Category Archives: GCC

Apartheid, Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, GCC, Gulf states

Gulf: Shield from Revolution? Shield of Autocracy? STD Shield?………..

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      BFF
“The GCC said bolstering the ranks of this shared army would help the countries that belong to it — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar —defend themselves from “external” threats. Like what? Terrorists. Pirates, maybe? How about its own people? Will a larger shared military be used to more effectively douse popular uprisings like the one that took place in Bahrain in March? Just as a protest movement In Bahrain was gaining the kind of momentum that toppled Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak the month before, the Gulf Cooperation Council issued a mandate to send almost 2,000 troops into the tiny little country to protect institutions belonging to Bahrain’s government. It was a show of force that made its point clearly — The Bahraini people marching in the streets were up against something much larger than its own government……..”

The Bahraini, al-Khalifa-connected, secretary general of the GCC opined that “The GCC has also made much progress in giving better life to their nationals compared to other countries”. That “better life” does not cover a majority of Bahrainis, who had face a policy of Apartheid for decades, and now face ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the regime and its Saudi protectors.
I shouldn’t say it, but this ‘shield’ idea reminds me of certain brand names: Trojan, Durex, Naturalamb They are all ‘shields’. But perhaps this one is not as effective as its STD namesakes.
Cheers
mhg


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

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

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      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


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censorship, Culture, GCC, Iran

Iranian Mullahs and the Beauty of Satellite Dishes…………

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“Iranian police have launched a new crackdown on satellite dishes which, although illegal, are still a common sight on rooftops across the Islamic republic. Tehran police confiscated more than 2,000 satellite dishes in a single day last week in a battle against receivers which let Iranians see a huge range of uncensored entertainment and international news not available on state-controlled channels. “The police’s priority is first to confiscate dishes which are visible … and confront the owners,” Tehran-e Emrouz daily quoted Tehran’s deputy police chief Ahmadreza Radan as saying……..”

Iranian mullahs allow their women to continue driving cars and ride motorcycles. But they hate satellite dishes for the openness to the world that come with them. The Saudis are more open about international media than the Iranians: satellite dishes are not banned anymore (three fourths of the population would go crazy without them and may pour out into the streets of Riyadh and Jeddah and cause major trouble). There was a time when Wahhabi nuts, the religious police, went around trying to destroy satellite dishes, but that was in the past. There a was a time, up to the early 1990s, when satellite dishes were banned in other GCC Gulf states as well. But the Persian Gulf War (1990/91) and the CNN coverage of it put an end to that. In my hometown, I don’t recall any new law allowing satellite dishes after 1991, just as I don’t recall any law banning them before that. It was just government fiat. Satellite dishes, that were once exclusively used by potentates, suddenly became commonplace.
The official position seems to be: Iranian mullahs know they can’t ban dishes, they are just trying to make them less visible on rooftops. The logic is not a logical one, since everyone knows they are there, everyone has them, and the mullahs have them as well. Maybe it is the aesthetics they care about.
It is a losing battle that they should give up, just as their neighbors on the Gulf did many years ago. After all, anyone can watch television channels over the Internet, and Iran cannot ban the Internet: the mullahs would have a true revolution of the young (and the old) on their hands if they did. So, give it up Ali and Mahmoud: it is a losing battle.
Cheers
mhg


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GCC, UAE

UAE: a Tribal State of the Union………

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“This year is an ideal time for the UAE, the only successful union in the Arab world, to also institutionalize an annual State of the Federation address. In fact, the Emirates isn’t far behind in this regard. Both the UAE’s president as well as the prime minister issue comprehensive public statements annually on the UAE’s National Day. For instance, the UAE’s first parliamentary elections were announced by the President in a statement marking the federation’s anniversary in 2005 . The text is published in Dira Alwatan or Nation’s Shield magazine and is also made available on the prime minister’s internet portal. There is something to be said for a public address though. It is a major media event, a collective celebration of achievements over the past year and the spelling of hopes and challenges for the upcoming one. Next December is an opportune occasion to institutionalize a state of the union address custom……..”

Oh boy, I can’t wait to hear the proposed speech by Shaikh Whatishisface of Abu Dhabi address the other six tribal leaders. I bet he won’t stumble more than twice in every sentence. Also, shouldn’t they start freeing their political prisoners, those who called for freedom and were imprisoned? Shouldn’t they have real not fake elections before having a state of the tribes speech?
Besides, wtf in the world would want to hear it? Unless he talks about the effeorts to advance the country from the second biggest importer of weapons in the whole world to the first importer of weapons in the whole world. And given that his nation is composed mostly of foreign temporary workers and housemaids (some 85%), should he not have simultaneous translation of the speech into several languages?
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, GCC, Gulf states

On My Gulf: Mercenary Nations………

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      BFF
Some governments on my Gulf seem to have a fascination with foreign mercenaries:


  • Saudi Arabia was reported several times in Western and Pakistani media as asking for a contingency plan to have Pakistani soldiers deployed on its soil in case of domestic political trouble.

  • The United Arab Emirates have relied on Jordanian security agents and interrogators for years now. Now there is the credible New York Times report that they are setting up a special mercenary army under Blackwater executives in Abu Dhabi. These foreign mercenaries reportedly come from places as far flung as North America, South America, Africa, and Asia. I once suggested here that the al-Nahayan should think of recruiting from among the Mexican drug cartels: they have some of the “most effective” interrogators around. Then there are the retirees of Mossad…..

  • When it comes to mercenaries, the al-Khalifa clan of Bahrain take the cake. They have been in that business of hiring foreign mercenaries to kill and maim their people for decades. They have hired British, Pakistani, Jordanian, Syrian, Yemeni, possibly Saudi, and God knows what else mercenaries to keep the people of Bahrain oppressed. Even now Pakistani military and other media have advertisements and news items of Bahrain recruitment delegations interviewing and hiring veterans. When their own tribal allies and their foreign mercenaries could not cope with the people, the al-Khalifa invited Saudi troops to enter the country and help crush the uprising. I can’t think of a regime that is more vile (or is it viler) than one that first hires foreign mercenaries then invites foreign invaders into its country to kill and torture its people. Governments have done one or the other, but it is rare that a regime does both.

  • Only two GCC countries seem not to have this need for, nay fascination with, mercenaries. Not yet and hopefully never.


Which makes you think: what kind of countries are these that they need to hire foreign mercenaries against their own people? They shouldn’t need to, if only they were less greedy with power and wealth. If they were more fascinated with empowering their people than with foreign mercenaries.
Cheers
mhg


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

The Assault on the King of Bahrain……….

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      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


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Culture, GCC, Gulf states, Jordan

GCC Women, Moroccan Beauties, Jordanian Humor….

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      BFF
“Gulf women fear Jordan, Morocco entry into GCC. Say their men might turn to women from those two countries after joining GCC. A bid by Jordan and Morocco to join a Gulf Arab alliance has already triggered fears among women in the oil-rich region that local men could turn to those two countries for wives. Many women from Saudi Arabia and other members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called a prominent Saudi social and religious adviser to express their fears about the entry of Jordan and Morocco into the 30-year-old GCC. At summit talks in Riyadh last week, GCC leaders welcomed a request by the two Arab nations to join the GCC and instructed their foreign ministers to follow up their issue…….”

This is another fallout of the erratic decision by the Saudi King and his sweet brothers to invite Jordan and Morocco to join the Gulf GCC. Apparently some Gulf women would like their shaikhs, the clergy, to issue fatwas restricting marriage to Moroccan and Jordanian women. Some GCC states, especially UAE and Saudi Arabia, already have rules banning or restricting marriage to foreigners (at least requiring regime permission). This is illogical. Besides, what make them think women of Jordan and Morocco are interested in Gulf men?
I am from the Gulf and sometimes I wonder why Gulf women are interested in many of the Gulf men. Having said that, I must add that if Jordanian women are anything like Jordanian men, then they have about as much a sense of humor as most of my fellow Gulf men. Which is nada, zilch, rien. My best friend BFF (see photo up there) has a better canine sense of humor than that. So what is the attraction? As for the women of Morocco, I haven’t known many, well, not enough, but from what I discern………o boy. That may be a worry.
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, GCC, Jordan

Freedoms the GCC will Bring to Morocco and Jordan………….

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“A pro-democracy activist in Bahrain appeared to have been beaten and possibly tortured before he appeared in court this week, according to the New York-based nonprofit Human Rights Watch. Abdulhadi Khawaja was one of 14 defendants, mostly opposition leaders in the Persian Gulf state, who were charged with seeking to “topple the regime forcibly in collaboration with a terrorist organization working for a foreign country,“ Human Rights Watch said in a statement Tuesday. Seven others were charged in absentia. When Khawaja’s wife and daughter spoke with him briefly after he appeared in court Sunday, the first time they had seen him since his arrest April 9, he told them he had suffered four fractures to his face, including one to his jaw that required four hours of surgery. Khawaja’s daughter Maryam told Human Rights Watch that her mother and sister met with him for 10 minutes after the initial hearing………The state-run Bahrian News Agency called the reports “fabricated, politically motivated news.”……..”

“Amnesty believes that many of the defendants in #Bahrain are likely to be prisoners of conscience detained simply 4 exercising their right”
“#AmnestyInternational on #Bahrain -At least two have said they were tortured, raising fears about their chances for a fair trial.”
”

“#AmnestyInternational on #Bahrain – Bahraini authorities have already denied the defendants their basic legal rights”
“Bahrain oil company fires 300 workers over protests goo.gl/ENkSn #feb14 #bhn #feb14”
“University of #Bahrain turns to look like Guantánamo bit.ly/jlbG7P #feb14 #bnn…..”

I know Jordan and Morocco are not exactly Jeffersonian democracies, not even Turkish democracies. But they are more democratic than the GCC countries. They certainly are more “democratic” than the tribal quasi-feudal fiefdoms that are Saudi Arabia and the UAE, or the tribal sectarian fiefdom that is Bahrain under al-Khalifa. I assume they don’t torture people like this in Morocco anymore. But rejoice, people of Morocco, you’ll get this as soon as you join the Gulf Tribal Monarchy Council. I know your regime is not nearly as vile as some in our region, but that is okay: no regime in the world is probably as vile as the al-Khalifa of Bahrain. As an added bonus, you ‘ll also get the benefits of Salafi sectarianism and maybe even Apartheid.

I am waiting for Mr. Obama and Hillary Clinton to express their utter joy in this proposed expansion of the joys of tribal absolute monarchy freedom to Morocco and Jordan. While holding their noses, of course. Imagine, to the shores of the Atlantic, a stone’s throw away from Lexington (Mass.) and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. This march of royal liberty, will it cross the ocean westward?
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Bahrain, GCC, Gulf states, Occupied Bahrain

On My Gulf: Brave Women and Cowardly Princes………..

     
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                                                                       My BFF          Missing poet Ayat
“In Bahrain, human-rights workers say at least 50 medical staff are still missing after a crackdown on hospital care for injured anti-government demonstrators. There are fears that some of the detained staff could face stiff sentences for treating protesters. Among them is Dr al-Dallal, a prominent physician arrested on March 17 during a military raid at Salmaniyah hospital in Manama. His wife, Fareeda al-Dallal, was also arrested and beaten under custody last Tuesday. Al Jazeera spoke to her about her arrest and the fears she has about the safety of her husband……”

Dr. Fareeda was interrogated for some time then released. Marks on her face clearly show the results of beatings she endured by the imported mercenary interrogators of the al-Khalifa clan. Dr. Fareeda faces more trouble: she is being called for more interrogation after talking on Aljazeera of her torture. They will likely charge her with “slandering the state” and torture her some more, possibly sentence her.

In my Gulf region, which seems suddenly empty of men, except for some in Bahrain, she stands tall. There are many other women of Bahrain who have stood up for their rights and are enduring the wrath of the despots and invaders: they are doctors, nurses, students, teachers, reporters, and others. She, like the poet-student Ayat al-Qormezi, are a thousand times better than the fat corrupt strutting princes, mentally flatulent potentates and their retainers on my Gulf. Ayat was arrested several weeks ago for reciting one of her poems (video) at Lulu (Pearl) Square: she was arrested after the Saudi invasion. Her whereabouts are unknown. They are both, they all are, certainly braver than all the men in my Gulf, braver than Hillary Clinton and Mr. Obama and European leaders who have gone silent about the torment of Bahrain even as they make the right noises about Libya and Syria. (I do not mention Arab leaders here because it is given that they are “what” they are).
Cheers
mhg



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GCC, Iran, Oman, Persian-American Gulf, Qatar

Qatar and Oman: Is Iran Cracking the GCC Front?………….

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      My BFF
“Sultan Qaboos said that regional states should keep vigilant toward the plots of sowing discord in the region. Referring to the latest developments in the region, he called for an urgent settlement to the problems and heed the demands of the people. Iran-Oman excellent ties will ensure interests of the two countries and the entire regional nations, he said. Salehi arrived in the Omani capital city of Muscat on Wednesday morning. He was warmly welcomed by his Omani Counterpart Youssef bin Alawi. “Without doubt, Salehi’s first visit to Oman would be constructive,” bin Alawi said. Bin Alawi added the visit is the best opportunity to foster mutual ties. Omani government is keen to enhance Tehran-Muscat cooperation, he noted. Iran and Oman have expanded cooperation in a variety of areas such as economy and defense since Iran’s President Ahmadinejad took office in 2005. The two countries signed a security agreement in August 2009….” Fars News (Iran)

Just before this Salehi visit to Oman, he had been in Qatar. Even during the peak of the Arab revolutions and the Bahraini regime crackdown on the people’s uprising last March, high Omani officials and the Qatari crown prince were in Tehran for the celebration of Nouruz, the Iranian New Year. As I have posted before here, Oman has always marched to its own music, paying lip service to the Saudi-driven GCC band. Oman has always looked across the seas, even long after its territorial interests in East Africa were gone.
Qatar has been an active thorn in the Saudi side, although the Qatari regime has moved closer to the Saudi position as the Arab revolution moved closer to the Persian-American Gulf. But there is serious bad blood between Doha and Riyadh, ever since the 1990s when Saudi Arabia was involved in a plot to overthrow the Emir of Qatar. Several high ranking Saudi security officers were sentenced to prison in Qatar for their role and were only released a year or so ago. They returned to a heroes’ welcome by the al-Saud princes in Riyadh.
Cheers
mhg



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