Social Media and The Arab Spring; My Response to a German Journalist
Posted on 09 May 2011 by Suhail
(Photo sourse: www.bukisa.com)
I was recently contacted by a German journalist who is writing a research paper on the latest developments in the Arab world, asking about the role of social media in the Arab spring. (Apparently, I’m seen as an expert on social media by many, which is slightly ironic as a couple of years ago I used to think Facebook and Twitter were the world’s biggest waste of time.)
Anyway, I thought I’d share the communication with you as it might be of interest.
Her email:
…I’m a big fan of your page “Sohail Algosaibi’s Radical Dojo” I like the way you dealt with the latest movements in Bahrain.
Suhail I’m writing a research paper about the latest movements in the Arab World , I’m concentrating mainly on the Young Arabs who used social media to organize themselves, synchronize their opinions, coordinate their acts and document the results. What they want after these movements, what they really need, what they think of Europe, Do they think that Europe can help in the Democratic transitions or there is a lack of trust in Europe?
I would like to have your opinion on this , it will add a great value to my paper.
Best,
D. [full name withheld]
My reply:
Thank you for getting in touch D.
Your questions are not so easy to answer as they aren’t specific and very general, but I’ll do my best.
The Arab spring is not the same for all countries:
The Arab spring has so far seriously affected Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria. And as far as I can tell it had a minor effect in Saudi Arabia and Oman, and negligible effect in the remaining countries. However, it is worth noting that each country has it’s own specific circumstances. I think the question that Western journalists should ask themselves about Bahrain is “why didn’t the Bahrain uprisings succeed”? The protests in other countries managed to topple two heads of state and lead to civil wars in others, but why not in Bahrain? The answer in a nutshell is because they were not popular with the majority of the population. What I mean is though many of the requests by the protestors were seen as legitimate by many, most people disagreed with the violent methods in attaining them, and most certainly did not want to have the ruling Al-Khalifa family removed.
Social media overrated:
Don’t get me wrong, I think social media played a big role in the Arab spring, but it’s very difficult to quantify. If it weren’t for my blog, you would not have gotten in touch with me, and I would never had had the opportunity to speak to the many foreign journalists I spoke to during this crisis. In my opinion the social media helped information spread instantly around the world. And as far as I can tell, it helped protestors organise themselves. However, there are two important points to raise when it comes to the social media; first, a very small portion of the population uses social media. I’m pretty sure many millions of the protestors in Egypt never heard of Twitter and Facebook. I suspect some aren’t even sure what the internet is. I recently read a statistic that only 6% of the US population uses Twitter, but when you go on Twitter you’d think the whole world was using it. Six percent of a population of 300 million is not little, but it’s not a big number either. I don’t know how many people use Twitter in Bahrain, but my guess is in the area of 10,000 to 20,000 only. There are 236,000 registered on Facebook, but I suspect less than half of that number check and use it regularly.
Secondly, the social media was used as a powerful propaganda weapon (at least here in Bahrain). It was used to spread lies, exaggerations, and half-truths. Add in Photoshop and other software, and you have yourself a propaganda machine Goebbels would have drooled over. Personally, I think social media is the least reliable source of information, and any information received via it should be taken with a grain of salt.
How Arabs use social media to organise themselves, synchronise their opinions, coordinate their acts and document their results:
This is a difficult one to answer, as I don’t really know, but I’ll give it a shot. As for it’s use, like I said social media is used to spread information instantly, but also as a propaganda tool. I don’t know how synchronised people are. I think there are groups out there that make sure to work together and to coordinate their efforts, but it’s my opinion (and this is pure guess work) that most people work alone. Personally, I’ve never synchronised and coordinated with anyone. I wrote about how I saw things. My sources of information were:
- Reading different local newspapers.
- Watching and reading the international media
- Having lots of conversations with Shiite, Sunni and expat friends and acquaintances
- The social media (always with a grain of salt)
This combined with my own common sense lead to my opinions, which I then wrote about. I always tried to write without anger and without prejudice.
What do Arabs want after these movements, what they really need, what they think of Europe? Do they think that Europe can help in the Democratic transitions or there is a lack of trust in Europe?
Again I don’t want to generalise and speak on behalf of other Arab countries. As for Bahrain, I have no doubt that there was a group that wanted genuine, peaceful reform. But they were overshadowed but people who were violent and wanted regime change. Some of the leaders were found to have strong links with Iran, which led the government to carry out a harsh crackdown. As for Europe, I’m not sure much is wanted from Europe. Many of us in Bahrain are frustrated with the one-sided reporting from the Western media. To be sure the government has made mistakes and has often been harsh in dealing with the rioters, but many human rights abuses have been committed by the rioters which are not mentioned at all in the Western media.
Furthermore, I’ve never heard of anyone wanting Europe’s help in a “democratic transition.” This is not really about Europe, but about us. Personally (and admittedly opinions vary greatly on this) I don’t think Bahrain is ready for a fully fledged democracy. I think we lack the maturity for it. Having said that however, this does not mean that reforms should stop, nor does it mean the government should not look into the demands made during the February 14th crisis.
I’m not sure if this is what you wanted D., but I hope it helps with your paper. I’d love to see it when it comes out.
Take care and God bless.
Suhail
Again with this talk of violence. I can’t believe you’re still on about ALL the protesters being violent! Yes some of them were violent. A select few, hence the relatively small number of people being tried in court. Ask yourself this question Suhail. Who started the violence? Who shot and killed on the first day? Who shot and killed in the second day (funeral of the first person)? Then who went to the PEARL roundabout the 3 am in the morning and shot 4 people dead with live rounds and injured tens of protesters? Again who shot that poor guy in the head with a live round? To be totally honest, I am surprised the protesters didn’t decide to go all out violent after all that!! People like you and your government support the rebels in Libya and everyone knows they’re not peaceful. Out of all the revolutions in the Arab world, I personally think that Bahrain and Egypt were the most peaceful. This view is also shared by many other analysts. Also, I personally think that there is nothing wrong with having an opinion that the royal government must go. Yes it wasn’t a popular demand even amongst the majority of protesters but there is nothing wrong with demanding it as long as it is peaceful. There are people in the UK that are also demanding for a republic. Their party is not very popular but they still have the right to express their views. The Bahraini media (from my reading of GDN online), is making people view the demand for republic as such a “bad thing” or a taboo. In reality theres nothing wrong with it. I personally believe in constitutional monarchies and also I believe that the best way for a king to survive, is to agree to a real constitutional monarchy or else when the petrodollars run out in the region, his popularity will go downhill. The only thing thats helping him survive is money, but that won’t always be the case. This also applies to other kings in the GCC. Oh, by the way, are kings forbidden in Islam? Weren’t leaders in the golden ages of Islamic empires elected?
Sophie, the people supporting the regime in Bahrain are a vast majority (sunni + shii’te). We will never allow any change in the government (unless we are ALL in for it). This wasn’t a “people’s revolution” they made it a sectarian revolution due to the fact that 99% of the “peaceful” protesters were shii’te, they attacked innocent students in the University just because they were sunni or naturalized (Even Girls!), they cut off a sunni imam’s tongue which led to his unfortunte death, the “doctors” were choosing who to treat based on sect or nationality (sunni’s/naturalized citizens/expats were refused to be treated by those inhumane doctors), they killed innocent expats, Etc..
“Ask yourself this question Suhail. Who started the violence?”
If you mean that riot police started the violence than you are way out of line. Riot police are here to help and protect innocent civilians, theywent to restore law and order. Unfortunately, that leads to some clashes, riot police will not “attack” anyone with no reason, they will obviously attack if they were being attacked. We live in a civilized country, with rules and regulations. Any other country in the modern world would have done the same or even worse, this is a no brainer, NO ONE is above the law (it doesnt matter what sect, religion, nationality, etc).
Please do not compare Bahrain to Egypt or Libya, fortunately for us we live in a country that offers us free education, free healthcare, no taxes, freedom of religion, free housing, minimum wage is almost ~$400, and many other benefits. Now you answer my question, isnt this a dream for many other people around the world? Why would they want to overthrow the regime if this is what’s offered by Bahrain? It doesn’t make sense. Also, dont tell me that shii’tes are not getting top jobs and etc, Most of the people that work in the Govt are shii’tes, the Head of the Shura Counil is Shii’te, many of our ministers are Shii’tes, Most of the top businessmen are Shii’te, The wealthiest families in Bahrain conisist of MANY shii’tes.
Screaming “Death” to a whole family is not peaceful, so dont tell me they were a select few, Forceful civil disobedience is not peaceful, hitting, killing, throwing stones, holding weapons, throwing molitov cocktails is not peaceful. The peaceful card was long gone. The thing that bugs me is that the people representing the radicals were allowing this to happen and have not officially condemned those criminals or apologized.
Justice is served, We are all in this together for the fight against terror.
Don’t get me wrong, we are ALL in or reform, be it salary increase, housing reforms, etc.
Now Bahrain is healing, and I assure you that we will come out of this stronger and more united than ever.
BTW, Kings are not forbidden in Islam.
*edit* minimum wage is almost ~$1,000
1) Can you please give me references to the figures and stats that you just stated above. For example 99% & Vast majority etc? That will be very helpful.
2) This is the answer to the tongue cutting government fabrication: “The ambassador denied a case of a Sunni Bangladeshi national who is in coma after being attacked by Shiite demonstrators who cut his tongue off to prevent him from reciting Azzan. This case has been reported in almost all the local newspapers along with images of him in the hospital.” Source: http://www.globalissues.org/news/2011/03/25/9024 and http://www.december18.net/article/foreign-labourers-targeted-throughout-bahrain
3) University attacks: In this video, clearly you can see that the attackers are not Shi’it. They are dressed in a very bedouin fashion plus theres an old man who to me looks like an extremist sunni religous scholar. They certainly dont look like students: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMvHE9Z3bko
also theres this video which clearly shows a group of thugs that were initially standing next to the riot police, therefore they were protected by the riot police then they run towards the nurses and attack them. The funny thing about this video is that BTV cut out the first part of the video where the thugs were standing next to the police and only played the attack part to blame it on the police. Sadly, some people fell for it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLqcvPwM6dg
Note: A very large group of anti-gov protesters did go to the university after they heard that pro-gov thugs attacked first. I do condemn it but they were the only source of protection since the riot police obviously wont protect shia because they think they are “dirty dogs and sons of mut3a”
3) How do you know that the police didnt attack first? were you there when all this shit happened? I personally know people that were at the PEARL roundabout and were protesting on the first day (14/02/2011) and were attacked. Now they could be lying but honestly I trust them. Regardless of who started, the riot police are trained to arrest people. Shooting and killing is not even a last resort. I find it hard to believe that the two 60+ old men that died on the 17th of Feb were a dangerous threat to the police and deserved to die.
4) You are obviously a money hungry person because to you all the reforms you are asking about are materialistic and are short term fixes to problems. The protesters, whether they were a minority or a majority wanted more rights. They wanted to be represented in the government. They wanted political changes and they also wanted to be treated with dignity. Money was only one of their less important demand – Source: The 7 political parties 12 demands: non of them asked for more money. Instead they asked for political changes because in case you did not know, political changes are long term fixes to problems. Money comes and go and then theres inflation and all that. So trust me my brother/sister, a raise in salaries will keep you happy for 3 – 5 years and then things will go to shit again
5) Regarding the ministers and shura council members. Unlike you, to me its not about what sect the members are from. I do not care if they are all Shia or all Sunni. I want them to represent the people and accepted by the people. The current undemocratic situation is, the king literally hand picks these guys and puts them in any position he wants. He sometimes shuffles them around when hes bored. Plus there is no fair distribution. The majority of the minister cabinets are always Sunni and I would love it if you were able to prove otherwise.
6) Democracy is not a bad thing. Change is good. Money is not everything
Note to BRN: your source is obviously local media. Sorry but to me local media is obviously going to cover up for the government. So if the government makes any mistakes, the local media will not admit and they will lie to cover up. Therefore I resort to more credible sources such as clear youtube videos of beaten up women that were just released from jail, young men with 50+ pellets in their bodies and so and so forth. I also resort to award winning journalist and noble peace prize winning humanitarian non government organization that have all reported and investigated. my understanding is that the Bahraini government is also calling these credible and independent sources liars and unfortunately people like you will not admit to at least some of the mistake and wrong doings of the government. The whole world is against you apart from the most undemocratic country(s) in the world – Saudi Arabia and the rest of their dogs
“What I mean is though many of the requests by the protestors were seen as legitimate by many, most people disagreed with the violent methods in attaining them, and most certainly did not want to have the ruling Al-Khalifa family removed.”
What about bringing in troops and tanks from Saudi to handle protestors? Were not those methods violent? What about attacking people when they slept? What about destroying a national landmark in order to attempt to do away with an icon used by the opposition?
Is that fair? I don’t think so.
When people are angry, they get violent. It is wrong, but it is a real emotion. It shows that the past — history — has not been reconciled yet. Human rights abuses are not okay. Denying an entire group of people their right to free speech is not okay.
Sophie, I am sorry that you are blinded by lies. I will respond in a very short manner on to just some questions because whatever I will say, you will not believe me.
1- You say my source is the local media, I say yes to that and also my other source, which is MY OWN EYES. unlike u, I have actually witnessed the “peaceful” protesters throwing molotov cocktails and trying to run over police next to an area where i live. I also saw them throwing rocks and holding weapons.
2- University of Bahrain massacre: Are you serious? Again, please think with a clear mind, Why in God’s name will Bahrainis go and attack innocent students? And why were All the students that were attacked sunnis? The “Government thugs” as you call them raced there to help out the innocent students being attacked by those inhumane people because the police had not yet received order to go in! Weapons were distributed by Salmaniya Medical Center to the “protesters” once they reached the University, the corrupt nurses were handing them out; you can view this in youtube (i will post the link later). The loyals/people who actually CARE about humanity went there to save the innocent students. I know a girl who was “peacefully” attacked while she was in her car, and she saw her cousin with the anarchists, and he did not help her because she was Sunni and he was Shii’te! Unbelievable!! Acts of terrorism like this are not welcome ANYWHERE in the world. This is not the first time that they attacked students, this is the 2nd time in my lifetime.
3- You say they ask for political changes and then you tell me that when i tell you how much shii’tes are in the government and as ministers and whatnot, you tell me it doesn’t matter what sect they are from? Contradicting. I dont understand what you are trying to prove here. Who is protesting then?
4- All your sources are international media who are are completely biased. Whenever we ask for interviews they actually ask what sect we are from! If we are sunni then they are not interested and hang up or dont reply later. Why? Are we not human beings? don’t we have rights? or is it that there is an agenda against us? I dont get it. Its like we dont exist and that really hurts.
5- The sunni Imam has actually died. Unfortunately. Thank you for referring to him as a fabrication.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4xD40F-F-M
Talking about fabrication, what about the “doctors” who were fabricating images and facts that a young boy has been shot and turns out that he was not at all
http://blog.bahrainindependent.com/2011/05/06/american-mission-hospital-bahrain-twisted-activists-manipulate-childs-death/
What about the protester who was sprayed with powder and climed dead by some people for him to later appear on tv and say that he is alive and kicking and it was all a scandal? a scam?
What about the baby who was claimed by the “doctors” to be shot for him to come on tv with his father and his father denied that he was shot!
And many more.
Cathy – No tanks came from Saudi to handle protesters. GCC Peninsula Shield came to help us Bahrainis from EXTERNAL threats and they are no where to be seen, they are protecting certain places in Bahrain that needs protection like oil wells and etc, they are NOT on the streets and have NOT dealt with protesters. I dare you to show evidence of that.
Anyway, i will post more evidence later, for now read this .. It summarizes all the human rights abuses by the protesters.
http://brave-bahrain.blogspot.com/2011/04/abusing-human-rights-in-bahrain.html
Again, please help Bahrain unite and stop spreading innacurate info or hate or anything that leads to hate. We will grow out of this stronger, trus me, but we need your help.
6-
You guys know this was supposed to an article on SOCIAL MEDIA, right? Anyway, thanks for your input all (some of you more polite than others).
BRN, thanks for your visits and thorough researchما شاء الله عليك..
Suhail, i enjoy reading your posts/articles. It is my duty as a citizen to respond to the international world who think they understand the situation in Bahrain, and i try as hard as i can to show them the truth and hopefully they accept the fact that those who were claiming to be peaceful and want reforms are nothing like that.
I don’t like the fact some foreigners are trying to teach me about my country, and teach me whats right and whats wrong. I am sorry but you cannot do that, its my country and i know whats going on. Its sad that the international world are ignoring us and promoting people who do not want whats best for you or the country. What I am getting is that int’l media are trying to destroy/defame the arab/muslim world.
What a shame.
I will post more evidence as soon as i can. Thank u again Suhail
** Suhail you are being biased which is unfortunate but thats your choice
BRN: I respect opinion but I do not respect your claims.
1) I can talk to you about things that I have seen but who am I to say so? Who are you? neither of us are credible sources so lets not play the “I saw it with my own eyes” game. I have also seen tires being burnt and molitovs being thrown before feb14 and I condemn it but you cannont generalize and blame the whole opposition which are in the 100s of thousands on being the same. My advice to you is, go to the root of the problem. Why have these people been complaining about discrimination since the 1920s way before any of the “Shia” expansionism existed ? Why have some resorted to violence? Why have some asked for help from foreign help? Thats the problem with GCC leaders. Their egos are too big to ever admit that they are the reasons to these problems. It is more convenient for them to blame it on someone else.
2) University: LOOK at the video again. It is very clear who attacked. You have clearly not even bothered looking at the videos or else you wouldn’t make such baseless claims. Regardless, what happened in the university, no one will ever know. Some people recite your story and other recite another story. I am not going to be a child and say who started first
3) When I refer to political changes, I am saying that I want political changes for ALL. Not just shias. Just because you have 4 or 5 Shia minsters out of 20+ shia minsters, it does not mean that the problem is fixed! plus 5/20+ is not a true representation of the percentage of the population but thats not the problem. There are Shia ministers that shias hate such as Jawad al Arayadh and there are ex Sunni ministers such as Ali Fakhro that Shias have so much respect for up to this day. Actually the 7 political societies wanted him to run for PM if the leadership in Bahrain agreed on having an elected PM.
4) If you don’t find the international media credible and find them biased thats fine. You do have a fair point because they are businesses at the end of the day, and their main goal is to broadcast stories that basically sell. SIDE NOT: I would like you to provide me with proof rather than claim about them asking about the sect before interviewing. Proof or it never happened. That being said, what about the many NGO? They are independent and non for profit. They have no gains what so ever in enhancing or ruining bahrain’s image. Why have so many of them conducted investigations with forensic evidence that suggest there are many human rights violations in Bahrain. May be one or two might be biased, but when you have more than 5 international award winning organizations + videos and pictures on the internet of people shot with shot guns, plus 4 people dying in prison in a 9 day time interval, etc, chances are that the bahraini government are committing human rights violations. You have to at least admit. They are your brothers at the end of the day, my brother.
5) I posted an article about the Bangladeshi ambassador denying the bahrain government claims. That is more powerful than state media. You have obviously not even read it because you dont want to know the truth or at least look at what the other side has to say. I have seen this video before and it is wrong on all levels but I am not going to place the blame on anyone since there is no hard evidence. Sorry BTV “confessions” are not credible to me and probably not to more than half of this population. Regardless of sect. Even gov supporters dont believe everything BTV says.
The white powder you are referring to is used by anti-gov protesters to prevent the effects of tear gas. This is the product: http://medic.wikia.com/wiki/L.A.W._(liquid_antacid_and_water)
You can also make it at home, and wow its amazing how it works! The man that went on BTV is resident of Sitra and my workmate knows him. He was jailed for 3 days and they told him they’ll release him if he goes on TV and says what he said, of course after giving him a few whips here and there. Now again, I am contradicting myself because “I am not a credible source” since you don’t know me but think of it as a possible scenario and it is a very possible scenario since it has been proven that there is inhumane torture in bahraini police custody. Want proof? The MOI admits there was at least on incident of torture. http://www.policemc.gov.bh/en/news_details.aspx?type=1&articleId=7193
6) You’re crying about the Bangladeshi mans death and God knows if that is even true. If it is, then it is very unfortunate. Whats even more unfortunate is that you haven’t acknowledged the deaths of 29 Bahrainis including two women. You always refer to the deaths of non bahrainis and never talk about the deaths of your own brothers. Unlike you, I condemn the deaths from both sides and I blame both sides for it. There is no way in hell (i think), you will ever admit that some people in the government were responsible for the deaths of many bahrainis.
Bu Ibraheem: There’s a hateful troll on twitter called 7areghum. I’m sure he would appreciate your comments. I’m pretty sure Suhail won’t appreciate such comments on his blog
very interesting article,, could not bother to read the comments by readers. Whats I want to comment on is how ironic some readers are , I think Sophie. He/she cites that he/she doesn’t believe in the sources of BRN, ie local newspaper, but gives random sources from unknow websites. In my opinion, local newspapers are much more credible source than those websites you offer
Great stuff Suhail! Kudos to you!
All I can say amongst all the hoopla and fallacies is that nobody knows Bahrain better than those who have lived here most of their lives. Ate, breathed, enjoyed, & appreciated the blessings of this beautiful small island with a big heart
I completely agree with sophie. Sohail, I thought you were always speaking fairly, unfortunetly this time you got it all wrong.ppl open ur minds and brains, think, do your research.
Yusuf: my bad, I didn’t post the link to the actual source. I posted mirrors Well this is the real source (IPS): http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55002
Is IPS credible enough for you? If you haven’t heard of them before, heres some more info on them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_Press_Service
Other than that, the other two links I posted were 2 youtube videos. Most of my info comes from, Washington post, the hill, christian monitor, Reuters, Bloomberg, CNN, BBC, AJE, NYTimes, Financial Times, The guardian, The telegraph, Amnesty international, Physician for Human rights, Human Rights watch, Reporters without borders, Medicane, LA Times….. do u get the picture? My sources are NOT: Alaalam, Al Manar, BTV, GDN, Al Ayaam, Ahl il Bait, Press TV
In case you decide to do a BRN on me and not read the links I posted, here are some exerts from the links:
“Inter Press Service (abbreviated: IPS) is a global news agency. Its main focus is the production of INDEPENDENT news and analysis about events and processes affecting economic, social and political development.”
“Inter Press Service was set up in 1964 as a NON-PROFIT international cooperative of journalists. Its founders were the Italian journalist Roberto Savio and the Argentine political scientist Pablo Piacentini. Initially, the primary objective of IPS was to fill the information gap between Europe and Latin America after the political turbulence following the Cuban revolution of 1959 (Giffard in Salwen and Garrison, 1991).”
Also, if your Godly government had nothing to hide, they wouldn’t have arrested the CNN reporters and pointed machine guns at their heads? If they did not have anything to hide, why did they kick our the Reuters reporter and blacklisted the AJE reporter? Why are they not allowing other reporters in Bahrain? Why do they tell them that they are not allowed into the country because”they are a threat to national security?” wake up people, your government is hiding things from you because they know that you have big hearts and won’t allow human right violations to happen in bahrain!
Sophie, do not get me wrong, It is sad and unfortunate that bahrainis died, whether being protesters or loyal innocent citizens that have nothing to do with anything, or from the police force. But as you know, in that month of anarchy, army was pulled back, police were pulled back, and the CP came on TV and urged the opposition to come and have a national dialogue with no roof at all. The police were unarmed for most of the months of anarchy, and what happened? We all saw the “peaceful” protesters attack them, kick them, run over them with numerous cars, and etc. Do not tell me who started, No one is above the law no matter what sect/religion/nationality. Law & Order must be restored, and with this ofcourse you will see unfortunate clashes between police and people, whoever fights back, will receive unfortunate circumstances. This is not only here in Bahrain, but this is the law in every country throughout the world, some countries will do it brutally, But al7amdulillah, here they did it with the least amount of unfortunate casualties possible.
Now answer this million dollar Q —
If the “peaceful” opposition really wanted political/social reforms, than that would be a dream come true, a heaven for opposition. But unfortunately, they did not choose to have the national dialogue, and started creating anarchy.
They put 12 rules for the Government to handle before entering the dialogue, 12 changes for the government which was ridiculously not fair, so say the Government chose to obey them and go ahead with their demands, what would be left for them to talk about in the dialogue?
Another VERY important factor that you have missed is that it seems the opposition thought that they were the only ones in the country and they were talking on behalf of us loyal citizens? What about us? Have they forgotten about us silent majority? We showed that we are not silent and they are not alone in this country when we went to The Gathering of National Unity in Al Fateh Mosque. Hundreds of Thousands showed up. Dont we have the right to say what we want too?
This is hard proof/evidence why they do not want reforms, they had other nonsence plots in their minds like the fall of the regime.
There were people that went to the GCC roundabout at the beginning but as soon as they heard they want the fall of the regime or started chanting “death to AlKhalifa” they went back home and they completely disagreed with them.
About the Sunni Imam, May God Rest his soul, you said that the ambassador denied that he had his tongue cut off. The source is baseless, it was not quoted, and I’m finding it hard to find any other source. Anyway Bahraini or not Bahraini, that was a heinous crime, and there is no excuse whatsoever.
Please do not forget the loyal Bahrainis that have died, seems to me that you are only caring about you “brother bahrainis”. The elder innocent taxi driver who has been stabbed to death, the people who have died when the Hospital was taken over by anarchists either by choosing not to treat them because of their sect, and the ones who have died because the ambulances were also taken over. And much more unfortunately.
No matter what it is, people cannot politicize Hospitals, Schools, Human Rights “Activists”, Labor workers, and etc. That is just wrong in many ways that have no end.
- As for the University of Bahrain Massacre, you do not seem to even want to debate this, to me it is not debatable, to you it is likewise. We know what actually happened there, and i hope you open your eyes and try to accept what really happened. All i can do is post some videos for you to believe. (I will post later as i do not have the time to search now and they are not saved in my comp).
- As for the international media, i find them not credible due to one fact, they are bias and they ignore our rights and never hear what we have to say. Thats why international media is not credible for me. Even if they won every award possible, that doesnt mean they are credible. If they were, they would be neutral and at least show two sides, but no, as u stated they want to sell more.
- As for the coming back from dead guy, it doesnt matter if he was jailed or not, if he was tortured or not, the point is, people was fabricating his death, and he proved them wrong.
Btw, take a look at this guy and tell me what you think, i found this pic on twitter, look at the blood bag on top, they spread it around the man’s body to make it look like he really was bloody and injured.
http://yfrog.com/h2n6wzaj
- About the death of the detained, gov will put on trial the 5 people who were suspected of using force or brutality. This is a clear example that shows how the Govt is fair! NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.
I will post more evidence when i have time, surely on the weekend. Cheers.
Dude the pic you posted is an onion hahahah… blood bag are a tad bigger than that. In case you didnt know, onions are used to ease the effects of tear gas inhalation. I am not going to get into the details of the dialog because it will be another ever ending story. All I can say is that the whole story with the dialog is debatable. I am talking (or typing in this case) about purely human right violations.
You talk about loyal bahrainis as if the 100s of thousands of people at the Pearl/GCC roundabout are not loyal. Shame on you for thinking all of them are not loyal. They are arabs at the end of the day and they are real arabs. Of course they love their country and are loyal to it. There probably were some people that wanted the help of foreign countries but you cannot blame the whole movement as being disloyal!
Also keep in mind that not everyone died in clashes. Bahia al Aradi, died from a sniper shot in the head. 4 people died in prison. There are 10s of other cases of people that didn’t die in clashes. Don’t get me wrong. I am not blaming the leadership. I am just saying that there are certain individuals in the police force that committed these crimes. The problem is that no one is putting any pressure on the government to investigate these cases. Unlike you, I do not blame the king or the PM for the killings. You blame the deaths of innocent people on the whole opposition. The majority of the opposition wanted real change!
The source of the Bangladeshi ambassador is from IPS. Check out my previous posts above. IPS is credible enough!
Bahraini Uni: No point posting videos, because I also have videos and we’ll end up arguing forever! God only knows what really happened and NO it is not very clear what exactly happened! theres also a video of the PM’s grandsons body guard hopping out of his black range rover with a pistol in bahrain uni but im not going to post it to avoid more arguments.
Like I said, your arguments about international media being biased actually do have a base because they do want to sell and make money (in case you didnt read one of my many previous posts). BUT, the human rights organizations have no reason to be biased. You keep on avoiding answering that point!
When I say brothers, I mean all bahrainis are my brothers and sisters. I am not only referring to brothers from one sect. You are also my brother even though I dont know you.
Finally, this will be the last post. It is now up to the readers to read all comments and decide. Thats if it makes a difference.
Sophie – Ok so first off i thought you were not Bahraini, now you claim to be Bahraini. I did not know that. Now its clear.
There is no excuse for the refusal of the national dialogue. This proves in so many ways that the lulus were not for reform.
Yes I can blame all of them for being disloyal because not one of them officially denied it at the time, loyals do not ruin the country’s image, loyals do not make the country lose billions of dollars, loyals do not help/aid people who want to destroy the country.
Loyals are who want unity, if they wanted unity they should’ve showed it when it mattered, not now. Its too late. “Lay faat ilfot mayenfa3 il9ot”
Again, there are never ending pics, stories, videos about what really happened. Neither of us need to debate this because we clearly have different views.
The truth will always prevail, trust me.
Have a nice day sister
I agree. Truth will prevail!
اخوان سنه وشيعة هذا الوطن من بيعه
One of the most beautiful slogans of unity chanted in the pearl roundabout!
Sorry to interrupt but just need to clarify one thing: Bahgladesh Ambassador denied knowing of a case of a Bangladeshi having his tongue cut out, because the Imam turned out to be a PAKISTANI National His name was Irfan Mohd 23 yrs old CPR No. 871225344 May he rest in peace (see Pakistan Ambassador’s remarks on this). Still, 4 Bangladeshis have died and hundreds more injured. Also, IPU was contacted by Bangladeshi Embassy for their despicable piece sited above. Bangladesh Embassy will gladly verify that to you (just like they verified to me).
Carry on.
Thank you Bahrainiya for clarifying
This is a video of a shii’te cleric in the GCC roundabout, speaking to the fellow “peaceful” protesters. If this is not proof for my claims that this is a sectarian revolution i dunno what is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98dn5ti9ahA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxIviPwX3Bg
The difference between Bahrain and Egypt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXVSjqAo51o&feature=share
This is a short summary of what has happened in Bahrain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY1Mabh0J0s&feature=youtu.be
The video supporting my claims that Salmaniya nurses are providing weapons to the anarchists when they attacked the innocent students in the University via the stolen ambulances:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u-EJiRulE8
- The following videos are to support my claims that the “peaceful” protesters were the ones who attacked the innocent students:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCXBK6BnPlc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbL7aUDj6RU&feature=related
The following video is clear evidence of how the “peaceful” protesters went to riffa to provoke residents; they claimed they wanted to go to protest infront of the royal court on a friday…. when its closed.
http://www.youtube.com/user/truthpolice11#p/u/0/mVGN21yvMVo
The following video shows some of the fabrication by the protesters – to gain international sympathy. by lying. Here this clearly exposes his lies..
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DGjB89hxOzYo
Anyway, those videos are here to support my comments.
Im glad the dark days are over, We will never allow it to happen again. I repeat, we will grow stronger and more united. Sunnis and Shiites together in brotherly love. We are all Muslims.
Keep Calm & Love Bahrain
Sophie rocks! God bless you.
Sophie, don’t post videos, its a never ending spiral. We need to agree that both sides have made mistakes. What we need now is dialog and a true democracy that represents everyone
Ummm BRN you just proved to me that you are not so observant… I know i asked Sophie not to reply but after watching your videos I had to say something
Watch the video you posted of the man that got shot in his leg. Pause the video at the moment where he gets shot and look at the smoke next to his thigh. Where did the smoke come from? anyways watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clipV6r5Nxk&feature=player_embedded&skipcontrinter=1
Thats him after getting shot!!! Still think its fabricated? Look at the smoke and look at this video. I dare you to say it is fabricated. Also notice how he is being treated at home because our inhumane government captures wounded people that go to salmaniya hospital
The videos you posted from Bahrain uni don’t prove to us that these are actually “Shi’tes” and like sophie said, no one is deny that protesters never went there. For every action there is a reaction so think of what made them go to the university! It was a student called Nasser al Amri. He didn’t like the fact that there were anti-government students marching and chanting anti-gov slogan so he called in his friends to come and terrorize the place. At the mean time, protesters at the pearl got text messages and pleas for help and went to protect/attack/vandalize the place. Very well orchestrated by the ministry of interior to be totally honest! I love how they were able to blame the whole thing on the protesters and not take a neutral stance and say that both sides were wrong.
Your ambulance providing weapons video is pathetic! You cannot actually see anything. All you see is the car stopping next to the students, then moving!
I’ve got SOOOOOO many videos of injured people, police attacking young boys in villages, spray painting insulting remarks in villages, destroying 600 year old mosques, a female doctor with a black eye that was just released from prison on Aljazeera, men with shot gun pellets all over their bodies, videos of dead men that were just released from jail being washed in the cemetery with torture marks all over their bodies (BBC and HRW both were there and took photos), recorded prank phone calls of naturalized police station staff saying the dirtiest and most insulting anti shia phrases, a video of female police raiding a school in isa town and so much more. I wont post them here in order to avoid further debates but I’ll be glad to email them to you. Doesn’t have to be your real email. Just make a quick one and I promise I’ll send you all the videos. Im pretty sure you’ve got your own videos as well. That proves that both sides are wrong. The problem is people do not want to admit their mistakes. I believe if they do admit their mistakes and apologize to each other, the healing process will pass its most difficult stage. Unfortunately, only the violators from the protesters side are being punished but the violators from the police force are happily roaming the streets freely. By the way, I am not saying that everyone in prisons is a violator, most of them are innocent
Ramzi, my friend, my bro, i dont think you actually watched the whole footage of that dude that got shot with a clear mind. Common sense, when the invisible Army “shot” him, why were people still next to him? wouldnt they be running or shocked or annoyed or anything? People were still walking around normally, as if nothing happened. The look on the guy with the cam-corder was extremely normal. I am sorry but there is no way that this actually happened. I also watched your video, what’s so special about it? I see no wound, I see nothing worthy of mentioning.
Salmaniya wouldn’t take care of him? Why not? The corrupt inhumane doctors like Al Ekri and co. were not there anymore, ofcourse he’d be taken care of. They were the ones denying patients their rights to be treated based on sect/nationality.
Say what you want to say about the massacre that happened in the university of Bahrain, but you cannot fool anyone my friend.
Dialogue? Now you’re calling for dialogue? We will ONLY accept the dialogue if it also includes us as well, we have the right to agree or disagree with whatever the opposition wants, you do not live here alone. You should’ve accepted the dialogue when you had the chance.
Everyone who committed crimes or aided the criminals or created sectarianism will be caught and justice will be served. No matter what sect, religion, nationality, gender, doesnt matter. Rest Assured.
Those who you call innocent will be freed if they were proved innocent.
Those who have committed heinous crimes will be tried fairly in the Lower National Safety Court.
This time, we will not allow any royal pardons to the criminals if they were found guilty by the court.
You said we will need to put this behind us and agree that both sides made mistakes, yes i agree, but some made mistakes that are too big to forget easily. We will forgive and forget, yes we will, but not til ALL of the people who thought they were above the law get what they deserve in justice.
Peace
Still, i realy need an answer for this, I want to know how you think about this –
If the protesters were all for reform, why havent they answered the call of HH Sh. Salman the CP when he politely asked for a national dialogue with no roof and ANYTHING was negotiable?
Why have the opposition leaders put 12 rules that must be done by the Govt before accepting the dialogue? 12 harsh rules.
If accepted what would be negotiated then?
Why didnt you care about us and what we wanted? Why didnt you put us into consideration? Why were you speaking as if you are the only ones living in Bahrain?
I do not understand this.
If you really wanted reforms, the CP was the person who gifted you with something from heaven when he told you to enter a national dialogue.
I need ur views on this.
Thx!
BRN ya36ik el 3afya.
There were mistakes from both sides but the biggest mistake ofall is refusing the dialogue and ignoring the othe part of Bahrain represented by alfatih and making el dawar look like the ALSHA3B.
Ramzi and Sophie why aren’t you replying to BRN’s question about the dialogue?
You can debate about fabricated videos from both sides and who was right or wrong. But u can’t deny that the opposition was so arrogant and lost the biggest chance of getting into dialogue which would have benifited everyone in Bahrain.
Stop playing the guilty rule that u know to play very well. You didn’t appreciatethe freedom we had before feb 14.
Let’s hope we can get back to build our country together sunnies and Shias.
BRN: look at the video again PLEASE PLEASE look at the frame where he gets shot and look at the smoke next to his thighh. Thank you Ramzi for posting the other video of him wounded. Its my first time seeing it.
Bahrain Uni: watch this video and tell me these attackers are shia! tell me that mohammed khalid looking man in the video is a shiite! watch the end of the video and look at the black man! do u know who is he? Saeed al Jowdar!
Watch this video and see how the male students protected the female students: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpZd3xnuBhk
so yes there was violence FROM BOTH SIDES but there were also some good people that did not give into the violence and decided to stay peaceful
As to why the people were not shocked or moved by the shot.. hahahah its because they are so used to this my friend! It has become a normal thing for them since the nineties! my work mate is from sitra and he was telling me that last thursday police masked armed men broke into his house at 3 am in the morning and stole their phones and laptops. He said it so casually and he was smiling while he said it which made me think “these guys are so use to it, it doesnt bother them anymore”
Ali al Akri went to Ghaza a few years ago during the Israeli bombing and treated injured people! he is a hero and always will be a hero 3′a9ban 3alaik! The king himself gave him an award for his accomplishments in Gaza. The man in the video Ramzi posted is clearly injured. Pause it, zoom it, cut it, paste it, rewind it do whatever you want if you are that blind!!
Bahraini: Thank you for being so moderate. I like how you admit that there were mistakes on both sides. Please teach BRN how to be like that.
Dialog: I said this before and I’ll say it again. I am arguing purely from a human rights perspective. Not a political perspective! If you want to have a political debate we can do it somewhere else and we can answer your questions about dialog! Point is, everything you and I say and every video you and I paste is debatable because theres no right and wrong. But there are roots to these problems that go way back in time that need to be fixed!
Ooops forgot to paste the video of the pro-gov mohammed khalid looking bahrain university attacker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcbB7-jNbQo&feature=related
Sophie, Im sorry that we have different views.
I told you from the start that there were mistakes from both sides, i dont think you read what I write thoroughly.
What do u mean used to? Are you serious?? Are you really debating this matter? What century are we in? Please think with your brain and not with your heart; its not an emotional thing to take into consideration. Its a matter of right and wrong. There was no one there, and we still did not reach to the level of technology of having an invisible army. The thing is, if you think this was a sniper from way far, you are mistaken my friend, because a sniper bullet will cut his leg off if it hit him.
Mohamed Khalid is like Mushaima, Miqdad, Husain, Singace etc. all are extremists and i do not support their views.
Al Ekri may have been a hero in the past, but he chose to be inhumane and do such heinous crimes that he turned from a hero to scum in mere seconds. This is the circle of life, you get judged by the actions you do.
Do not be shocked if people you know get visits from the police and confiscate their belongings, we had a failed coup attempt here in Bahrain, and suspect will be held, until proven innocent. I think you should support this too if you say you really love Bahrain, because if it weren’t for God first, then the GCC government and ours, we would not be living normally now.
Dialogue:- I still have no answer.
I need to know why, please.
About human rights, it has nothing to do with the dialogue, if the human rights societies really do care about humans they would’ve talked about ALL the human rights violations, and not snub us.
Those are some of the human rights violated by the peaceful protesters:
http://brave-bahrain.blogspot.com/2011/04/abusing-human-rights-in-bahrain.html
I agree, human rights have to be taken into consideration, but only if no one is snubbed. We are all humans.
Thanks, and someone please answer my Dialogue Q..
When I say they are used to it i mean they are used to bad treatment from the police! Neither me or you can really talk about this matter cause we were never put in their shoes. We never lived a day in their villages and their homes. Invisible army?? Its a portrait video ie its not a dimensional video which means you cant see everything in the area!!! the smoke next to his thigh must have come from somewhere.. then theres the video of him being treated at home and the wound is clear and now hes in prison according to the list of detainees his name is Essa Maayoof. Anyways I am like you in a sense that I do not support extremists such as mushaima, mohammed khalid, jassim al saeedi, muqdad and that ugly looking monkey that attacked bahrain uni in the video i posted. Al Ekri could be scum now. You’re right but there still isn’t proof. Maybe a government statement and a forced & filmed confession from him or other doctors is enough proof for you. For me it takes a bit more than that to convince me because I always factor in the possibility of government fabrication, confessions under torture (everyone knows the level of torture that happens in bahraini prisons), the hatred towards ali al akri because he exposed the government crimes on international tv therefore this could be revenge. Dont get me wrong I am not saying that this is the case. I am just saying that these are possibilites!
I am tired of commenting on this post thats why I dont want to talk about the dialog. I’ll be happy to take the argument elsewhere in cyber space if you wish. I’ll only say two things. From 2002 up to 2011, all forms of the opposition asked for dialog a total of 43 times and the government totally ignored them. The second thing is there is a lack of trust because of false promises made in 2001 and then reversed in 2002 (national assembly being turned into the lower house). The reason the opposition asked for the government to resign is because they know that the PM has reversed every decision of real democracy in the past. They dont want to repeat the same mistake again. In 1975 he reversed the 1973 constitution and in 2002 he reversed the promise of an upper house parliament! I am not going to argue more on this subject on this blog. Like I said we cant take this elsewhere, so any suggestion because debate is good. We both learn things from each other even though we have different political views
I would rather have this debate here so that others may join, for us both to see the views of others too.
When you say they are used to bad treatment from the police, who do you mean “they” exactly? Ask yourself, why in God’s name will police treat innocent people badly? That doesnt make sense to me.
I would gladly live in their villages! I go there sometimes and I feel sorry for myself that i dont live there! They have colder weather, sea front, lands to plant easily, etc. Lucky! Oh well…
As I said, we both have different views about the ghost soldiers vs fatty, so I say we will find out the truth someday.
“Maybe a government statement and a forced & filmed confession from him or other doctors is enough proof for you. For me it takes a bit more than that to convince me because I always factor in the possibility of government fabrication, confessions under torture ”
He will be tried at court, a fair trial, If he was proven guilty then he’s guilty. Thats proof for me.
“confessions under torture (everyone knows the level of torture that happens in bahraini prisons)”
No, i dont know. I have never been jailed, and i presume you haven’t too.
And finally the dialogue. So you’re telling me that since 2000 til now you didnt witness change? We all voted for the meethaq and everything is stated clearly in the meethaq.
Dialogue is always the answer, opposition want reform, they’ll get it there. Opposition wants fiction like down with regime then that’s treason and will have to suffer the consequences. btw opposition leaders have never said or declined fall of the regime, they shouldn’t have allowed it. The protesters are their responsibility, and any action will be held against the leaders. Unfortunately they did not stop them when they went out of line with saying down with the regime or death to whoever.
The thing that pissed me off the most is when the opposition were not taking us into consideration. They cannot and will not speak behalf of us. We have needs too, we should choose together what needs we want. If there was something opposition wanted and we didnt, then it shouldnt be taken in consideration. For ex, if the opposition wanted an elected PM and we didnt, then we skip to the next.. Until we resolve to something that will benefit both our needs.
I dont know why i have the feeling that you are one of the people who believe that the PM bought the Financial Harbour for BD 1
:p
Just a comment from me on the above:
Regarding HR groups, they only listen to Nabeel Rajab and the Maryam Khawaja so read this
http://proudbahraini.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/bchr-president-nabeel-rajabs-lies-unveiled/
it also covers your comments on the white stuff the protestors use and how NRajab used it to create a story for the press!
And if you want another wikileaks cable http://wikileaks.ch/cable/2005/06/05MANAMA922.html
Abdulhadi Khawaja was the president of BHRO, a subsidiary of “Islamic Front” an islamist terrorism group.
A final video asking protestors to hide weapons from media camera’s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8x_R8s8RbE
And my last comment is a Thank You to BHR.
Thank you ProudBah
It is sad to see Bahrainis trying to defame Bahrain by any means. I dont get it.
Yes we have witnessed change since 2000 no one can deny that. You are confused about one thing. The meethaq or the national charter is different from the constitution! they are two different things… in 2001 people signed the meethaq. The meethaq was very vague. It said that we will have a new constitution and in that constitution we’ll have a parliament but they didnt get into details. From 2001 until 2002, the royal family wrote the constitution behind the scenes and thats what made people go mad for many reasons. First, the people are supposed to write the constitution, not the royal family. Thats how it was in 1973. Then the parliament was downgraded to a lower house. Thats the root of all the problems we have today. I have a very nice documentry somewhere. Ill post the link when i find it. It shows you Sunni and Shia members of the petition signed in the 90s. They tell you exactly what happened. So that was the problem and thats where the lack of trust came from and thats why they wanted guarantees before they can officially start dialog. BTW even though the dialog didnt officially start, the oppostion were meeting with the CP and the national unity group on almost a daily basis.
So you’re saying you have a bigger say. So just because you dont want an elected PM, everyone else that wants it should go to hell? What weight to you have in making this decision??? this was another reason the opposition didnt immediatelly accept the dialog. The dialog was unstructured. Look up past dialogs in history. Theres always something calling VETO where certain groups have percentage of the decision making. For example the state of NY will only have 6% say because its population is 1000 where as the state of texas will have 15% veto power because it has a population of 4500. Veto power is not always based on population. I am using the above just as an example. So another reason was that the dialog was unstructured. In other words the oppostion wanted structured dialog like all democratic dialogs where as some other people wanted unstructured dialog because obviously, if its not structured they can get away with things they want or DONT want.
And please dont make me laugh! why would police hurt innocent people!! Police are not nice people anywhere in the world! Ever heard of police corruption or police brutality?? it exists everywhere in the world. “Police are there to protect people” and “they are there to save us” are things we were tought in nursery. Sorry to burst your bubble but when you grow you’re supposed to know that they’re not angels. Especially the ones we have in bahrain. They are uneducated and most of them come from very rough areas in the world. Also they come from very tribal anti shia backgrounds. There are schools in saudi and yeman that teach kids the most disgusting things about shia! Some even go as far as telling them that shias have tails hahahahaahah. I swear this isnt a joke. One of my saudi friends told me this! So basically when you have some police men with a very anti shia mentality, they dehumanize the shias which leads them to things such as torturing, steeling from them and killing them
Not all their villages are on the sea or in agricultural areas but some of them are and its their right to live their. Their ancestors lived there for 100s and thousands of years. Way before the royal family came to bahrain (Only 220) years ago!
Confessions under torture, 4 deaths in prison in 9 days! thats all i need to say for anyone in the world to believe that torture exists in bahraini prisons! common it is quiet obvious so stop denying it. Even the MOI admitted that 5 of their staff tortured ali saqer to death. Thats not mentioning the testimonies of released detainees! they are all consistent. They all talk about the same methods of torture. Using a rubber hose or hanging them in the chicken position. In arabic “The Failaqa” position. Also watch this video of this doctor that was just released from prison. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQQ_RieWONU
You cant blame the black eye on her husband because her husband is also in jail!!!
Buddy a fair trial is when u get to choose your lawyer. A fair trial is when you lawyer is given enough time to look into the facts! A fair trial is in a civilian court. Not a court with 2 civilian judges and Military judge that has the power to reverse any decision that the civilian judge makes. For example, on thursday at the trial of the 21 political heads, the civilian judge agreed on the lawyers request of having the 21 opposition heads released on bail until the courts verdict. The military judge denied it! When you have a military judge, it is not a fair trial. When the defendants family does not know the whereabouts of the detainee until the day of the court hearing, it is not a fair trial! also when they only get 1 or 2 one minutes phone calls to their families in 2 months, it is not a fair trial. When they only have access to lawyers a week before the trial (in some cases only 24 hours), then it is not a fair trial. So stop listening to all this bullsh*t the government feeds you and start reading more into FAIR trials and past political dialogs to have an idea of how the modern world REALLY is.
As for the oppostion, they dont have full control on everyone on the streets. They didnt call for the fall of the regime but if other people were calling for it, it is their job to respect their opinions as long as they do it peacefully. How undemocratic will it be for a person thats preaching for democratic change to tell people “Hey you cannot express your views the way you want to. Just express your views the way I tell you to”
This is for proudBH: Did i ever say nabeel rajab is a reliable source? Do you think these international organizations that come to bahrain only go to nabeel rajab? NO they dont. they run their own independents investigations. They interview tens and 100s of people, they gather forensic evidence and they go from site to site and inspect things with their own eyes. Some journalists also come here and do their own research! the film their own clips and they interview people from villages and see things with their own eyes! so nice try but i think using nabeel rajab to try to discredit the things i said was an epic fail from your side since i never mentioned his name! Also, people are allowed to make mistakes, that wikileaks document says he made a mistake once! show us the other wikileaks documents that state the king of bahrain has secret connection with Mosaad? where are the other wikileaks documents that talk about the PMs corruption? Where are the wikileaks documents where the king admits to the americans that he has no evidence of iranian or hezballah interference in bahrain? what about the other wikileaks documents that state the americans havent found any evidence of iranian influence since the 90s?? Stop being so Biased! Also, when did i say that they people at the rdbt didnt have white weapons? You are going off topic because you have lost this argument so you are trying to bring up other events to try to make up for the lack of valid comebacks
Now back to you BRN and i promise this will be the last time i Post here, i prefer a live rally group chat! when a bahraini goes on TV and talks about the human rights violations, he/she is not ruining the image of his/her country. He wants to make the world aware of whats happening! you cant say “hey i just got shot by a weapon that is only used on animals and banned world wide [shotgun], but im gonna keep my mouth shut and not tell the world because i dont want to ruin my government’s reputation” Also, you have ignored answering a lot of point I’ve mentioned on this blog post since the beginning.. is it because you dont have an answer to everything i say or is it because you forgot?
PS. BRN: are u a muslim? tir6′a 3al quraan? watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEnCZxAve5s&feature=youtu.be
You’re blind if you still think the police in bahrain are there to help the people and not to hurt innocent people. If police have the heart to shoot our holiest book. They are able to do anything! WATCH THE VIDEO AND DONT IGNORE IT LIKE YOU DID WITH THE OTHER VIDEOS I POSTED
Oh also to proudBH, umm i read your blog and i also searched “nabeel rajab tear gas white residue on contact” and the only thing that came out was your blog. So please paste a link for me that states that nabeel rajab said that the new gas leaves white residue. All he said is that they are using a new nerve gas WITHOUT the white residue part! I said this in a previous post, the white powder is used by protesters to prevent the effects of tear gas! they use it in all demonstrations. They DONT use it to make the media think that the tear gas leaves white residue on the body. If some reporter was stupid enough to think that, then it is his/her problem!
Another vid that proves its a sectarian revolution–
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBgqazI_vWs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Ya kubraha 3ind Allah..
How does this video prove its a sectarian revolution? the video is in iraq! whatever they say is up to them! if they want to make it sectarian its up to them.. it doesn’t reflect on the bahrainis.. its not like the bahrainis told them to go on stage and say this… i have come to the conclusions that you do not have any valid points to argue about anymore so you and proudBH are desperately trying to go off track and open up other subjeccts.. u are also showing baseless videos that dont really prove anything PLUS you are ignoring responding to a lot of my valid points! If you are going to have a debate make sure its an intelligent one and make sure you use videos that are power, clear and make sense! not like the video in iraq that you just posted ahaahah
Shut up sophie you shia scum! show us your real name if you r a man. Dont hide behind the screen. You guys will never take over our beloved king because you are cowards.. all of you. Go to Iran where you belong and leave this country for the people that like it. Bahrain is part of the GCC sunni kings. no place for your shia towel head imams
Let me ask you a simple Question, why is it that the Iran, Iraq, and the terrorist group Hizbellat are the only ones condeming the “violence on shii’tes” in Bahrain? Isn’t this enough evidence that they are promoting sectarian hatred and violence and what not? With puppets they have here like Nabeel Rajab who is trying to make it as sectarian as possible? Read what Nabeel writes, everytime he says Shiite Doctors are being arrested, Shiite protesters are being tried for death penalties, shiite workers are being sacked, shiite, shiite, shiite. Do you think this was a cooincidence? He doesn’t call them killers, murderers, criminals, or whatever, he says Shiites. How much more evidence do you need to prove my point that it was a sectarian uprising? Shame on people who believe in such goons like Nabeel and the Khawajas. You should condemn them for inciting hatred amongst fellow Bahrainis. To me, it doesnt matter what sect or religion or whatever was comitting crimes, if you commit crimes then suffer the consequences. Ibrahim Shareef is Sunni, and if he was guilty of the charges on him, I hope he receives the harshest verdict, i feel no sympathy for people like them, no matter what sect.
If the opposition cannot control the people on the streets then this is CLEAR EVIDENCE that Bahrain is NOT READY for a democracy.
I dont see whats ur point on the Veto, its not applicable to your debate.
Police are here to restore law and order, if someone chooses to do something that is against the law, than he shall face the consequence, this is All around the world and this is a no brainer.
About the video in Iraq, did you see who was speaking? Don’t tell me its Iraqis and its there views.
Police brutality, like i said previously, if anyone was convicted for brutality, then he shall also face consequences. I told you this proves that the Government is fair.
I am muslim more than you can ever be, thammnow kalamekum before talking please.
The guy dressed in the “kafan” thing is the one who was commiting the mistake in the first place. Why was he wearing the “I’m the next martyr” and why did he Even bring the Holy Quraan with him to Provoke the police who were restoring order. He had no right to be there in the middle of the street first of all, he had no right to be in a protest when protests were banned in the State of National Security, he had no right to provoke, etc.Yes it is wrong to hit the Quraan, but it is Even MORE wrong to MISUSE the Quraan.
“As for the oppostion, they dont have full control on everyone on the streets. They didnt call for the fall of the regime but if other people were calling for it, it is their job to respect their opinions as long as they do it peacefully.”
Back to this statement, it is the oppositions job to respect their opinion? My friend, this is not an opinion. This is Treason. Also, if the Opposition heads stayed quiet about this subject it means that they are with those chants, and also about the death chants, and also about the naturalized citizens go out chants. The word peaceful has been raped in Bahrain in so many ways.
Yes it is a fair trial in Bahrain, if you have no evidence about it not being a fair trial then please stay out of this statement. Nabeel Rajab and the Khawajas are not evidence, because they have so so so many contradicting points. Plus they are goons.
“Not all their villages are on the sea or in agricultural areas but some of them are and its their right to live their. Their ancestors lived there for 100s and thousands of years. Way before the royal family came to bahrain (Only 220) years ago!”
Elaborate on the only 220 years ago please. And is it that All the villagers are grandchildren of the people who you’re saying “OWN” Bahrain originally? History, my friend, history.
And whats with the “haha”‘s? Is this all funny to you all of a sudden?
I dont get you.
Anyway, now that Bahrain is going forward again, i think there are some steps that need to be dealt with so that nothing of this sort happens again:
- I think opposition heads should quit, other opposition heads should take their place.
- The opposition should take the majority into consideration before speaking about what they want and not think they all of a sudden are the only ones here.
- The TGONU is a marvelous idea and i think they should work on it extremely hard.
- Scum like Nabeel Rajab and the Khawajas who are trying to create as much sectarian hatred and who are distorting facts globally just to try to defame our beloved Bahrain’s image, and who call the Peninsula Shield Force “i7telaal S3oodi” disrespecting our Saudi brothers and and also trying to create hatred between fellow GCC brothers, should be taught a lesson of national unity by us citizens and we should fight against them and should speak against them and we all should show them that they will never prevail. I hope there is a law for taking the nationality away from them.
For all of who want a summary of the events in Bahrain, here is a great video that shows everything.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsR_hRQ-nHQ
Again you have proven your low level of intelligence. The video was not taken during martial law. It was taken next to the seef area and the last time any demonstrations took place there was in mid march during the time that the CP told ppl that they can camp at the roundabout. Why do you keep mentioning nabeel rajab? when did i ever bring him up in this topic? did i ever use his as a source? also another desperate step taken from your side. 3indama ta3jaz 3an il kalaam, tu3′ayir il maw6′oo3. BTW not only did iraq, iran and hezbollah condemn the violence. The EU, US, UN, amnesty international, human rights watch, human rights first, most recently germany, france and norway. Add them to your imaginary list of iranian agents AHAHAHAHAHAAHAH yes it has turned funny because you are now acting like a sore loser by bringing up other subject and not responding to most of the points and videos i bring up and post and when u do respond, you say something totally nonsensical so yes i will laugh my ass off. So the guy that was dressed in white and did not lay a finger on the cops deserved what he got ha? Allah esam7ik.. thats all i have to say… theres no point in chatting with someone that dehumanizes a person just because he stood bravely in the face of MERCENARIES that were brought to this country specifically to harm the countries own citizens! and yes they were brought here to harm the bahraini citizens. If the government had no intention to harm and abuse its own citizens, it would have used bahrainis in the riot police force but instead it has brought mercanaries from some of the roughest places on earth because they know that most bahrainis, whether sunni or shia will not have the heart to harm another bahraini. Im pretty sure you know this but you are now going to reply with another nonsensical response! I never said that the villagers own bahrain. AGAIN another very desperate off topic response! i just said that they were here before them and these are the villages of their ancestors. They have a connection to these villages.
I dont think the opposition should quit. I do think they should improve though I must admit. The TGNU started off good but that monkey Abdul Latif almahmood went off track and started spreading hate which is weird because he was opposing the government in the 90s. He was also jailed and claimed that he was tortured for a month in the 90s. He was also one of the signatories to the petition of bringing back the 1973 constitution. Now hes changed. Maybe its the money. Also read the Bander Gate report which was written in 2006. bandar clearly states that in case of political turmoil, the government should release abdul latif al mahmood (or someone similar to him) to move the sunni crowd.
If you want a summary of torture, human right violations, killings along with videos of national unity slogans, in massive marches in bahrain check out this link: http://www.4shared.com/dir/xx0vj9ar/FEB_14_Bahrain.html
and *&^% you bu ibrahim i am steeling ur name! its scum bags like u that need to be kicked out of this country
I forgot to mention 2 things: I also find it really funny and mentally hilarious that you think the fact that the 5 cops that were responsible for torture “proves how fair the government is”.. dont forget that the government denied he was tortured in the beginning and also accused nabeel rajab of fabricating the pictures he posted.. the only reason they are taking the 5 policemen to court is to show the world that they are fair because they really got a big smack in the face after Human rights watch also, Associated Press and BBC all released videos and photos that were identical to nabeel rajabs pictures and videos. They were all present when he was being washed before burial and im sure you’ve seen the BBC video of the BBC reporter telling the minister (Al Bulooshi) that he saw the torture marks himself. OHHHH the look on her face when he said that hahahaha. Heres the video incase you havent seen it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jBqUMYt09o
i love the title “BBC roasts lying bahrain health minister”
So yeah basically it was an embarrassment for the bahraini government, therefore they had to do something about it. They had to “investigate” in order to improve their already terrible reputation
Second point is: I asked you nicely to research political dialogs and you didnt thats why your response to VETO powers was very weak. This also leads to me to the belief that you have a very weak political and human rights background. Theres absolutely nothing wrong with that but I’de rather have an argument or debate that is political competent
“The CP told ppl that they can camp at the roundabout.” You forgot to mention he said that you have to care about the other people’s needs/lives and put them into consideration.
“So the guy that was dressed in white and did not lay a finger on the cops deserved what he got ha? Allah esam7ik.. thats all i have to say… theres no point in chatting with someone that dehumanizes a person just because he stood bravely in the face of MERCENARIES that were brought to this country specifically to harm the countries own citizens!”
Stood bravely in the face of Mercenaries? Whats brave about that? Thats absurd! Who the hell goes on to provoke “mercenary” Police? Whats the point? Why would someone “bravely” stand in front of police dressed as a next martyr and misuse the holy Quraan? Thats insanity. Its people who think like you with your racist remarks and ur absurd theories that take Bahrain one step back while we go two steps forward. Wake up. No Bahrainis in the Riot police? Where do you get your info from? I know MANY Bahrainis in the Riot police personally, and honestly, if i were working in the Riot police, i would DEFINATELY use force against Bahrainis if necessary whether sunni or shii’te. i dont think you understand the sentence, read it slowly and carefully… NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.
“The EU, US, UN, amnesty international, human rights watch, human rights first, most recently germany, france and norway.”
None of the Governments actually condemned the situation. US Sec of Defense Robert Gates and Sec Hilary Clinton both said that there is proof of Iranian interference, or you magically forgot that? Amnesty, HRW, and other NGOs were talking about the human rights violations n Bahrain, but as we both agreed to, they are not a credible source because they seem to snub us and do not care one bit about the sunnis. Same goes to International Media. Tell me why is it that the whole GCC, Malaysia, Spain, Morocco, US, Turkia, Jordan, Pakistan, India, Thailand, China, France, UK, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, and other Governments have not been taking a major stance (most even standing hand on hand with Bahrain’s Gov) against the situation in Bahrain? Its because its a disgrace, a disgusting attempt to overthrow the regime by force while chanting peaceful peaceful. The only ones that condemned His Majesty the King and his Govt are Iran’s Government members like Salehi and co., and the non government people who condemned Bahrain Gov are Hezbulat, Iraq Shiite clerics and movement, Khamanai or whatever his name is, and some people from the west who, like you know, think we dont exist and are extremely biased. And they all go back to Nabeel Rajab and the Khawajas, disgrace to Human Rights.
“I dont think the opposition should quit”
I said opposition heads. They should definetly quit. Especially Ali Salman. Other realistic opposition heads should take their place.
“that monkey Abdul Latif almahmood went off track and started spreading hate which is weird because he was opposing the government in the 90s. He was also jailed and claimed that he was tortured for a month in the 90s.”
That proves that Abdul Latif Al Mahmood is liberal, he is not a Gov’t puppet, he actually wants the benefit of the people. This also proves how more democratic Bahrain has been since the 00′s, now there is freedom of speech. Im interested to know how you think he is spreading hate? BTW some in Bahrain now are abusing the freedom of speech and are creating hate and sectarianism and lies and whatnot like Nabeelo and his gang. Even in UK it is against the law to talk bad about the Queen.
“dont forget that the government denied he was tortured in the beginning”
I think you should check what the MOI stated. Ministry of Interior said it was because he has been resisting policemen in prison. You never know what that means, anyway he’s a cold blooded killer, he ran over two policemen, and then ran over another protester, killed him.
About Blooshi the Minister, she said they’ll look into it, they are, they people involved will be tried. I dont see whats funny.
Clear as water, if you cant see it than you have a problem. Smack your head twice, spill water on your face, smell the coffee. The biggest mistake and the biggest regret the Opp Heads have now are that they did not Enter the dialogue, is it because of………? Use your imagination here.
Bahrainis who do not defend their counrty, and are happy when the country’s name is defamed, do Not deserve to be called Bahrainis and Do Not deserve to live here either.
Allah Kareem.
Hi, wow, I wish I had the time to read ALL the comments, but I dont. But I lived through the time of unrest. I saw the violence at the roundabout, at the university. I saw the so called “marriage contracts” the one for 1 hour or so. Oh yes they call them in the West “prostitution”, but here there are a certain group of shia’s who dont have a problem to “marry” under age girls off for an hour or so. Well it was for the freedom of Bahrain. I am a Westerner who lived in Bahrain for the last 27 years. And let me tell you: one of my happiest day in my life was when the army interferred. I saw many peaceful demos here in Bahrain. But the February thing was pure madness and later pure violence. How these people did this to their fellow Bahrainis was disgusting. No country is perfect, but Bahrainis have a nice stable secure peaceful life here. Everybody respects the other (until recently), everybody can practice their faith. What on earth do you want more?!
If these demonstrators would come to power – Bahrain would go down in a minute. Imagine these shameless people who were lying from day one like they were in a lying contest, would run our country??!! No thanks.
I got an idea: anybody who does not agree with our leaders – emigrate!
Long live the king!!