Category Archives: Bahrain

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Jordan, Torture, WTF

Bahrain and Jordan: Brothers in Repression and Other Things………

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF
The Bahrain Ministry of Interior (in charge of police, foreign mercenaries, baltagiya, security, prisons, torture, sexual assault, etc etc) reports that:

“His Excellency Minister of Interior Lt-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa received on Thursday Jordanian Director of Public Security Lt-General Hussain Haza Al Majali with the presence of Chief of Public Security Major-General Tariq Mubarak Bin Diana. HE Minister hailed the strong and brotherly ties between Bahrain and Jordan that were strengthen during the ruling of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and his brother His Majesty King Abdullah the Second. Security cooperation ties between the two countries were discussed, in which HE Minister highlighted the importance of such visit to expand cooperation……..”

What is this? A club of torturers are us? Bahrain is known to import security agents and interrogators and torturers from Jordan (as do the UAE and Saudi Arabia and possibly others).
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, GCC, Iraq, Mercenaries

GCC Expansion: Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Malaysia……….

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF
“Pakistan today stressed the importance of re-enforcing trade and defense relations with Bahrain, as well as in labor and work fields. The Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari held talks with the commander of the national guard in Bahrain Shaikh Mohammed Bin Issa Bin Salman Al Khalifa in which they discussed regional developments and cooperation in defense and regional matters…….…”

Pakistan is effectively a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC. The Pakistani military, retired or on active duty, have for years operated the armed forces of some Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Pakistani military and police personnel have been important in the repression of the people of Bahrain. Bahraini officials fly regularly to Pakistan to hire more ‘security’ agents even as they deny security jobs to most Bahraini citizens. Top Saudi princes like Bandar Bin Sultan Bin al-Yamama Bin BAE Systems Bin Commission is reported to have flown to Pakistan to make deals on stationing or preparing Pakistani forces to defend the regime if and when needed. Reports also indicate the same can be said of Malaysia: its government officials recently expressed willingness to send forces to defend the regime in Bahrain.
Now on the Arab side, the GCC has sought to form alliances with the monarchies of Jordan and Morocco. The last GCC summit made a surprise announcement of welcoming membership for Jordan and Morocco. Now we have the nucleus of a new group of states: the GCC, Jordan, Morocco, Malaysia, and Pakistan. That means the rich GCC states and three or four poor relations that are far away enough (Morocco, Malaysia, Pakistan) or small enough (Jordan) to be manageable. Clearly the potentates of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and others, are looking for cheap bodies, impoverished mercenaries willing to do what it takes. The UAE is ahead of the game: the al-Nahayan are forming foreign legion of Latin Americans, Australians, disgruntled white Africans and others to keep the people at bay.
I was going to suggest that the GCC look at closer countries, like Iraq which is a Gulf country, and perhaps Yemen which is close enough ad has had deeper cultural, ethnic, and other ties (as does Iraq). Then there are Turkey and Iran, both closer than Malaysia and Pakistan and Burma or WTF. What about Egypt? Then I remembered: with none of these excluded countries can the al-Saud rule the roost. They would be dominated rather than dominate.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Apartheid, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Economics, ethnic cleansing, GCC

The Power of Boycott: Business Facing a Dark Future in Bahrain ………

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF

Economic boycotts are becoming part of the Bahrain revolutionary scene. This is how they started:


  • Some regime     partisans in Bahrain pushed many Sunnis to start the boycott frenzy by advertizing a boycott of some prominent Shi’a businesses that supported the protests (e.g. Jawad Enterprises). Naturally Sunnis have much more buying power per person, but their numbers are small. They may get others to join, like Pakistanis, Saudis, Syrians, Jordanians (basically some of the imported mercenaries). Some of the targeted businesses were also trashed. Yet that was a big mistake as my next paragraph explains.




  • Shi’as, taking a page form their Sunni neighbors, started thinking of boycotts. They have suddenly realized the true power they have: just like American blacks in Alabama did in the 1950s, and others did in India so long ago. They are now advertizing to boycott businesses that support the repression (usually Sunni or some foreign businesses). Many of these businesses went along with the regime and fired many of their Shi’a employees (there are reports that they are hiring in the Indian Subcontinent to replace the fired natives). The firings have added the effect of reduced purchasing power to the anger the Shi’as already felt toward them. Shi’as are a big majority in Bahrain: al-Wefaq, the main Shi’a opposition group won about 64% of the popular vote in the last election. That is not counting other parties and those who boycotted (like al-Haq). They can really harm some major businesses if they boycott them. It looks like they will. Many businesses and shopping malls are owned by al-Khalifa clan members, partnerships, and their retainers and henchmen.




  • Bahrain businesses, through the chamber of commerce, have now frozen relations with businesses organizations in, and now talk of boycotting: Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon (all three states have a majority or plurality of Shi’as, like Bahrain). Typical of the al-Khalifa clan to try to extend their own domestic policy of sectarian Apartheid and ethnic cleansing to the region in order to get out of the mess they created. They want everyone to join in their sectarian game, but that will not solve the serious problem many Bahraini businesses will now face because most of the people will boycott them.


The business outlook in Bahrain looks bleak, much bleaker than the al-Khalifa clan had anticipated.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Bahrain, Corruption, Iran, Saudi Arabia

Pictorial: How to Apply for a Job on the Gulf………

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF

How to apply for a job in Bahrain, and who to apply to:


Applying in Bahrain (left)

          
Applying in Iran                                                  Applying in Saudi Arabia

     
The honorable way in Bahrain                 Different way (Jacko & the ruler)  

Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Occupied Bahrain, US Foreign Policy

Bahrain Website Reports on American-Khalifa Contacts………..

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF
A new Bahrain news site (Miraat al-Bahrain) reports from diplomatic sources that the Bahraini government knew two days in advance what President Obama was going to say about Bahrain. It reports that the US State Department notified the al-Khalifa regime of the contents. The report says the delegation led by Deputy Sec of State James Steinberg reached four points of agreement, and four points of disagreement, with Bahrain. It says the points of agreement included the right of the regime to enforce “stability” and to call in Saudi forces, and to agree that Iran has a hand in the unrest. That means the US administration summarized the demands of Bahrainis largely into an Iranian plot.
The main point of disagreement was about who are the opposition. The US saw the opposition as all the various political parties and civil organizations, many of whose members are in prison. The al-Khalifa regime saw the “opposition” as its own toadies (Salafis, Muslim Brothers, and others) who are now left as the only members of the ‘parliament’. The regime now defines its own supporters as the opposition. The regime wants negotiations done inside and through its own parliament while the US wants negotiations done on a round table. There was also disagreement on why all those (Shi’a) mosques were vandalized and destroyed.
I did speculate here last week that the American visit just two days before the speech was to reassure the al-Khalifa regime. I also speculated that Mr. Jeffrey Feltman has been in Manama so often that he may qualify to form his own pro-regime mercenary militia. I was barely kidding.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, ethnic cleansing, Human Right, Saudi Arabia

Bahrain Hearings: State Department is AWOL, the New Deciders of America……..

    Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF
“Yesterday, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission — an entity within Congress chaired by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) charged with investigating human rights abuses — held a hearing titled “Human Rights in Bahrain,” designed to probe abuses against pro-democracy activists in the Arab monarchy. Noticeably absent among the witnesses testifying were any representatives from the U.S. government, which has been closely allied with Bahrain throughout the uprising and resulting humanitarian crisis. On the hearing’s website, you can see that both witnesses called from the State Department, William J. Burns and Jeffrey D. Feltman, declined to appear….. McClatchy reports that “scheduling conflicts” are the reason that the two officials did not appear, although no explanation is given why the State Department did not send replacements. “I was expecting at least one, possibly two witnesses from the State Department to testify,” said a disappointed McGovern. At the hearing, Human Right’s Watch’s Joe Stork stressed the need for a more forceful response from the United States, which has been very mute in reaction to the abuses in the country……..”


Some would say that Hillary Clinton and her boss Barack Obama were afraid to offend the moneybags of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. So, they have sacrificed the people of Bahrain and some in Saudi Arabia, as well as what they ‘used’ to profess to be their own principles.
I knew when Obama bowed so low in front of the absolute tribal polygamous king of Saudi Arabia that it was the beginning of something special. Before Obama the US was in the position of strength vis-a-vis Arab despots. It was always on the side of the despots, but it was the “decider”, as Bush liked to say. Now the Arab despots, the ones with money in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, are in the driver’s seat. Now Riyadh is the decider of US policy about the Gulf (the Persian-American Gulf), just as Tel Aviv is the decider of US policy about the Israeli-Palestinian-Lebanese issue.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, GCC, Human Right, Occupied Bahrain, Saudi Arabia

The Assault on the King of Bahrain……….

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF
The al-Khalifa regime and their Saudi occupation masters have now borrowed from the rape playbook of others in Bosnia and the Congo. They are using rape and the threat of it against the men and women in their custody. Here are afew tweets on the latest:

“NickKristof 
Our close ally, #Bahrain, has a consistent record of using sexual abuse of male and female detainees as a form of torture.”

“maryamalkhawaja
My father, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, was told that they were going to find me and rape me. #bahrain #Feb14”

“kristenchick Kristen Chick
Another defendant, Mohamed Hassan Jawad, tried to show marks of torture on legs during hearing today, was silenced, say witnesses “

“kristenchick Kristen Chick
“Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja’s wife crying on the phone as she recounted her husband’s story of attempted rape in #Bahrain govt custody”

“kristenchick Kristen Chick
Khadija Mossawi, wife of Abdul Hadi Al Khawaja, just told me how 4 men attempted to rape her husband in govt custody friday “

“maryamalkhawaja 
3. Court was adjourned until the 22nd of May and alkhawaja is supposed to get a head scan for possible injuries #bahrain”

“maryamalkhawaja Maryam Alkhawaja
2. They were 4 men and it was in a diff room than were they tried to force him to apologize #bahrain…”

“maryamalkhawaja 1. Corrections to former tweets: alkhawaja banged his head against the floor, he was taken out of the court when he tried to s #bahrain…..”

“maryamalkhawaja 
5. When he tried to tell the judge about this in court hearing today, he was silenced. #Bahrain…..”

“maryamalkhawaja 
4. They began to take off his pants; he was handcuffed & couldnt resist. He began banging his head against the wall until he was unconscious..”

“maryamalkhawaja 
3. He said show me what I have done wrong, and I will apologize. At that point the men took of their pants, he said, as if to rape him cont..”

One of the tweeters is the daughter of one of the threatened victims, which makes it quite agonizing for her to recount all this. Which makes me wonder if there is something ‘Freudian’ in this: if anyone ever raped or threatened to rape the shaikh (king) of Bahrain and his uncle Khalifa bin Salman (the prime minister).
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Corruption, ethnic cleansing, Occupied Bahrain

Île du Diable: Healthcare in a Gulf Penal Colony……….

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF

"The light that fills my lonely cell,
Is blocked out by the key,
That locks the door to this hell,
The place they wanted me.
Time's racing like the wind,
Execution's near,
Oh lord, I wait for death,
And, yes, I have no fear......"  Megadeth (DFevils Island)

“Q: Why are medical personnel being detained?
A: They helped the injured and they are witnesses. If the government wants to destroy all the evidence, it’s one answer — you accuse medical staff because the main witness of what happened in Salmaniya Hospital, the number of figures of the injured and what kind of weapons were used at that time, was the medical staff. The medical staff know everything.

Q: Have you spoken with any of the medical personnel?
A: We did not speak with them but we spoke with some people who were with them. They said the police, they were tortured. We talked with the ones who were released.

Q: How many people did you speak with?
A: More than 30. Six talked about the doctors.

Q: Were the doctors treated differently than other detainees?
A: Yes, they get more torture. Some doctors, a very famous doctor, we don’t want to announce his name, they forced him to dance to music and they filmed.

Q: Was that meant to shame him?……...”

Doesn’t exactly sound like something out of House, does it? But then Bahrain is not a normal country. The ruling clan and the Saudi occupiers and the imported mercenaries are turning the island into nearly a penal colony.
He asked: “Was that meant to shame him?” Arab despots are shameless, and none of them more so than the rulers of Bahrain. Yet what is even more shameless are our palace self-styled “thinkers”, royal “intellectuals” and opinion makers on my Gulf. Most have been either completely silent or shamefully cheer leading the absolute tribal polygamous monarchies committing genocide on their people. A few, a very few, have spoken against this, and those few are mostly in my own hometown. The rest of the Gulf has gone deathly, cowardly silent when not joining the Salafis in cheering the despots.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, ethnic cleansing, Occupied Bahrain

The Jews of Manama? Drowning the revolution in Shia blood………

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF
“Bahrain is trying to drown the protests in Shia blood. “Let us drown the revolution in Jewish blood” was the slogan of the tsars when they orchestrated pogroms against Jews across Russia in the years before the First World War. The battle-cry of the al-Khalifa monarchy in Bahrain ever since they started to crush the pro-democracy protests in the island kingdom two months ago might well be “to drown the revolution in Shia blood”. Just as the tsars once used Cossacks to kill and torture Jews and burn their synagogues, so Bahrain’s minority Sunni regime sends out its black-masked security forces night after night to terrorise the majority Shia population for demanding equal political and civil rights. Usually troops and police make their raids on Shia districts between 1am and 4am, dragging people from their beds and beating them in front of their families. Those detained face mistreatment and torture in prison. One pro-democracy activist, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, brought before a military court last week with severe facial injuries, said he had suffered four fractures to the left side of his face, including a broken jaw that needed four hours’ surgery……..It soon became clear that the government is engaged in a savage onslaught on the entire Shia community – some 70 per cent of the population……..”


This policy of apartheid has been going on in Bahrain since the ruling al-Khalifa clan reneged on its promise at independence to hold free elections. That was in 1975 when they dissolved the first and last freely elected legislature. Like in most Arab despots they managed to keep the people at bay through fear, prison, and exile. The difference is that now in Bahrain, like in other Arab states, the fear is gone. Now the al-Khalifa clan and their Saudi Wahhabi masters and their Pakistani and Jordanian mercenaries are trying to restore that old fear into the hearts of the Bahraini people. They are trying the old method of unbridled violence.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]

Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, Occupied Bahrain, Saudi Arabia

SS Bahrain: Normal Life under Occupation………

   Rattlesnake Ridge   Follow ArabiaDeserta on Twitter   

 
      BFF
“In the back alleys and streets of this Shiite Muslim town, a police crackdown looms at any hour of the day, but never more so than at nightfall, when even innocuous civil disobedience can lead to jail and perhaps torture. The angry young men here know from experience that the police will use helicopters, blunderbuss rifles, and tear gas to confront them, but they plot their next nighttime protest march nevertheless, in what’s become a cat-and-mouse game under Bahrain’s state of emergency, imposed to crush what remains of the country’s protest movement. The police, mainly Sunni Muslims recruited from Pakistan’s Baluchistan province as well as Yemen, Syria, and other Muslim countries, deploy three or four vans at the entrances to this town’s residential neighborhoods. Inside are 12 to 20 men ready to pounce the first moment they hear of a demonstration – even a candlelight vigil – against the government…….. Still, every night in many Bahraini villages and towns, residents gather on their rooftops at 8:15 and again at 10 to issue what’s become a protest cry: “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.” Police deploy helicopters to try to drown out this protest, and to drop tear gas canisters on the rooftops………”

They have stolen almost everything there is to steal from Bahrain. The rapacious tribal party of the Al Khalifa had to keep most of their people impoverished in order for the shaikhs and shaikhas (princes and princesses) to live in the style of their richer neighboring royals in Saudi Arabia, UAE and other Gulf states. They have spent the thirty-five of suspended politics robbing the poor island blind, its native villages nearly destitute.
Now they are also stealing the rest: their freedom, their right to speak for themselves, and they are trying to steal their faith through the systematic destruction of Shi’a mosques and shrines.
Backed by unlimited money and troops from the al-Saud despots, supported as usual by the Salafi sycophants, and possible promises not to worry about the Obama administration, the Al Khalifa feel they can do whatever they want to the captive country.
(FYI: nobody seems to worry about the Obama administration. It is focused like a laser beam on the 2012 elections, which means it is focused like a laser beam on Osama (dead), al-Qaeda, and Pakistan. It is also focused on keeping the Palestine-Israel issue unresolved until after 2012. Why do you think Mitchell gave up? They are also focused on keeping the al-Saud and al-Nahayan despots happy and pumping oil and buying more weapons that they can’t use. Bahrain’s vile al-Khalifa clan don’t count: they are just an appendage of the al-Saud dynasty and they are just happy to remain in control of the finances of the captive islands.
Cheers
mhg


[email protected]