<\/p>\n
Folks,
\u00c2
The following reports–from both anti- and pro-government advocates–are primarily and directly from a wide variety of people in the Kingdom of Bahrain regarding the ongoing breakdown of civil society and eruption into a possible civil war.<\/p>\n
\u00c2
Should other members of the press wish to be included on these updates, just send a note asking to be added to the "Bahrain Update", though given the harsh crackdown currently going on in the Kingdom and the silencing of all opposition, along with the collaboration of the international media,\u00c2 this brief outpouring\u00c2 from democratic\u00c2 voices may\u00c2 be snuffed out very soon.\u00c2 And, yes, the international media are almost all paroting the line that "Bahrain is not Libya", as a way to justify covering up the brutal suppression now\u00c2 going on in Bahrain by the Al Khalifa monarchy.\u00c2 \u00c2 The fact that the Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain and the fact that the US is completely dependent on\u00c2 and addicted to Saudi-monarchy oil–i.e. oil doled out by a corrupt and sclerotic\u00c2 regime, and that both regimes–indeed all GCC regimes–in turn, are kept in power by US guns, makes all the difference, apparently.\u00c2 Shame, shame, shame on the United States of America.
\n\u00c2
The US, which stations the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, is apparently answering the question clearly of whether or not it will continue to support the Al Khalifa regime which has ruled the 33-island nation for over 200 years or support the majority of the population who desire democratic governmental structures.\u00c2 The US\u00c2 is clearly\u00c2 supporting the existing Al-Khalifa monarchy, putting its oil interests ahead of its supposed democratic principles.\u00c2 The US is justifying its actions by alleging that the protesters are simply tools of Iran and are being manipulated by Iranian agents.\u00c2 Moreover, they claim that the conflict is purely sectarian generated with Shias upset at the Sunnis for no real material reason.\u00c2 Such foolishness, however, is only for consumption by the American public.\u00c2 All any American has to ask her- or himself is how they would feel being ruled over by one single\u00c2 family for over 200 years to realize the idiocy of the current line emanating from Washington, DC.\u00c2 Moreover, US history is replete with examples of discrimination (i.e. lack of opportunity, denial of jobs, low wages, etc.) based upon one's ethnicity and\/or religious affiliation. Such idiocy and abandonment of America's stated principles of practicing and supporting democracy is what got the US kicked out of Iran in 1979.\u00c2 Don't kid yourselves; it can happen again with even more dire consequences.\u00c2 Back then, the US supported another King, the Shah\u00c2 of\u00c2 Iran, because it is easier to deal with\u00c2 one corrupt\u00c2 SOB than with a\u00c2 government of the people and many voices.\u00c2 As well, be wary of so-called "experts" arguing that Bahrain is unimportant, too small, and that the media's focus should be directed solely\u00c2 at events in Libya.\u00c2 To the contrary, as strategic thinktank Stratfor noted on March 8, 2011:\u00c2 "Unlike Libya, where the effects are primarily internal, the events in Bahrain clearly involve Saudi, Iranian and U.S. interests."\u00c2 Oh, and why did Gaddafi succeed in coming to power in Libya in 1969?\u00c2 That's right,\u00c2 the USA was\u00c2 supporting another hated monarch.\u00c2 And, make no mistake that Saudi troops intervening in Bahrain this week could have only occurred with US approval and encouragement.\u00c2 Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived\u00c2 in Bahrain on March 11th to talk with the King and the Crown Prince, and on Monday, March 14th, i.e. three days later,\u00c2 Saudi and GCC troops\u00c2 entered Bahrain to restore "stability" to the Kingdom.\u00c2 \u00c2 It does not appear that the stand-off in Bahrain can be abated; instead, both sides are entrenched.\u00c2 The likely outcome is either the overthrow of the monarchy or the opposition will be beaten into submission, resulting in a bloodbath, with US-supplied weaponry.\u00c2 \u00c2 From all accounts, the beating into submission as well as the\u00c2 bloodbath has begun.\u00c2 \u00c2 For US citizens, it is another lost opportunity…<\/p>\n
\u00c2
Names and other identifying information have been removed and\/or redacted in order to protect the safety of the sender[s].
\u00c2
regards,
\u00c2
csc <\/p>\n
[redacted]<\/p>\n
Although indirectly, it's good to hear from you. I mean the 'Bahrain Update' of course.<\/p>\n
[redacted]<\/p>\n
As you know, Bahrain is a hotbed of action now, much of it totally unnecessary. As a follower of non-violence, I am very upset at & unsettled by the turn of events here. We're all just waiting to see what follows now.<\/p>\n
Do keep in touch.<\/p>\n
[redacted]<\/p>\n
———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 1:36 AM
Subject: Re: updates
\u00c2 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The question is whether it will take another 20+ years (1968-1989) for regional (Arab) dictatorships to be replaced by governments that rule with the express consent of the governed. Egypt and Tunisia have taken the first step. Yemen and Libya may follow, but whether these revolutions will result in genuine political reforms or just pave the way to dictatorships by another name is the question. Past experience is not always encouraging: Farouk–Mubarak; Idris–Gaddafi; Shah-mullahs; and earlier Louis XVI–Robespierre, Reign of Terror, Napoleon; Tsar–Stalin, etc.<\/p>\n
As the Chinese (supposedly) say: We live in interesting times.<\/p>\n
[redacted]<\/p><\/div>\n
The Crackdown in Bahrain & The Silencing of the Opposition<\/font><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n <\/font>By:\u00c2 <\/span>Freedom Writer<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n I feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m back in the 90s only it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s slightly worse.\u00c2 <\/span>At least in the 90s, the curfew wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t official and it started at 9 or 10 p.m., and the random shooting was less than now in quantity and less widely spread.<\/font><\/p>\n It is official now: \u00c2 <\/span>the king and the crown prince are not the main commanders or, at least, not directly. Officially, the king delegated BDF Commander-in-Chief Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa to be in charge during the next three months under the emergency state law or, as the government calls it, the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153State of National Safety\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; of course, they mean the safety of the royal family and their slaves from extinction.<\/font><\/p>\n Some news are surfacing saying the Crown Prince is angry because he was marginalized by the elderly of his family and that his chance to reach an agreement for dialogue was ruined because of their rash actions. \u00c2 <\/span>As much as I understand the optimism and hope those people advocating this news have, it still makes me laugh inside. Everyone with the least bit of experience with the Al Khalifa and an open mind knows that they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a sincere bone in their body. \u00c2 <\/span>It is naive for anyone to assume the Crown Prince meant to implement real change. \u00c2 <\/span>The first indication of this was that in his appearances on Bahrain TV during the past month he made a lot of contradictions in his statements; in one sentence, he would say that there is no limit to the oppositions\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 demands, then, he would add that one party cannot control the terms of dialogue! \u00c2 <\/span>Also, during the first interview he had on the 18th<\/sup> February 2011, he said that all protesters have the right to demonstrate and express their views, but, meanwhile outside, they were being shot with live ammunition on their way to Lulu (i.e. the Pearl Roundabout)! \u00c2 <\/span>That was the day that our martyr, Ridha BuHumaid, was hit by a sniper with two bullets in his head. \u00c2 <\/span>He was marching bare-chested and shouting peaceful slogans with a number of protesters who wanted to return to Lulu after attending the funeral of our first martyr, Ali Mushaima. \u00c2 <\/span>Ridha passed away two days later. \u00c2 <\/span>The Crown Prince disappeared after that shooting for two to three weeks and then came out with his second interview, adding nothing new to the first one and repeating the same contradictions with no tangible response to the opposition\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s terms to begin dialogue. \u00c2 <\/span>On Sunday 13th<\/sup> of March 2011, after the protesters sitting in front of Bahrain Financial Harbor were raided and the scandals of the brutality of the police were broadcast all over the international media, the Crown Prince issued a statement, that was read on Bahrain national television, saying he accepted the opposition\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s terms for dialogue, i.e. a parliament with full legislative powers, a government that represents the people, and beginning to look into the files of state property (a case previously brought up by Wefaq representatives in parliamentary sessions asking to investigate royal properties and how state property was taken over by and used for projects for the benefit of the royal court and the royal family). \u00c2 <\/span>To an outsider, and to some people inside of Bahrain, accepting such terms seems like a pretty decent offer; however, the Crown Prince neglected two very important points in this weak concession. \u00c2 <\/span>First, he ignored a vital term of the opposition\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s original request, which was to hold accountable all persons sharing the responsibility for political persecutions, imprisoning resisters of conscience, and the deaths and injuries caused during the Lulu uprising, considering the human rights violations in those cases.\u00c2 <\/span>The second reason why his apparent acceptance of the opposition\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s terms of dialogue was weak is that it was clear that he was merely throwing in his last card so as to appear as if he was sincere.\u00c2 <\/span>To the contrary, however, it was obvious that he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t serious about accepting any terms of the opposition because of the following reasons: first, he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deliver this apparent \u00e2\u20ac\u0153acceptance\u00e2\u20ac\u009d himself; second, Ministry of Interior agents dressed in civilian clothing had already spread out around the country that evening and started creating chaos everywhere and intimidating people, using, for example, fire arms in Janabeya\/Sar area and in Aali; thirdly, people received the news about the arrival of the Peninsula Shield that night indicating that a brutal crackdown was imminent. \u00c2 <\/span>If there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s anything I believe in as regards the Crown Prince, it is that I think he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably very furious right now for losing the spotlight and a chance to overthrow or usurp the power from his father. \u00c2 <\/span>So forgive me if I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hold so much faith in him or any of the Al Khalifa to begin with.<\/font><\/p>\n In all cases, the Crown Prince isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the only one furious at the current situation; for very different reasons, of course, we in the opposition are also frustrated. \u00c2 <\/span>These people in charge now are quite medieval and uncivilized. \u00c2 <\/span>Massive arrests have been taking and are continuing to take place, including arrests of all of our opposition leaders. \u00c2 <\/span>They are being charged with treason and collaboration with foreign forces in an attempt to corrupt Bahrain! \u00c2 <\/span>Rumors are now circulating that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been taken to Saudi Arabia. \u00c2 <\/span>I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know about that, for Bahraini prisons are horrible enough as they are. \u00c2 <\/span>I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be quite worried if they are in Saudi Arabia for real though. \u00c2 <\/span>Two of them, Ebrahim Sharif and Hassan Mushaimae, had their arrests videotaped and were taken with heavy police presence. \u00c2 <\/span>Ebrahim Sharif was escorted away from his house by 40 policemen! \u00c2 <\/span>Abdul Wahhab Hussain, however, was taken roughly, and his home was ransacked in the process. \u00c2 <\/span>Evidence of this description is in my footnotes below.<\/font><\/p>\n We all know that the state of emergency is just a cover for all the crimes committed and yet to be committed by the Al Khalifa. \u00c2 <\/span>Besides all the past killing and injuring, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s now time for retribution on the opposition. \u00c2 <\/span>We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been through this before. \u00c2 <\/span>They start by arresting the key figures, then they arrest the less-famous activists, and then random people are rounded up based on family names and\/or areas they live in; after that are the fabricated accusations against anyone else. \u00c2 <\/span>During this and afterwards, they will fire people from their jobs and discrimination in employment will worsen. <\/font><\/p>\n We already know that curfew laws apply only in Shia areas and villages. \u00c2 <\/span>We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already received text messages from phone companies and outlets letting us know that they are open in Riffa and Muharraq\u00e2\u20ac\u201dareas habituated by predominantly Sunni and\/or royalists.<\/font><\/p>\n Currently, as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m typing this, SMC (Salmaniya Medical Complex), the main hospital in Bahrain that has all the injured from before 15th<\/sup> of March 2011 when the Bahrain Defense Force (BDF) took it over, is being emptied of all documents referring to the cases of the injured in Lulu or Lulu related attacks. \u00c2 <\/span>Nurses are barred from using elevators by riot police.\u00c2 <\/span>The injured are all being moved to a Ministry of Interior facility (prison) in AlHodh AlJaf\u00e2\u20ac\u201da remote area in Muharraq. \u00c2 <\/span>This facility is infamous for torture; even the windows there are secured form outside, but, from the inside, the glass is broken slightly, so that no one can touch it or be able to use the glass to commit suicide when desperate.<\/font><\/p>\n Today, they brought in tanks to my area and neighboring areas to make sure Friday prayers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t develop into something more. \u00c2 <\/span>The numbers of people who gathered in response were phenomenal despite the incredible amount of military force present.<\/font><\/p>\n The people are also responding positively to the demolishing of the Lulu (or Pearl) roundabout and monument. \u00c2 <\/span>First, the people were heartbroken, but then shortly afterwards they were making jokes about the regime\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s folly for thinking this will diminish their spirits. \u00c2 <\/span>\u00c2 <\/span>Sayings like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153they couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take down the protesters, so they vented out on the roundabout\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201cit rhymes in Arabic\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand others are pretty much everywhere. \u00c2 <\/span>Everywhere you turn, this sarcasm and criticism of the regime is expressed in one way or another. \u00c2 <\/span>The best point to me was that people were saying that the demolition of the Lulu roundabout and monument is a victory to us in some way. \u00c2 <\/span>The Pearl Monument consisted of six pillars representing the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, and the Pearl on top represented the significance of pearl diving in our history. \u00c2 <\/span>It took the arrival of the so-called Peninsula Shield to unjustly evacuate the roundabout.\u00c2 <\/span>They still didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t beat down the people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s will, and they demolished the one visible monument symbolizing the cooperation of the six monarchs, thus symbolizing their own downfall.\u00c2 <\/span>How ironic that these autocratic leaders are forewshadowing their own destruction! \u00c2 <\/span>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when you see people interpreting things so positively in the middle of all that has been going on that you realize these people will not surrender easily if at all.<\/font><\/p>\n People are continuing to resist and make small gestures of self-expression still. \u00c2 <\/span>Every day now, since the curfew was enforced, two times per day, people go up on their rooftops all over the surrounding areas and shout \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Allah Akbar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Allah is greater) in unison, as in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153greater than all the injustice coming from the regime.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2 <\/span>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quite amusing to see how this provokes the police. \u00c2 <\/span>The minute people break into chorus, riot police jeeps start going up and down the streets firing sound bombs and tear gas and helicopters start hovering pretty low and aiming spotlights on rooftops. \u00c2 <\/span>There were incidents where riot police got carried away and started chasing people inside villages for shouting \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Allah Akbar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, and it was reported that the military even used bird shotguns as well and vandalized people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cars that were parked outside in the Jidhafs and Daih areas.<\/font><\/p>\n One of our tragedies now is that even during daytime and before the curfew starts, there are checkpoints where riot police are free to inspect cars, people, and confiscate whatever the hell they please if they believe the person is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153suspicious.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00c2 <\/span>Of course, it is not specified anywhere what is their criteria for a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153suspicious\u00e2\u20ac\u009d person. \u00c2 <\/span>This has throttled people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s willingness to go out and fulfill their needs even during daytime, simply to avoid trouble. \u00c2 <\/span>Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it ironic that these people are reportedly on our streets under the pretext of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcsafety and security\u00e2\u20ac\u2122? \u00c2 <\/span>Then again, in a monarchy, everything is about the monarch and not about the people.\u00c2 <\/span>Who are we to demand security and free will, much less freedom of speech, belief, and association? \u00c2 <\/span>In my footnotes below, I refer to a couple of incidents with checkpoints. \u00c2 <\/span>That aside, there are the occasional drive-by shootings of tear gas and sound bombs in our area and, if they feel like it, hey, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll shoot at a few houses or at passersby with rubber bullets or others, just to show people who is in charge!<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>Speaking of the submission a monarchy demands of people, let me just express my frustration with some Bahrainis. \u00c2 <\/span>I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get into the topic of royalists, of course, who treat the king as a God who cannot be questioned, even though their religion\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwhich they hold so much pride in\u00e2\u20ac\u201dsays they should question their rulers and be honest with them. \u00c2 <\/span>Let me talk instead about those who say that we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seize the chance and accept the dialogue with the Crown Prince or that we aimed too high by calling for the fall of the regime. \u00c2 <\/span>Besides my long argument above about why I, or many others, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe in the Crown Prince, do these Bahrainis really think so low of themselves to feel that they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deserve more? \u00c2 <\/span>They think that a king or a state official is gracious for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153letting\u00e2\u20ac\u009d us have partial rights? \u00c2 <\/span>Really? Again, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not talking about royalists here whose interests lie with the continuity of the monarchy\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been bought and paid for. \u00c2 <\/span>I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m talking instead about ordinary people, getting squat from the government.\u00c2 <\/span>Some ordinary Bahrainis are neutral about the uprising and some are in the opposition.\u00c2 <\/span>But there is a segment of the Bahraini population that really believes that we shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t aim high and that we are not \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ready for a democracy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d!!! \u00c2 <\/span>These are the ones that really make me speechless!\u00c2 <\/span>I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see what legitimacy they find in the current regime. \u00c2 <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n Twenty-four parliament members from the National Assembly and Shura Council collectively have resigned; fourteen judges, including the king\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advisor to the Supreme Judicial Council have resigned; two members of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and three ministers as well have resigned! \u00c2 <\/span>Somehow, all of this is not alarming the royalists, international leaders, or international media. \u00c2 <\/span>Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t they realize the significance of this in a small country like Bahrain?\u00c2 <\/span>The regime has no legitimacy!<\/font><\/p>\n Of course, I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny that our government goes out of its way to brainwash the willfully ignorant. \u00c2 <\/span>Besides the previously-mentioned blunt attempts to stain the uprising and its supporters, the regime has moved up a notch to be just plain disrespectful.\u00c2 <\/span>They have published in AlAyam<\/i> newspaper\u00e2\u20ac\u201da \u00c2 <\/span>royalist publication\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe picture of one of the martyrs, Ahmed Abdulla, saying he was a policeman that fell in confrontation! \u00c2 <\/span>Links explaining this are in my footnotes. \u00c2 <\/span>Also, they showed the picture of another martyr, Ahmed Farhan (the one that got hit by a fission bullet that spilled his brains on the ground\u00e2\u20ac\u201dgraphic pictures were linked in previous emails of the Bahrain Update), saying that it was an archived picture from Palestine, consciously ignoring that there are videos and pictures documenting his injuries in a Bahraini neighborhood then at a Bahraini hospital (Sitra Health Center). \u00c2 <\/span>I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen this propaganda myself, so I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure how accurate it is, but I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t put it past them at this point.\u00c2 <\/span>Royalist publications are seldom read nor believed by those who do read them . <\/font><\/p>\n Other than that, there are the claims referred to in your last email by some pro-monarch supporter trying to stain the uprising and cover the inhumanity of the oppression by creating incriminating stories about the opposition. The opposition itself published the video of the Asian Ministry of Interior employees being caught in Manama attacking citizens; Bahrain TV then used this video to claim that protesters attacked Asians without mercy. \u00c2 <\/span>Explanations about this and another video about a policeman being run over are also in the footnotes. \u00c2 <\/span>Of course, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard of some isolated incidents where royalists claimed protesters targeted Asians for being paid to participate in government rallies and become members of thug gang attacks, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t personally know of anyone who harmed them; still, I cannot guarantee that there were no isolated incidents. \u00c2 <\/span>I just hate for neutral folks, more than royalists, to make such charges in an attempt to equate the opposition with the regime.\u00c2 <\/span>Note that in every statement and speech made on the roundabout, people emphasized and reemphasized that the regime was the one to be targeted and no one else was to be harassed, as the others were understood to be helpless agents. \u00c2 <\/span>So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d say shame on anyone trying to use those incidents in any way to demean the movement and the uprising and to say it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t peaceful, because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just outrageous. \u00c2 <\/span>Of course, I refrain from even discussing anything with those saying that blocking a road is not civil disobedience and that it forces people not to go to work. Blocking the road leading to the Bahrain Financial Harbor was intended to last two hours only; the companies in question were alerted 12 hours earlier about this, and it was announced on media outlets; besides, alternative routes were accessible. \u00c2 <\/span>To the contrary, it was the violent crackdown by the regime that caused the protesters to go block the road completely and indefinitely and create protection barriers around Lulu and the BFH areas from all sides to prevent the entry of riot police and Ministry of Interior thugs who were set loose that day, starting with the violence at the University of Bahrain and the resulting destruction of the ELC and other places. <\/font><\/p>\n Another setback we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re facing is that the government is now more fiercely blocking the international media from entering the country.\u00c2 <\/span>Some reporters, like Nick Kristof, received threats from members of the royal family directly as he tweeted. \u00c2 <\/span>AlAlam and Press TV reporters were expelled today.\u00c2 <\/span>We received news that they were told to leave and were already in the airport this afternoon. \u00c2 <\/span>Others have been hassled as well (reference are available in footnotes below).<\/font><\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s two a.m. now. \u00c2 <\/span>I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to crash. \u00c2 <\/span>I have listed in my footnotes below some of what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been documenting: \u00c2 <\/span>articles, pictures and videos. \u00c2 <\/span>I have done some translations for the Arabic articles and videos so that your readers can understand them.<\/font><\/p>\n \u00c2 <\/font><\/p>\n <\/font>Footnotes:<\/font><\/u><\/b><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00b7<\/font>\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Bahrain News Agency (BNA) statements<\/font><\/p>\n o<\/font>\u00c2 \u00c2 <\/span><\/span><\/span>BNA on State of Emergency <\/font>http:\/\/www.bna.bh\/portal\/en\/news\/449991<\/font><\/a><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7<\/font>\u00c2 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Their intention to use it as a cover for their crimes is clear in the statement.<\/font><\/p>\n o<\/font>\u00c2 \u00c2 <\/span><\/span><\/span>BNA on arrests of political activists <\/font>http:\/\/www.bna.bh\/portal\/en\/news\/450115<\/font><\/a><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7<\/font>\u00c2 <\/span><\/span><\/span>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quite amusing to see them accusing those activists of incitement to murder, since it was the royalist figures, including previous MP Jassim AlSaidi who publically announced it was legal to kill Shia. \u00c2 <\/span>Double standards anyone?<\/font><\/p>\n \u00c2 <\/font><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00b7<\/font>\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Checkpoints:<\/font><\/p>\n o<\/font>\u00c2 \u00c2 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Statement about ridiculous treatment at checkpoints:<\/font><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.twitlonger.com\/show\/9bn94g<\/font><\/a><\/p>\n o<\/font>\u00c2 \u00c2 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Random beatings at checkpoints:<\/font><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rds6hUMssgQ&feature=player_embedded<\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00b7<\/font>\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Kristof\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new article: <\/font>http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2011\/03\/17\/opinion\/17kristof.html?_r=2<\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t agree with some of his points, but here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an extract that highlights an important issue regarding the ideology within the government in general and the Ministry of Interior specifically:<\/span><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My New York Times<\/i> colleague Michael Slackman was caught by Bahrain security forces a few weeks ago. \u00c2 <\/span>He said that they pointed shotguns at him and that he was afraid they were about to shoot when he pulled out his passport and shouted that he was an American journalist. \u00c2 <\/span>Then, he says, the mood changed abruptly, and the leader of the group came over and took Mr. Slackman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand, saying warmly: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry! \u00c2 <\/span>We love Americans!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/span><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not after you. \u00c2 <\/span>We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re after Shia,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the policeman added. \u00c2 <\/span>Mr. Slackman recalls: