police gave no ground, firing on crowds with tear gas and rubber bullets and leaving one man dead, shot in the back. The next day, at the funeral, another man was killed the same way.

¶ The protesters marched into Pearl Square, the symbolic center of the city, and set up camp. In the early morning hours, the police raided the camp, killing three men. Then on Friday, a group of unarmed protesters tried to march into the square. The Army opened fire, and one young man, Abdul Redha Mohammed Hassan, was left with a bullet in his head. He died on Monday and was buried on Tuesday.

¶ The Army’s attack on unarmed civilians shocked even the government’s supporters and the military was withdrawn. The demonstrators poured back in, setting up a camp and a speaker’s podium and making clear they would not leave until their demands were met. The first demand, now, is the dissolution of the government and an agreement to create a constitutional monarchy.

¶ “They are the ones who made the demands grow bigger,” said Mohammed Al Shakhouri, 51, as he watched a procession of thousands follow the coffin of Mr. Hassan to the cemetery for burial.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/world/middleeast/23bahrain.html

Comment by Rusty Walker in another thread:

Rusty Walker says:
February 24, 2011 at 9:42 pm

http://criticalppp.com/archives/40692/comment-page-1#comment-87161

I have been horrified at the Bahrain military murders of innocent protestors. I am also appalled at the lack of comprehensive coverage of Bahrain on American TV on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, ABC, et. al. I am astonished that no channels appear to have covered the bloodshed with the appropriate urgency. I have had to tune into al Jazeera TV, and watch videos on LUBP to find the truth on the ground. Where is the international outrage at the Bahrain murders of peaceful protesters? The President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are not speaking out decisively the bloodshed; Instead we hear theoretical musings of what it means for the U.S.- the most powerful nation in the world does not need to be discussing what this means for oil and alliances. We should be fed up with platitude by now, and now is not the time to be speculating about Bahrain Shia/Iranian connections, when the entire Arab world watches, as we do, the killing of innocents in the streets. The time is for the US to stand up and pronounce solidarity for the rights of citizens globally that are standing up to their oppressors. We consistently give lip service to liberties, and our love of freedoms, here is or chance to support change of oppressive regimes.

While other states do have the right to self-determination, and it won’t always go our way, I believe where there are opportunities such as this of grassroots protestors seeking their own self-determination, we should express definitive support for peaceful demonstrations, and combined outrage at the violence. If you are wondering at my own usually dispassionate voice sounding uncharacteristically enraged, I invite you to watch the LUBP video for yourself. One minute youthful, peaceful marchers, ahead a military blockade, then the rattattat of firearms, then a crowd horrified with many youth now dead and bleeding in the street. I ask you, have you heard of this on American TV? And, where is the feckless UN outrage?

This isn’t about Sunni vs Shia as much as it is about good versus evil.

Racism against Pakistanis?

Shame on Express Tribune for publishing this (while using Shia-Phobe facebook pages or official GCC newspapers as their sources):

Harrowing tale of Pakistani policemen lynched in Bahrain
By Salman Siddiqui
Published: March 21, 2011

http://tribune.com.pk/story/135749/the-revolutions-underbelly-harrowing-tale-of-pakistani-policemen-lynched-in-bahrain-front-page/

Shame on Dawn for publishing this:

A bloody ‘revolution’ in Bahrain
BY FAISAL KAPADIA ON 03 22ND, 2011

http://blog.dawn.com/2011/03/22/a-bloody-revolution-in-bahrain/

While not publishing this:

Recruitment of Bahrain National Guards in Lahore to kill Shia protesters in Bahrain

http://criticalppp.com/archives/42628

Or this:

Breaking News: Pakistan army exports new mercenaries to kill Bahraini protesters

http://criticalppp.com/archives/42347

Or this:

Photo Id of Pakistani “labourers” in Bahrain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaH6W7VCpIU

Or this:

Services of Pakistani labourers in Bahrain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilWMwL8m6u0&skipcontrinter=1

Racism by Bahraini protesters? This conversation at Express Tribune is worth reading:

http://tribune.com.pk/story/135749/the-revolutions-underbelly-harrowing-tale-of-pakistani-policemen-lynched-in-bahrain-front-page/

hamza bin ali al ali
Mar 21, 2011 – 8:00AM
Reply
Question after reading this is why unlike other GCC police forces is Bahrains full of other nationalities ,does it sound discriminating, imagine England with a Pakistani police force i think the whole force would get murdered.
I like Pakistanis cause my mother is one but we need to not get involved in othe rpeoples battles, maybe these officers are being sent into a no win situation and being used as pawns , its odd that no arab police have died yet.
The first question though in reality is if someone kills your brother do you give him a rose? of course not so who transgressed against who first. who killed who first. if you kill peaceful protesters I am sorry but these ill be the end results tit for tat.THOSE WHO MAKE PEACEFUL CHANGE IMPOSSIBLE MAKE A VIOLENT ONE INEVITABLE. This is the process now taking place.

TightDhoti
Mar 21, 2011 – 7:25AM
Reply
In such a situation the Bahria Foundation and the Fauji Foundation have recruited a 1000 Pakistanis to be trained and sent over to Bahrain. Is that a wise policy given that tempers are flared? How are the protesters going to view the news of a 1000 new Pakistani’s arriving to shore up the security forces? Even if the Pakistanis settled in Bahrain have been there for decades, they are still Pakistani citizens. What is the government of Pakistan doing about either repatriating them or offering security apart from assurances that the Bahrain government provides? After all its the remittances sent back by overseas Pakistani’s that is keeping the current account deficit in check. Unquestionable support for a regime facing a revolt by the majority of its population puts us on the wrong side of the history. Sending more Pakistanis and knowingly placing them in harms way is nothing short of a crime.
*Ali says his father sent his mother back to Gujranwala a few days ago. They have yet to tell her that her son died in such a horrific manner If the mother is not aware of her sons death or the nature of his death, isnt it abit unwise to publish the details in national newspaper?

andrea
Mar 21, 2011 – 8:36AM
Reply
Sad that brave Pakistani youth have to pay for the sins of decadent Arab rulers and their backward people. Like cowards, the Arabs send the proud Pakistanis out to maintain law and order while they hide in their homes. How typical! Frankly the Arabs are not ready for democracy and have no concept of social institutions so I don’t suspect that these nations will improve any time. Despite their oil money, they have bankrupt societies which will be back at the bottom of the heap as soon as their oil revenues dry up.

Tariq
Mar 21, 2011 – 8:59AM
Reply
Pakistanis for sale. Well they are killing the natives for the dictators, what do they expect. They kill other Pakistanis in Pakistan and now are exporting their killing skills to the Gulf. Karma is real

Hyder Ali
Mar 21, 2011 – 9:32AM
Reply
The fact is that Pakistanis have a very poor reputation in the region as mercenaries for US and the corrupt Persian Gulf oil sheikhdoms. These Arab uprisings are local matters and Pakistanis would be better served to take care of the mess at home. The Pakistani military is engaged in a much worse suppression of minorities at home in the service of US imperialism. A very grim future awaits Pakistan unless it moves away from the US/Zionist agenda for the region.

Eeman
Mar 21, 2011 – 10:15AM
Reply
Let’s be straight: He was a police officer regardless of whether he was Pakistani or Bahraini. In spite the fact that expatriates — specifically from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, are not only treated like animals Arab countries, but also subjected to inferior treatments one should restrain himself from getting recruited in sensitive departments like law-enforcements.

M Ali Khan
Mar 21, 2011 – 3:22PM
Reply
@Rashid Khan:
Bahrain’s population is 70% Shia but the ruling regime has been the minority Sunnis, most of them from the ruling Al-Khalifa family that own everything in Bahrain and give NOTHING to its people. They flood the police ranks with hired mercenaries from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh etc to control the Shia population who demand their rights and democracy. The Bahraini regime rigs each election by giving Saudis voting rights to counter the popular sentiment of Bahraini people (both Shia and Sunni) who want change and better public representation so that the Al-Khalifa’s remain in power.
The way the Bahraini police has handled the crisis is staggering! They have been brutal in dealing with protestors making the crimes of Mubarak and Gaddafi seem pale in comparison. The police is filled with Pakistanis etc, so its no surprise that Indians and Pakistanis have been targeted by angry Bahrainis for being killers for hire!