VOICES: Bahrain – Sectarian Tensions and Foreign Misconceptions

5 Comments

1. Mohamed CJ

   August 29, 2013

   I stopped reading after “Bahrainis voted overwhelmingly for a new constitution”. Bahrainis did not vote on the constitution, they voted on the National Action Charter. The consititution was unilaterally issued by the King who gave himself more powers than any constitutional monarch I know of (he heads the army, appoints the cabinet and its ministers, appoints the upper half of Parliament and has the right to dissolve its lower half, heads the judiciary.. etc)

   The so called group “Citizens of Bahrain” is a Bahraini government PR group. You are no more than a government mouth piece defending the government paying you.

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2. Mohd Cj

   August 29, 2013

   I stopped reading after "Bahrainis voted overwhelmingly for a new constitution". Bahrainis did not vote on the constitution, they voted on the National Action Charter. The consititution was unilaterally issued by the King who gave himself more powers than any constitutional monarch I know of (he heads the army, appoints the cabinet and its ministers, appoints the upper half of Parliament and has the right to dissolve its lower half, heads the judiciary.. etc)

   The so called group "Citizens of Bahrain" is a Bahraini government PR group. You are no more than a government mouth piece defending the government paying you.

   Reply

3. saidpharmd

   August 27, 2013

   shia take over next thing kill all the sunni muslim and establish hussainiat

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4. Harry Weaver

   August 27, 2013

   I’m afraid any statement that comes from Bahraini government – either side, is suspect, while the influence of what sits in the harbour in Manamar, applying pressure on Iran is present.

   Almost everybody there knew, at the original protests at the Pearl roundabout, before the authorities destroyed it in their effort to remove a focal point for the protests, that any appeal to the King was pointless and their appeal to the Crown Prince, who enjoyed some level of popularity with the people, proved himself to be without substance and a waste of time.

   But the ultimate betrayal came through your Minister for Foreign Affairs who apparently gave approval for Saudi forces to come in and, literally, violently crush the protests. I would believe this, because a couple of weeks before the Saudi forces arrived, Defense Minister Gates, from the U.S. was in Bahrain, then went to Saudi Arabia immediately afterward. Hilary Clinton immediately followed him there. And you only have to look at a picture of the Foreign Minister to see the very picture of self indulgence.

   Anybody that was injured and went to the hospital for treatment was thrown in jail – without treatment. So was any doctor who attempted to treat them.

   There were and are *many* other examples.

   Or you are talking about another country.

   Or you work for *an interest*, because what you relate has little bearing on the reality that I know.

   Bahrain was not “coerced into revolution by radicals and outside observers”.
   It started from within, was excluded from Western media for at least twelve months until it couldn’t be suppressed any more and said media were finally forced to do their job, to the minimal extent.

   This is when the Sunni vs Shia cast was placed on the situation, by western political interests, which was never the case, because they believed that this translation on events would further isolate the eventual target, Iran.
   But anybody that knows the situation there knows this is rubbish, because any Shia that live in Bahrain have been there for generations and Bahrain is their home.

   So, you either don’t know what you are writing about, and you apparently live there, or this is a deliberate misinterpretation of events.

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   • pilly_lilly

     August 28, 2013

     Based on previous writings by members of Citizens of Bahrain I believe your second supposition to be correct. This is a deliberate misinterpretation of events.

     Reply