#LaborersAidCampaign

حملة دعم #عامل_خدمة_وطني

شوارعنا نظيفة, سياراتنا تغسل يوميا وفي كل يوم جديد يتم بناء المباني الجديدة. وظائف تستنزف الروح لاتتلقى الشكر

وعلى هذا لايتم تقدير هؤلاء الذين يعملون في هذه الوظائف.

بعد تفجيرات الخامس من نوفمبر ولا احد يجرؤ على أحصاء حالات الانتحار لكثرتها، أصبح من الضروري اظهار تقديرنا لأولئك الذين  يعملون في الوظائف التي لا أحد يريد أن يعملها. أنهم يعملون لساعات طويلة جدا بالاظافة للقيام بالأشغال الشاقة، بلا تذمر وبلا راحه... كل ما يريدونه في المقابل هو القليل من الاحترام والتقدير, وهو ما يستحقون.

معاً يمكننا ان نتخطى التحديات. رواتبهم بالكاد تغطي فواتيرهم  في أوطانهم وفصل الشتاء على الابواب. فإن كل شيء صغير تساهم به  قد يساعدهم بشكل كبير. اليوم على تويتر تلقيت الكثير من الاقتراحات الواردة أدناه. سامحوني إذا كنت قد نسيت أحدا.

@damoooo007 انا عن نفسي بكرة لازم اسوي شي

@almardia موضوع مهم يجب علينا نحتوي  كل العمالة الاجنبية و نقدرهم و نشعرهم انهم مرحبين مكرمين في بلادنا

@AliMuradbah evaporation neck/head coolers can be bought as low as $3, it’s a bandana that regulates body heat

@BintAlmaidan انا كل سنة بداية الشتا اشتري جاكيت و برنوص و قفاز و دلاغ احطهم بكيس و اوازعه على عمال النظافة

@sosobahrain حسبة بسيطة, لو 5000 شخص منا يقرر ان يتبرع هذا الاسبوع الى 2 من عمال النظافة في الشارع بمبلغ 5 دينار بتعم الفايدة

@ahmedyandy اقترح نسوي حملة على تويتر نختار هاش تاق و نحدد فعاليات.. مثلا يوم الخميس نوزع قفافيز يبيعونهم على 4 دينار 50 حبه

@Lamsat_999 ممكن بعد قسائم لشراء الملابس الشتوية من محلات لمحدودي الدخل

@RashadAlwahaj buy from ISA Town Souq, training suits, gloves, socks, hats, etc put each set in a bag and put it all in the trunk when you see a worker wearing light clothes when it gets cold just give him one bag

@143Bhr we can ask the restaurants to distribute after prayers in mosques or temples and churches where they gather

@AhmedAlammadi اليوم اي عامل نجوفه نبتسم له و نعظيه دينار او نص دينار

@SalmanYousif I’m in walla they deserve it those poor workers in participating in Bahrain prosperity

@Coloy222 I like the idea, please I will be in if you will do anything

@ahmedmohd1980 المفروض نعمم ثقافة الصدقة يعني الكل المفروض يخلي خرادي في سيارته و اي عامل فقير يساعده

@MonaBahlool والله المفروض نوزع عليهم اكل و نكتب لهم شكرا بلغاتهم

@bint_almuharrq يكسرون الخاطر شذنبهم اهمه الي هدوا ديرتهم و اهاليهم لاجل يخدمونا على مبلغ تافع مايوفي نص الي تعبوا عليه

@BINHERZ شغلتين بسيطتين تحقق الهدف: مبادرتهم بتحية ذات ابتسامة صادقة و تمكين امن البلد ليكون حقيقة بدل زيف الشعارات والتصريحات

أود أن أشكر الجميع على مساهماتهم، فإنه يظهر حقا روح الخيرية المعروفة جيدا في البحرينيين.

الخطة

الخطة عباره عن الدعوة لكل بحريني ان يبذل كل ما في وسعه لان يشارك ولو بالقليل من وقته و ماله لرسم البسمه على وجه عامل في خدمة هذا الوطن. في مراحلها الأولى تكون الخطة بسيطة وتتسم باللامركزية. لن تكون هناك اي متابعه فقط بعض الصور حتى تشجع وتلهم الاخرين للمشاركة.

ملاحظة: يرجى التأكد من أن تأخذ إذن العامل قبل نشر الصورة!

المرحلة 1: بطاقات شكر

•  نشر بطاقات الشكر بشكل مكثف من خلال تويتر، الفيسبوك، انستقرام، بي بي ام  وعلى ال واتساب
• والفكره هي ابتكار بطاقات وتصميم كما يحلو لكم,بالاضافه الى هدية صغيره تقدم الى اي عامل في مكان العل او متجول في الشارع
• كل شخص يلتقط صورة للعامل مع البطاقة ونشرها على تويتر / الفيسبوك / انستقرام / اخرى

المرحلة 2: حملات شهري تحت شعار مختار

طوال الشهر، يجب على كل شخص يرغب في المشاركة شراء مايناسب شعار الحمله لهذا الشهر المحدد.ويتم التوزيع على العمال في أحيائهم، وتوثيقة مع صورة ونشره على وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي.

• ديسمبر: طهي طعام اظافي للغداء أو العشاء وحزمة صحيا  للتعليب وللتوزيع.
• يناير: كل شخص يذهب لشراء أي شيء يمكن ان يخطر على باله لمساعدة العامل ليبقى دافئا في الشتاء, وتوزيع في أحيائهم.
• فبراير: شراء بطاقات شحن للاتصال وتوزيعه على العمال.

(استنادا إلى نجاح أول 3 أشهر، سيتم إضافة غيره من الشهور)

المرحلة 3: الطموحات المستقبليه

• إقامة اتصالات مع أصحاب العمل الذين لديهم الكثير من العمال والاتفاق على  انواع الفعاليات  الممكنة في المعسكرات السكنية الخاصة بهم.
• الحصول على تقدير تكلفة فعاليه واحده على الاقل لتشمل ما يلي:

1. وجبات الطعام
2. البرامج الترفيهية

• البحث عن رعاة!
• جمع  اكبر عدد ممكن من المتطوعين.

هذه الخطة هي في شكل مبدأي و مفتوحة للاقتراحات وتحتاج الى الكثير من الالتزام. آمل أن نتمكن من الحصول على اكبرعدد ممكن من الناس للمشاركه لأنها سوف تحدث تأثيراً كبيرا في تجربة هؤلاء العمال المتواضع في البحرين الحبيبة.

شكر خاص للأخ احمد @ahmedyandy لتزويدي بالترجمة بشكل مستعجل..

    ----------------------------------------

#LaborersAidCampaign

Our streets are clean, our cars are washed daily and new buildings are being built each day. A thankless job that drains the soul and yet those who do it are still under-appreciated.

After the bombings of November 5^th and more suicides than one would dare to count, it has become necessary to show our appreciation to those who do the jobs and nobody else wants to do. They work very long hours doing hard labor, no complaints and hardly any rest… all they want and deserve in return is a little respect and appreciation.

We can go the extra mile as they have many needs. Salaries hardly pay their bills back home and winter is coming. Every small thing we can contribute will help them in a big way. Today on twitter I received a lot of suggestions listed below (please forgive me if I forgot anybody):

@damoooo007 انا عن نفسي بكرة لازم اسوي شي

@almardia موضوع مهم يجب علينا نحتوي  كل العمالة الاجنبية و نقدرهم و نشعرهم انهم مرحبين مكرمين في بلادنا

@AliMuradbah evaporation neck/head coolers can be bought as low as $3, it’s a bandana that regulates body heat

@BintAlmaidan انا كل سنة بداية الشتا اشتري جاكيت و برنوص و قفاز و دلاغ احطهم بكيس و اوازعه على عمال النظافة

@sosobahrain حسبة بسيطة, لو 5000 شخص منا يقرر ان يتبرع هذا الاسبوع الى 2 من عمال النظافة في الشارع بمبلغ 5 دينار بتعم الفايدة

@ahmedyandy اقترح نسوي حملة على تويتر نختار هاش تاق و نحدد فعاليات.. مثلا يوم الخميس نوزع قفافيز يبيعونهم على 4 دينار 50 حبه

@Lamsat_999 ممكن بعد قسائم لشراء الملابس الشتوية من محلات لمحدودي الدخل

@RashadAlwahaj buy from ISA Town Souq, training suits, gloves, socks, hats, etc put each set in a bag and put it all in the trunk when you see a worker wearing light clothes when it gets cold just give him one bag

@143Bhr we can ask the restaurants to distribute after prayers in mosques or temples and churches where they gather

@AhmedAlammadi اليوم اي عامل نجوفه نبتسم له و نعظيه دينار او نص دينار

@SalmanYousif I’m in walla they deserve it those poor workers in participating in Bahrain prosperity

@Coloy222 I like the idea, please I will be in if you will do anything

@ahmedmohd1980 المفروض نعمم ثقافة الصدقة يعني الكل المفروض يخلي خرادي في سيارته و اي عامل فقير يساعده

@MonaBahlool والله المفروض نوزع عليهم اكل و نكتب لهم شكرا بلغاتهم

@bint_almuharrq يكسرون الخاطر شذنبهم اهمه الي هدوا ديرتهم و اهاليهم لاجل يخدمونا على مبلغ تافع مايوفي نص الي تعبوا عليه

@BINHERZ شغلتين بسيطتين تحقق الهدف: مبادرتهم بتحية ذات ابتسامة صادقة و تمكين امن البلد ليكون حقيقة بدل زيف الشعارات والتصريحات

I wish to thank everyone for their contributions; it really shows the charitable spirit for which Bahrainis are well known.

The Plan

The plan is a call of action to our fellow Bahrainis to do what they can within their power. At its early stages, the plan will be simple and decentralized. No tracking will be done except photo documentation to inspire more people to participate.

Note: Please ensure you take the worker’s permission to publish their photo first!

Stage 1: Thank you cards

• Thank you cards spread virally through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, BBM and WhatsApp
• The idea is for people to print as many cards as they wish, add a small gift and give it to a worker they know or one that they pass by in the street. 
• Each person to take a picture of the worker with their card and post on Twitter/ Facebook/ Instagram

Stage 2: Monthly themed campaigns

Throughout the month, each person willing to participate must buy the item for that specific month, distribute to the workers in their neighborhoods, and document with a photo posted on social media channels.

•  December: cook extra food for lunch or dinner and pack hygienically for distribution
• January: Each person to buy anything they can think of to help the workers stay warm in the winter and distribute in their neighborhoods
• February: buy calling cards for distribution

(based on success of first 3 months, other months will be added)

Stage 3: on-premises events

• Establish contact with the large employers of laborers and agree on what kind of events are possible in their labor camps.
• Obtain a cost estimate for at least one event to include food, entertainment and sports activities
• Find sponsors!
• Get as many volunteers as possible

This plan is in draft format, open to suggestions and needs a lot of commitment. I hope we can get as many people engaged as possible as it will make a big difference in the experience of these humble workers in our beloved Bahrain.

I would like to thank @ahmedyandy for doing the Arabic translation on very short notice!

In memory of Seema...

It’s been a while since I have written anything, partly for lack of time, partly for fear of being redundant and partly because I am usually only able to write when something affects me in a profound manner.  And while there have been too many profound incidents that we have gone through politically since my last post that should have been “bloggable” I guess I was too busy or too clueless to write.

However, nothing since then has reached so far into the deep ends of my soul as the sorry demise of our dear sister Seema Al Bastaki.  It might have been that I met her twice- however briefly; it might be because I can relate to her and empathize with her family and especially her little boy and unborn child.  Somehow her story has reached the core of my being and I am unable to rest until I’ve written something in her honor… even though I don’t really know her.

But this is what I have been reading all day on Twitter on the 19th of March 2012.  Twitter was all about Seema and Bahrain was either donating blood or praying for Seema until the sad news hit us all like that unexpected accident where a car came out of nowhere and we weren’t wearing our seatbelts.  Like the pothole you do not see on the road and all of a sudden you trip and fall and scrape your knee.  Like a freak accident that you would not think can happen in a million years that makes you lose a limb… Seema didn’t make it.

We didn’t know Seema alive but we all know her now in our own little way…

To me Seema is the one that united Bahrain- even if for an instance- she brought back the spirit of true Bahrainis who would not hesitate for a moment to reach out and lend a helping hand to a complete stranger.

To me Seema is every mother and every daughter that I will encounter and appreciate a little more now that I know life is but a short transit to an unknown permanent destination.

To me Seema is a symbol of how life could have been lived and what legacy one could leave… and she has left a legacy…

To me she is a reminder of how someone you love can be there one day and with a blink of an eye may no longer be.

Seema will always remind me that worrying about the weather, my hair, where will I go for dinner over the weekend and what brand bag I will buy are shallow thoughts that make a small person out of me.

To me Seema is an awakening…

So no I did not know Seema alive… I met her only twice briefly and I loved her both times. I just didn’t know that until the 19th of March 2012 because she reminded me of what I am, and what I could be, and what a loss of this magnitude could mean for the people around me. And even though I have no power over how long I can be with the people I love, I can do my best to honor them by being the best person I could be to Allah, to them and to my country…

RIP Seema

Response to European Parliament Resolution on Bahrain

This post is in response to the resolution issued by the European Parliament against Bahrain on October 27, 2011. Please click here for the original resolution.

The Bahraini government has tolerated month long protests and marches that have not complied with the laws of the country nor were they aligned with the international human rights standards in which some individuals of the opposition claim membership.  These marches involved hindering traffic denying people the right to access, engaging children in protests during school hours as well as a teachers' boycott which denied children the right to education, attempts to scare away investment by engaging directly with international businesses and foreign entities, campaigning to cause damage to the national economy by scaring away visitors to exhibitions and events and worst of all violence against security forces and civilians all over Bahrain leading to serious injuries and some fatalities.

Read more: Abusing Human Rights in Bahrain by Brave-Bahrain.

As a result of the dissidence the government had to take strict measures to ensure that perpetrators of such actions are brought to justice especially after confidence in the legal system has declined considerably in the eyes of the rest if the citizens of Bahrain.  The government was forced to investigate anyone and everyone who participated in the unrest in order to find the main perpetrators and lay down the hand of the law.  Many of the groups cited in this resolution have long been eliminated from the list of suspects and subsequently released and those who remain are people who have strong evidence against them for major crimes and are awaiting their trials. Many people have been exonerated through fair legal proceedings and others have been released and are awaiting their court dates.  Rest assured that those who have not yet been released are held based on strong evidence and eye witness accounts. 

Calling the demonstrators "peaceful" is a misnomer that Bahrain has tolerated long enough.  Ample footage has shown premeditation and intent in the most disturbing manner in their hate crimes against expatriates and naturalized citizens.  Their crimes continue until this day spilling oil on highways which have caused serious accidents, barricading roads with metal and blocks and even stretching chains across highways close to these oil spills to cause major damage to speeding vehicles.

With regards to the alleged repression by security forces it is imperative that observers understand that no legal marches have faced interference from the authorities so long as they complied with the law and maintained order.   However, on many occasions these protests have violated the penal code pertaining to unauthorized gatherings and gatherings with the intent of violence.

Please refer to the Penal Code on the ministry of justice website. 

Orders to cease these gatherings have ended in protesters hurling rocks, molotovs and/or paint bottles at security vehicles which forced the police to make arrests.  These arrests have in turn faced resistance and ended up in force.

Doctors, teachers and others who got arrested had ample evidence from videos to pictures to eye witnesses and most on charges of inciting hatred to the ruling family, deliberately using media to damage the reputation of the country and encouraging violence as you will read in the penal code.  Here we emphasize unequivocally that THERE ARE NO POLITICAL PRISONERS IN BAHRAIN.

When the government lays down the hand of the law as the ultimate authority to protect the peace and stability of its land and the security of its people in a much more lenient way than Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States where dogs and batons were used and hundreds of arrests were made it is hardly justified to "condemn" such actions when you are guilty of them yourself.

It is of utmost importance to note that the authorities did not resort to such measures before exhausting all other avenues.  The government of Bahrain has proactively and repeatedly requested for dialogue with the opposition parties starting from the Crown Prince's sudden appearance on national television calling for calm and dialogue and ending in the Bahrain National Dialogue which Al Wefaq opposition party has deserted after the second round and discounted as fake.  Prisoners held for political reasons in the past have been released in an effort to meet one of the opposition's main demands and the releases continued even during the crisis when criminals were allowed to await their sentences at home despite the severity of their crimes. People who have been terminated from their jobs are being reinstated as we speak and the doctors are being given civil trials to ensure fair due process and have now had all major charges dropped reducing their offences to misdemeanors even though we have seen them on pictures and videos leading marches calling for the fall of the regime and allowing chaos to befall our largest hospital complex. In a bigger step towards ensuring human rights are preserved and compensation given to those violated, the King has deployed the Bahrain Independent Commission for Investigation to launch a widespread investigation of alleged violations during the unrest and their report is due to be released on 23 November.

In closing we, the people of Bahrain, are of the conviction that this resolution has been biased, built on misinformation and has not considered the achievements that have been made thus far by the government.  It has completely ignored a large portion of Bahrain which has gathered to prove its existence but more importantly its denial of the atrocities that have befallen this island and its insistence on reform as an the political solution to the discourse in Bahrain instead of a complete system change.

Furthermore, we are indeed outraged at the harshness of the statements on Bahrain while you have been extremely lenient on the Syrian regime which has claimed the lives of dozens each day and committed atrocities that have been seen and reported by the world; Syria which has defied every call to stop the violence and has threatened the region with war in case of external interference; Syria which stepped all over every human rights law that has ever existed…

Further to this statement, we the people of Bahrain demand the European Parliament to

• Revisit information gathering channels as they are obviously flawed and one-sided
• Study the situation in greater depth and understand its dimensions
• Acknowledge the positive moves made by the Bahraini government and the measures it has taken to ensure that all that have been wronged are compensated
• Acknowledge approximately half the population of Bahrain who disapprove this so-called revolution and instead call for reform through civilized dialogue
• Issue a statement against the violence and vandalism incited by the main opposition bloc in Bahrain (Al Wefaq Society)
• Issue a correction to the resolution on Human Rights in Bahrain of 27^th October 2011 bearing in mind all of the above.

Bahrain By-Elections Extravaganza

Over the course of the week of September 18 Bahrain’s social networks, and especially Twitter, were bustling with activity as the Feb14 Youth announce their plan to return to what was once GCC Roundabout otherwise known as Lulu Roundabout or Martyrs Square.  For the first time since the February/ March crisis, I saw Bahrain’s loyalists unite in an effort to prevent yet another occupation of Bahrain’s financial district and counter all the moves made by Feb14.

#Tawkalkarama – Wednesday, 21 September 2011

Earlier in the week, the Feb14 youth announced what they described to be a peaceful form of protest called Dignity Belt which called for all protesters to drive around the most highly used main roads leading to the financial district of Bahrain until the roads are completely frozen with traffic congestion.  The aim of this move was to prevent people from reaching their workplace, prevent customers from reaching businesses and ultimately cause major financial damage to the economy.  It was their belief that this move will push businesses to exert pressure on the government to step down and at the same time it was their first move towards returning to their Lulu shrine…

However, the night before the event, Bahrain loyalists stepped up and filled Twitter with calls to counter the event and ensure that businesses do open.  Counter measures included leaving home at 6 in the morning to reach offices before 7am which was the proposed kickoff time for Dignity Belt.  The #Tawkalkarama hash tag was filled with our tweets and morale was high and excitement levels peaked on Wednesday morning when people actually did wake up bright and early and tweets about reaching work went viral while traffic reports on Twitter and Bahrain Television showed just a little more than usual traffic save for the bit of congestion around half way through the event on Shaikh Khalifa highway leading into Manama caused by the extra precautionary measures taken by the traffic police to ensure the inner roads of Manama are not infiltrated by saboteurs.

By 10am everybody was already busy at work while tweets from the opposition were spreading pictures of what appeared to be traffic but in reality could be normal congestion during the morning rush hour of a typical Bahraini weekday.  Associated Press released an article stating that Dignity Belt has reduced Bahrain traffic to a “crawl” which might have had some credibility to the average idiot had they not released this article on SEPTEMBER 20^TH!!  MSNBC and Al Jazeera then took the same article and posted it on their sites and that was about all the coverage they got in their favor.  CNN on the other hand in an unprecedented move called the event a complete failure.

Little victories were claimed that day by the Feb14 Youth. That bit of congestion on that one highway and the heightened security were claimed to be their triumphs over the regime that day. The fact that they caused panic among their fellow Bahrainis was another. One can see that these triumphs were petty and foolish considering the malicious intent towards the other inhabitants of this island.

Thursday, 22^nd September 2011

The victory experienced by Bahrain’s loyalists on Wednesday has created high levels of participation on the social networks and the counter tweets on the opposition hashtags have reached their highest levels. Increased participation on the opposition's hash tags in an effort to be heard have began bearing fruit and that alone has caused many people to stay home and monitor and participate on all channels.

The Stream hosted Al Wefaq former MP Mattar Mattar and opposite him Dr. Saqer Al Khalifa, Media Attache to the Bahraini Embassy in the United States.  Everyone was tweeting their hearts out to the show asking questions and posting comments and supporting their preferred guest.  Another triumph was recorded there when Mattar Mattar found himself no match to Dr. Saqer who communicated with extreme clarity and sense while Mattar mumbled his way through the interview.

#lulureturn – Friday, 23^rd September 2011

It was the day everyone was dreading; a day of the first real threat that protesters would go back to the site of GCC roundabout.  The determination on the #lulureturn hash tag was a telling sign that they mean business.  Calls for all to “die for Bahrain” meant they were determined enough to defy the security forces and get killed doing it.

Most of us were worried that in the middle of all the anticipated confusion and the presumed defiance of authorities that police would have to use force to turn back the protesters.  In our worst fears, there would be thousands charging towards the police and that victims may fall and we’d all go back to square one.

Starting from Thursday and throughout Friday morning we have done all we can to counter the opposition tweets on the #lulureturn hash tag and at the same time anticipating the announcement of zero hour when they would all “crawl” towards the site of Al Farooq junction.

At about 4pm, I received a call from my friend telling me that protests have broken out at the City Center Mall where she was just finishing lunch with her family. She described the scene to be around 200 people marching at the ground floor of the mall when others afraid of violence breaking out went upstairs for safety.  She took a few pictures for me to post on Twitter and as she tried to take a video of what was going on downstairs she got nudged by a man who turned out to be part of a group who were motioning to the protesters downstairs and directing their movements.

Later on there were reports of some of the protesters attacking Al Arabiya journalist, Mohammed Al Arab who was there with his crew to film a documentary about the elections in Bahrain when they were surprised by a group of men attacking them and stealing their camera which to this day has not yet been recovered.

My friend reported a mad panic among people on the top floor who were shocked that their day out was interrupted by these protests and terrified that violence might break out. Mothers and children were screaming, some even fainted and some of the children were separated from their families amidst all the commotion.

Eventually the top floor filled up with patriotic Bahrainis and loyal GCC citizens who frequent Bahrain on weekends. They gathered at the rail and in their rage while hearing calls for the fall of HRH the King they found themselves chanting “the People want Khalifa Bin Salman!” at the top of their lungs drowning the noise coming from below.  What a proud moment that must have been for them knowing that there was indeed something that they could do to retaliate without resorting to violent clashes and thus making their stance loud and clear.

Moments later anti riots police arrived and quickly dispersed the crowd arresting a number of men and women. Those that got away had their faces plastered all over national TV and almost immediately afterwards faces were identified and their names were circulating all over Twitter and Blackberry Messenger.

Meanwhile attempts to reach Al Farooq junction were futile and all diversion tactics were completely useless.  Protests were again confined to the villages and security forces did a great job keeping people away from the Seef/ Manama area.  Road blocks became necessary in order to ensure a tight perimeter around the area which cause some traffic jams.

As I commented on Friday’s incident I was shocked to see people actually defending the blatant act of terrorizing families and disturbing their weekend and possibly traumatizing their children.  I got tweets telling me, “good now you know how it feels to be us” and “how could the police arrest women who were protesting peacefully??” and even worse ones like “how could they enjoy themselves knowing there are children with nothing to eat because their father got sacked??” Apparently, we all deserve to be miserable because they are unable to understand the concept of actions and consequences.

Victories claimed that day: excess traffic.

#BHelection – Saturday, September 24, 2011

New threats to “crawl” towards “Lulu” were observed on Twitter. More determination and will seemed to be filling the #lulureturn hash tag but the numbers seemed to be diminishing. On the other hand, the #BHelection hash tag was witnessing a tug of war of tweets some sending their recipients on guilt trips should they go to the polling stations and many others encouraging constituents to vote.

To proactively counter efforts to reach “lulu” roadblocks were set up by the police to prevent the people from the most troublesome areas from attempting to reach Al Farooq junction. Much traffic was caused on this day all for the purpose of keeping people safe and polling stations free of vandals.

A new hash tag used by the opposition called #Safroha (meaning “make it zero” in reference to the elections turnout percentage) inspired by the very hate inspiring speech of Ali Salman on Thursday.  Calls to boycott the elections have started long ago but were intensified this weekend. Constant reminders that the blood of the martyrs is on their shoulders if they voted or that they will be a black mark in the history books if they disobeyed the order.  Al Wefaq went as far as circulating a Fatwa by Iraqi cleric Al Ghoraifi forbidding them from voting.

At the same time, live coverage on TV showed a lot of foot traffic at the polling stations especially at the mall and airport and eye witnesses on Twitter were reporting a strong turnout.  The news came towards the end of the day that the turnout was around 51% as Ali Salman of Al Wefaq claims no more than 15% and the elation of the loyalists could not be contained; they could finally see the fruits of their labor and hope has been restored that Bahrain will come out of this safer and stronger than ever.

Victories claimed that day: more traffic congestion.

The events that unfolded starting from the 21^st until the 24^th of September were a clear strategy from Al Wefaq to hinder the democratic process in Bahrain and prevent people from voting on Saturday. Masked by the pretense of Feb 14 Youth, these acts of desperation stemming from the fact that the world has started to see through the movement and understand that it is not the majority of Bahrain who are opposed to the government; that this hyped up, over exaggerated, sectarian so-called revolution is nothing more than an attempt to gain power through stepping all over everyone else’s freedoms including that of their own followers.

The events of this weekend have unfortunately increased the divide in Bahrain… As people were just resuming their lives and rebuilding relations with their fellow Bahrainis what was now proved to be a small minority of people have gone and broken all the bridges that have been built over the past period since February 14.  Encroaching upon other people’s freedoms, trying to pull Bahrain back towards an ugly cold civil war and causing distress and anxiety are not characteristics of a peaceful political reform movement.

On the other hand, many have started to find the right path and have broken away from this destructive minority.  People went to vote and most did not succumb to the calls for the return to “Lulu” and the democratic process was determined to continue to thrive and grow in Bahrain with or without Al Wefaq and their puppets.

Nouf

How 1 Bahrain Became 7

It's been a while since I've written anything, partly because I've been busy at work and unable to find the time or inspiration to write anything meaningful and partly because what I've been hearing, reading and seeing (sometimes even smelling) has just exacerbated the stress and writer's block I've been having lately.

Daily riots and demonstrations have become business as usual in Bahrain and I can't help but think, "when were they ever NOT?" We have always had the occasional burning tire or the frequent demonstration until it was recently called "the land of the million marches". But recently it has reach ridiculous proportions. Those constant promises of returning to the promised land and consequently ruining every possible happy occasion you can think of have raised the hate guage to maximum levels and hostilities have increased exponentially on social media. And the trouble is it is no longer just two groups of people fighting to impose their views on one another but each of these groups now has several groups within themselves...

So many categories of people have arisen with each side representing a new school of thought (sarcastically speaking) with their initial affiliation still intact.

1. The hard-core loyalists: these are the people who would give their left eye for the ruling family and primarily the Prime Minister. To them the government is always right even when it's not. They abhor the opposition of all kinds and with no exceptions.

2. The conditional loyalists: They are hard-core loyalists until the government does any positive move towards bringing tensions down that might have the smell of leaning towards pleasing the opposition however minuscule it may be... And then they turn to sarcasm and condemnation and will criticize the government till their heart's content.

3. The loyalist opposition: they have pledged full allegiance to the Government but if they see an opportunity for improvement they will voice it out even if it goes against what the government's wishes. They are often called the positive opposition because they believe in keeping and reforming the existing system rather than the toppling calls of some other categories. They attempt to make sense of the government's moves possibly for their own peace of mind but mostly to calm down the previous group and to prove good will to the world.

4. The reformists: they try not to cloud their purpose with any sort of loyalty but rather focus on political and social reforms whoever they may serve. They believe that they have the best interests of Bahrain in mind and as a result manage to anger both sides of the spectrum even though they don't intend to. They also refer to themselves as "moderates".

5. The moderate opposition: they are a confused bunch; while they vehemently support the Feb14 movement which calls for the fall of the "regime" they have been seen to oppose some of their practices but some think they only do so to appear moderate. They never praise anything good that comes out of the government and they hardly ever comment on the illegal actions of the destructive opposition and even defend them at times. But they're moderates by self proclamation so let's leave it at that.

6. The negative opposition: this is where most of the opposition societies and human rights activists fall. They are the puppet masters behind the movement and have launched a full-fledged cold war against the government with the sole aim of seeing it removed from power. Their war is made up mostly of negative publicity and economic destruction and they will lie through their teeth to achieve their objective.

7. The destructive opposition: this is the rogue group thought at first to be the small fraction that has hijacked the original protests and caused all the violence at the beginning. But now we see that it is a disease that has spread throughout the opposition villages causing daily destruction and violence against property, civilians and police. They often come out at night masked and hardly clothed. They burn tires and blow up gas cylinders and throw bricks at policemen. They graffiti property and burn schools and run over policemen with their cars. These people have completely lost their sense of purpose and have taken the streets as their home and have become immune to tear gas.

So with this 7-point scale If each person in Bahrain assesses him/herself according to their "school of thought" what will the demographics of this conflict look like? What if instead of Sunni/Shia statistics, we could fall under one of these categories and see who "wins" the numbers game? Obviously the answer is NOBODY.

Loyalists have turned against each other and have lost sight of the big picture. Where the ultimate objective of the loyalists or "pro-govs" as we are often called was to restore confidence and stability to Bahrain and basically bring it back to the peaceful and quiet island it always was, the groupings have obstructed their visions and different groups started having different objectives. The focus has completely been lost and instead of all of us pulling into the same direction, we started pulling in different directions and as a result weakening our position in the eyes of the world.

All the while, and even though the opposition has also broken up into different categories, they are still aligned in their goals. They still know what they want and they are using each others strengths to achieve it. Their messages to the world have been consistent and they have never lost sight of the ends they have been trying to reach however much they may disagree with the means.

Dear categories 1 to 3 and even 4: our cause is a good one. We are the non-violent peaceful parties, we keep our neighborhoods clean and our walls free of graffiti and our tires on our cars instead of burning in the middle of some road. We never hit anyone with Molotov cocktails or bricks and we certainly didn't lay down any metal rods and spikes and spilled oil on roads to cause harm to others. We did not lie or distort facts or kill each other to prove our point. We didn't plot for coup attempts for decades and we did not commit 1000 legal and social violations like stop teaching our kids or leave our patients to go out to protest or turn our schools into political arenas and we certainly didn't set out to cause major material harm to Bahrain's economy.

It's time to realign and refocus and be more consistent. It is time for people all over the world to remember the newly awakened Giant and the force behind the number. The Gathering Of National Unity is more than just Sh. Abdullatif Al Mahmood or a name registered now as a political society. It is what brought us together and put our voices out there in the first place and the spirit is what needs to be kept alive.

And I pray for the day when 1 to 7 become ONE...

Nouf

Bahrain's Sectarian Divide

Bahrain today is witnessing a spark of a sectarian conflict of a larger scale than anticipated.  What was thought to be a random act of vandalism has been reciprocated and tensions are mounting in fear of a full blown civil war.

Our opposition is known for the destructive effect they have on property so it is not very strange to see their graffiti on the walls of houses and buildings. However, it was a shock for all of us to see that they have such little respect for mosques when the residents of roundabout 19 in Hamad Town woke up to this:

"Down with Hamad" written on the steps of a Sunni Mosque

"Down with Hamad" written on the door of the same mosque

And as we went on and on condemning, denouncing and judging these activities, we woke up the next day to this:

"response to the attack on roundabout 19" writen on a Shi'a mosque

"Down with Khamena'i, Down with Isa Qassim" written on the fence of the same mosque

The fact that such incident occurred in Bahrain was shocking enough but its enormity is magnified by two phenomena: 1) that people decided to take matters into their own hands and have completely lost faith in the authorities; 2) that we have entered a phase of in-kind retaliation.

"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and he who has begun is to blame" is a Quranic excerpt and a religious edict that has been the subject of utmost attention throughout this conflict when people demanded that the full extent of Shari'a law be observed when dealing with "traitors to the country". And when the death penalty was delayed and prisoners released and policemen detained people have lost faith in the justice system and as a result decided to take matters into their own hands...

Many of us are now fearful of a deeper sectarian rift that could tear this tiny island apart. While it was alleged that the second incident was conducted by a member of the same mosque the fact still remains that there are forces trying to create a conflict that may draw us towards civil war.

One can only pray now that this will be the extent of it... Just an isolated incident never to repeat itself...

When I wrote that last sentence it was still august 20th.

On august 21st, a Shi'a religious procession was due to take place (as usual). It starts from Matam Karimi and passes through Muharraq Souq which is known to be a busy place all year round and more so now since Eid is just around the corner. The Sunni street would not accept for that procession to take place for several reasons the most prominent of which is the fear of it turning into a political rally and causing further clashes with the police.

So they gathered at the Souq initially intending to ensure that the procession does not go off its authorized course but later on when a few individuals started shouting political chants and afterwards a few women exchanged "unpleasantries" with some of the male bystanders, the whole scene became tense and turned into a display of muscle.

Twitter was bustling with pride for the Sunni heroes who have gone to defend Muharraq from turning into a scene of a political rally and from the other side denouncing the effort of the Sunni population in denying the Shi'as from performing their religious rituals. It was a scene that many of us had been trying to avoid ever since Feb14 as sectarian tensions kept mounting.

To me, many forces are to blame for the incident of August 21st; on the one hand, the Sunni population had had to endure silencing their mosques for years while Shi'a rituals have been allowed to chant using loud speakers with no restrictions. There was a video circulating showing a group of people in one of the processions chanting about "driving the riot police mad" and "down Hamad" which is exactly why there was this need to defend their turf.

Please click here to view the video that does not has enraged many many Bahrainis and caused a general fear of what might happen during the coming rituals and processions.

On the other hand, many Sunnis have become vocal about their hatred towards Shi'as and are publicly disrespecting the whole sect. A lot of derogatory words have been thrown around, many that I have never heard of before...

It is a sad scene to witness for someone like me who has lived through Bahrain's best times and now has to live through its worst. We have never been so divided. I didn’t know the difference between Sunna and Shi’a until I went into college and even then it really didn’t matter. I fear for a deeper sectarian division that mirrors Iraq’s and Lebanon’s and many other countries torn by racial and religious conflicts. If only we could learn from other people’s pasts and break away from what seems to be an inevitable trend. But for that to happen there is a dire need for moderate leadership among the ranks; this sensible voice that tells us that what we're doing is foolish and detrimental and guide us towards rebuilding and cleansing instead of destroying and desecrating.

Cherif Bassiouni's response to Nabeel Rajab

Dear friends,

I just wanted to share with you a letter that Nabeel Rajab has sent to Cherif Bassiouni accusing him of basically not doin his job with integrity and with it I attach Bassiouni's response which made me want to give him a standing ovation...

I want to draw particular attention to the language of Rajab's letter and if you have ever heard him on TV you will quickly discover that there is no way he could have written this himself. I'll leave the pondering up to you...

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Nabeel's letter (which was published on the BCHR website)

 http://bahrainrights.hopto.org/en/node/4491 

09 Aug 2011
Open Letter:

Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni
Commission Chair, Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Dear Sir,

Subject: Your interview with Reuters on 5 August 2011

Your appointment to the independent commission tasked with investigating recent human right abuses in Bahrain was encouraging news for all those involved in the field of human rights. It is, therefore, with deep disappointment and regret that we at the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) read your recent comments. The comments suggest that, without completing anywhere near a full investigation, you are willing to espouse the view of the political establishment whilst paying lip-service to the concept of a fair and independent enquiry.

This is all the more surprising as your hasty comments contradict a vast range of published reports by well respected human rights groups who have spent time and resources investigating the situation in Bahrain. Indeed, your comments that “there was never a policy of excessive use of force” in Bahrain contrasts grimly with the news, published just days before, of an armed raid on the offices of Médecins Sans Frontières by the Bahraini authorities. Claims of torture by detainees are so widespread that it is hard to believe that they were carried out by a few bad eggs within the security forces.

Countless reports catalogue a range of human rights abuses which targeted specific segments of society, most notably medical workers. The well respected human rights group, Physicians for Human Rights, published a thorough report which detailed the systematic persecution of medical workers. Such organised, wide scale discrimination strongly indicates the collusion of high ranking government officials and renders your initial judgment that such abuses were “a case of people at the lower level acting, and there not being an effective chain of communication, control" premature and, potentially, extremely damaging to the credibility of the commission.

Even if we were to accept the extremely unlikely situation that the Minister of Interior (as currently suggested by you) was unaware of the actions of lower level government officials, Bahrain is still subject to the obligations outlined in the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment which requires it, in Article 16, to prevent acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment when such acts are committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. Bahrain has clearly failed to maintain its obligations under this Convention.

Your current views seem to be based on a range of false assumptions. Most notably, that “it’s totally untrue that people are afraid of coming forward”. These comments are surprising, as those interviewed by the commission thus far are not representative of the vast range of people affected by the governmental crackdown on protestors. We are aware of a number of individuals who, initially subjected to torture, have since been subjected to further torture as punishment (and as a warning to others) for speaking out about the treatment they received. Whilst we, and a number of other organisations, are strongly encouraging individuals to come forward and speak to the commission about their treatment, the off-hand comments of the commission are insulting to those who have suffered, and continue to suffer, under the policies of the current regime and discourage participation in the commission’s investigation.

These concerns lead us to seriously question the legitimacy of this commission and its ultimate findings. You appear to have accepted without question the assertions of the government as to the number of political prisoners, the treatment they received and the governments “willingness” to rectify the mistakes of “rogue” individuals within the government framework. Because the Ministry of the Interior is ‘extraordinarily willing’ to listen to the commission, it does not follow that there was not a systematic policy of violence. This argument is a non-sequitur and questionable at best.

This defies the very objective of the commission; to reach an independent and impartial conclusion as to the human rights abuses committed in Bahrain and the cause of such abuses. Recent news regarding the release of prisoners, whilst encouraging, should in no way subtract from the commission’s stated goal.

Nabeel Rajab
President
Bahrain center for Human Rights
09 Aug 2011

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Cherif Bassiouni's response:
 
Reply of the Head of the Bahraini Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) to the BCHR Open Letter


August 9, 2011
Mr. Nabeel Rajab
President
Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Dear Mr. Rajab,

Thank you for your letter of August 9, which states your concerns with the work, but more so the integrity, of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI).

1. The BICI does not espouse the government’s views or any other views. The statement I made was that so far we have received the cooperation of the Ministry of Interior, and that is borne out by the facts. I am attaching a self-explanatory statement that will soon be posted on the Commission’s website.

This allegation insults the Commissioners and staff who are working 14 to 16 hours a day to serve the cause of human rights in Bahrain. All of us have well-established records in the field of human rights and this speaks for itself. We are neither bought by nor at the service of anyone. We are at the service of human rights and will continue to act as such.

2. There is no doubt that there have been a large number of reported cases of human rights violations which include: deaths, torture and physical mistreatment, arbitrary arrests and detentions, wrongful dismissal of public and private sector employees, suspension of students and termination of scholarships, destruction of mosques, and destruction of private property. As we now know it, 35 people have been killed, and one is too many. We estimate from the more than 900 emails and 200 complaints, as well as interviews with over 300 victims and witnesses, that the possible number of physical abuse and torture may well reach into the hundreds, but we still do not have a complete picture of these violations. We need the cooperation of everyone in order to ascertain that information.

3. Once we have concluded our investigations, it will be possible to determine whether such a large number of violations are the product of “state or organizational policy” (see the definition of crimes against humanity in the ICC’s Art. 7, para. 2; see also M. Cherif Bassiouni, Crimes Against Humanity: Historical Evolution and Contemporary Application (Cambridge University Press, 2011). This is separate from the individual determination of individual cases of torture under the Convention Against Torture to which Bahrain is a state party. (See Nigel Rodley & Matt Pollard, The Treatment of Prisoners Under International Law (Oxford University Press, 3d ed. 2009), and M. Cherif Bassiouni, The Institutionalization of Torture by the Bush Administration (Intersentia, 2010)).

4. As a lawyer, you know that each of these crimes has separate legal elements that need to be established. Moreover, I am sure you know the legal differences between individual criminal responsibility and the responsibility of superiors, which is more difficult to establish. In particular with respect to the latter, we need to establish whether superiors in the chain of
command failed to take appropriate measures to prevent torture when they knew or should have had reason to know that torture took place. There is also command responsibility, when those in the chain of command failed to investigate and prosecute those who commit such a crime.

5. These considerations of international criminal law are not exclusive, since the Bahrain criminal code contains two provisions criminalizing torture (namely, Arts. 208 and 232). These provisions also apply with respect to torture and other forms of physical mistreatment which may be of a lesser nature, and we are not ignoring this source of national criminal responsibility. The BICI is diligently pursuing all of these leads, and it is premature at this point to reach any valid legal conclusions.

5. With all due respect to all the international human rights organizations you have mentioned, I am sure that as a lawyer you will agree that their reports are considered secondary evidence. We need to either have access to the facts upon which they reached their conclusions, or to be able to determine those facts on our own. Since we are not a human rights organization, as you yourself stated, we need to ascertain the facts not only for their broader significance, but also with a view to determining where the system went wrong, who in the system initiated wrongful policies or carried them out, and how to correct these wrongs.

6. In light of the scope of what has happened, the polarization and radicalization that exists, the climate of suspicion and distrust, and the scale of the violations claimed, I am sure you will agree that it is premature to reach any conclusions. Any focalized or limited statements such as the one I made to Reuters cannot be used as a basis for the type of generalizations to which you and others have arrived.

7. Lastly, I understand that you were interviewed in an online newspaper article today in which you claim that the BICI is not looking into the deaths of persons. This is simply incorrect and you know this, since you yourself have an appointment with the BICI to accompany witnesses with evidence concerning deaths. Furthermore, I found it disheartening that you deemed it necessary to personally attack me in that interview.

The BICI will continue its work as an impartial, fair, and neutral body dedicated to the service of human rights, irrespective of any criticism or any political perspectives that are at play. We are here for the truth and nothing but the truth. We remain open to any constructive criticism and to any constructive ideas that may improve our work, and we welcome everyone’s cooperation in the pursuit of these goals which we are all pursuing.

Trusting that you will publish this reply to give it the same publicity that you have given your open letter, and that you will see fit to continue to cooperate with us and to help us in achieving our mission. We look forward to cooperating with civic leaders like yourself to successfully accomplish our mandate.
Sincerely,

M. Cherif Bassiouni
Chair, Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry