Middle East Focus: An Island of Sectarian Ghettos in my Gulf……………

Arabia Deserta

An Island of Sectarian Ghettos in my Gulf……………

“Supporters of the government have been clamoring for tough action all year. “The only thing the government did wrong was that it went too easy at first,” said Jamal Fakhro, a member of the Shura Council, a body appointed by the king to limit the power of the elected Parliament. “The government has taken hard measures to reinstate security and stability. The people want order.”……. The government said this week that it would no longer tolerate unrest among the Shiite majority, who make up about two-thirds of the population but are barred from many government jobs and face a chronic housing shortage. The kingdom beefed up its security forces with naturalized Sunnis, who are housed in brand new subdivisions in the island’s interior. Shiite opposition groups estimate that 65,000 to 100,000 Sunnis were added to voter rolls in the last decade as part of what they say was sectarian gerrymandering. “If the Shias took control of the country, they would pop out one eye of every Sunni in the country,” said Amed Abdallah al-Boainain, 21, a resident of Askar, a coastal settlement for Sunnis employed by the security services and the royal court. Two of his brothers work for the police, and he is applying to join them……..” New York Times
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