{"id":1434,"date":"2011-05-18T13:29:38","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T20:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=1434"},"modified":"2011-05-18T13:30:05","modified_gmt":"2011-05-18T20:30:05","slug":"bahrain-updates-14-monarchy-and-submission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=1434","title":{"rendered":"Bahrain Updates #14: Monarchy and Submission"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00c2 <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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The consequence of the utilization of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153free labor\u00e2\u20ac\u009d undermined the entire feudal social formation throughout Europe and laid the material basis for the modern liberal constitutional state.\u00c2 <\/span>As the noted political economist C.B. MacPherson argued in his The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism:\u00c2 <\/span>Hobbes to Locke<\/i> (1962\/1988), the idea of free labor conceptualizes the individual \u00e2\u20ac\u0153as essentially the proprietor of his own person or capacities, owing nothing to society for them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2 <\/span>Freedom, as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the\u00e2\u20ac\u009d human essence is portrayed in a negative sense as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153freedom from dependence on the will of others,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with freedom being a function of possession.\u00c2 <\/span>From this origin, owing to the necessity of the capitalist mode of production, society begins to be seen as constituted on a contractual basis, consisting of relations of exchange between proprietors.\u00c2 <\/span>Consequently, MacPherson concludes, political society \u00e2\u20ac\u0153became a calculated device for the protection of this property and for the maintenance of an orderly relation of exchange\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (MacPherson, 1962\/1988, p. 3).\u00c2 <\/span>(Cavell, October 1, 2006, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/span>Liberalism & Its Implications for the Middle East and North Africa,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span> <http:\/\/userspages.uob.edu.bh\/cscpo\/bcsr_paper_10_1_06_revised_pdf.pdf<\/a>>).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Folks,<\/div>\n
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One of the most bizarre\u00c2 and pitiful articles to appear this past week was one which appeared in the Thursday, May 5th issue of Bahrain's Gulf Daily News<\/em> entitled <\/div>\n
"We were not involved…"<\/span><\/span> (http:\/\/www.gulf-daily-news.com\/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=305331<\/a>).\u00c2 The article highlights the case of Mr. Faisal Jawad, CEO of the Jawad Group in Bahrain, a substantial capitalist enterprise which\u00c2 owns the Bahrain franchises of several well-known international chains including Costa Coffee, Burger King, Monsoon, Accessorize, French Connection UK, BHS, Travelex, Avis, Mango, Shoe Citi, Chili's, Dairy Queen, Hush Puppies and Papa John's, etc.\u00c2 It is being alleged that Mr. Jawad supplied pro-democracy protesters with free food while they were camped out at the Pearl Roundabout in late February and early March, before regime forces attacked,\u00c2 dispersed protesters, and then, on March 18th,\u00c2 tore down the Pearl Monument.\u00c2 A regime-inspired boycott is now underway against the Jawad Group's affiliates.<\/div>\n
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For his part, Mr. Faisal Jawad denied the charges as being untrue.\u00c2 However, Mr. Jawad had written a letter in early March which was published\u00c2 in the Gulf Daily News<\/em> newspaper, in which he criticized local media saying he perceived their role in the Middle East was to protect\u00c2 "corrupt governments and not to say the truth and expose unlimited ill-gotten wealth".\u00c2 As GDN reporter Tom Hanratty notes:\u00c2 "The letter, published on March 1, also expressed support for the international media's reporting of events in Bahrain – angering many who felt foreign journalists had been guilty of distorting the facts."\u00c2 Mr. Jawad's response is worth noting: \u00c2 "I studied in the UK for about four or five years," he said.\u00c2 "In the UK I was among people and a society in which, if you have an opinion, you can say it without fearing any repercussion because, regardless of what that opinion is, it is an opinion.\u00c2 When I wrote the note to the GDN, I thought that in 2011 we lived in a society that would allow people to share their opinion and that's why I wrote it.\u00c2 Maybe, though, people here are not ready for others to air their opinion and maybe in retrospect I regret writing that letter."<\/div>\n
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Despite Mr. Jawad's uncategorical denials of involvement in supporting the protesters, he, like all Bahrainis, is now called upon to kowtow to the\u00c2 autocratic monarchical\u00c2 power that rules the island kingdom of Bahrain.\u00c2 As The Republic Newspaper<\/em> out of Columbus, Indiana reports:\u00c2 "While Bahrain's justice minister was making the latest accusations against alleged enemies of the state \u00e2\u20ac\u201d this time medical staff \u00e2\u20ac\u201d other officials were busy organizing a patriotic blitz that encourages pledges of loyalty on Facebook and Twitter"\u00c2 (http:\/\/www.therepublic.com\/view\/story\/9460204e82fc46528f920aa9e8551b0a\/ML–Bahrain-Loyalty-Online\/?sms_ss=twitter&at_xt=4dc4e6d35bd29f46%2C0<\/a>).<\/div>\n
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Indeed, the state-run media in Bahrain has, following the commencement of the brutal\u00c2 crackdown in mid-March, been promoting a regime-run so-called "Loyalty Campaign" which has government agents show up in various areas of the country, mostly shopping malls, etc., and entreat passersby to sign a loyalty oath to the monarchy.\u00c2 As one pro-government website states:\u00c2 "In what started last week as signing an allegiance pledge and Loyalty swords campaign is now turned into a movement of masses from all spectrums, turning up in numbers signing their initials supporting the wise leadership" ("Organisers aim to collect over 500,000 signatures for Loyalty Campaign" <http:\/\/www.peacebahrain.com\/2011\/04\/organisers-aim-to-collect-over-500000-signatures-for-loyalty-campaign\/<\/a>>.\u00c2 In fact, the extreme measures being taken by the regime to show that citizens are loyal have spread fear and paranoia\u00c2 thoughout the kingdom.\u00c2 As one\u00c2 blogger writes:\u00c2 "People speak in code on the phone and constantly declare their loyalty to the government just in case" ("No Tears for Bahrain," April 7, 2011, http:\/\/middleeastrealitycheck.blogspot.com\/2011\/04\/no-tears-for-bahrain.html<\/a>).<\/div>\n
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<\/span>\u00c2 <\/div>\n
Americans should remember the most\u00c2 influential pamphlet of the revolution of 1776 was Thomas Paine's Common Sense<\/em> where, in the section headed "Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession," Paine stated:<\/span><\/div>\n
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But it is not so much the absurdity as the evil of hereditary succession which concerns mankind. Did it ensure a race of good and wise men it would have the seal of divine authority, but as it opens a door to the FOOLISH, the WICKED, and the IMPROPER, it hath in it the nature of oppression. Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent. Selected from the rest of mankind, their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large, that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they succeed in the government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions.<\/p>\n

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Anyone who has lived in any of the world's few remaining monarchies (only about 44 countries\u00c2 still present themselves as headed by a monarch, with only a handful claiming to be absolute monarchies) has likely\u00c2 experienced the daily acts of servility and slavish deference demanded of\u00c2 the citizenry.\u00c2 Fawning obedience to the point of obsequiousness is characteristic of what state media in such countries broadcasts and print,\u00c2 and oftentimes this\u00c2 "instruction in proper citizenship"\u00c2 takes of the form of citizens et al. kissing the hand of the monarch as he or she\u00c2 parades in front of them or, alternatively,\u00c2 subjects are depicted as falling on their knees or prostrating themselves in front of these self-proclaimed pooh-bahs.\u00c2 It involves pathetic and usually obnoxious\u00c2 displays of ready-compliance and sycophantic behavior.\u00c2 Such crawling before and submitting to and bootlicking of another human being was possible when education was reserved only for the elite, but once people realized, as Ben Franklin once said that, "<\/span>The greatest monarch<\/strong> on the proudest throne is obliged to sit upon<\/strong> his own arse,"–in other words, monarchs are not naturally\u00c2 different from anyone else–then the aura and mystique\u00c2 of monarchy died.\u00c2 Hence, the only method for maintaining monarchical power\u00c2 in today's world\u00c2 is through coercion and brute force.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Free people despise such spineless subservient behavior and dismiss such claims with contempt.\u00c2 Just as Roger Williams wrote in 1670 that "Forced worship stinks in God's nostrils," so too does forced loyalty to monarchs\u00c2 elicit a very foul odor in the form of an unwelcomed stench.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span>\u00c2 <\/div>\n
Readers this week called my attention to a blog article entitled "Bahrain:\u00c2 Are You Confused?" and dated March 25, 2011 and <\/span>written by a former Fulbright recipient, a Dr. Martin Scott Catino,\u00c2 who briefly taught at the University of Bahrain in the American Studies Center during the second Bush era, and\u00c2 who now claims to be "<\/span>a Senior Military Adviser in Afghanistan, a specialist in US Foreign and Security policy".\u00c2 In his blog article, Dr. Catino blames radical Shia extremists for Bahrain's present chaos.\u00c2 He asserts\u00c2 that\u00c2 these clever insurgents are utilizing guerrilla warfare tactics in an attempt to realize "their violent dreams."\u00c2 Catino writes:\u00c2 "<\/span>Radical Shia Imams parading as caring pastors mixed with Shia malcontents, human rights activists, the intelligentsia, and the young and the restless who moved about in abayas and dishdashas at schools like the University of Bahrain, where Hezbollah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hassan Nasrallah and Iran\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ali Khamenei were deemed champions of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s oppressed, and of course, of the Shia of Bahrain. These very people and groups are now key players of the insurgency taking place in Bahrain" (http:\/\/www.thoughts.com\/martinscottcatino\/the-insurgency-in-bahrain<\/a>).<\/span><\/div>\n
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Dr. Catino, of course, is entitled to his opinion about the democratic opposition\u00c2 and, indeed, we should\u00c2 welcome his contribution, for it provides us with a clear articulation of present US policy towards the six Gulf Kingdoms and, in particular, of US policy towards Bahrain, for it displays\u00c2 not only a disdain for the majority Shia population\u00c2 of\u00c2 Bahrain but, as\u00c2 well,\u00c2 it further\u00c2 evinces the same\u00c2 servility towards monarchy that the pro-Bush crowd\u00c2 exhibited during\u00c2 W's time in office.\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 Catino writes of Bahrain's King as follows:<\/div>\n
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King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the ruler of Bahrain, is a powerful man, whose whit and ability to maintain control is admired, envied, and despised by the various sectarian and racial groups that walk the streets of places like Manama, the capital of Bahrain. The King is brilliant, and holds the reins of power with an ease and finesse that baffles his opponents. His ability to manage easily the diverse interests of the Sunni Arab world, the shifting sands of international economics, and the many South and Southeast Asian migrants that inhabit his island involves subtle skills that he uses confidently, grasping intangible power structures as easily as one could grasp the steering wheel of the family car. He understands every Middle Eastern leader\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most cherished secret: the most important fight is the one to stay in power. So he offers much more than crackdowns: free schooling, subsidies to the poor of his country (Shia included), and business freedoms in the local markets. In fact, the Ajam, the enterprising Persian business class of Bahrain, embrace this freedom. But more importantly they embrace the freedom to stay out of politics, which dampens the delights of the dinar.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It is all-too-often that some\u00c2 self-professed conservatives in the USA proclaim their love of liberty in one moment while in the next subjugating themselves to monied interests who are determined to crush the very liberty by which they speak.\u00c2 This, of course, is compounded when such persons claim to be supportive of republican governments (i.e. representative governments where power arises from the people) and yet grovel before unelected monarchs.\u00c2 And, as long as US foreign policy leaders follow such a submissive course,\u00c2 America will remain obedient to kings, emirs, shahs, shoguns, czars, sultans, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>regards,\u00c2 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

csc<\/div>\n
\u00c2 <\/div>\n
\u00c2 <\/div>\n
Latest Updates<\/u><\/strong><\/div>\n
\u00c2 <\/p>\n
For those following\u00c2 developments in Bahrain closely, I refer you all\u00c2 to The Crooked Bough<\/a> website for timely updates on the political situation in the Kingdom, as it is beating most outlets at critical reportage coming out of Bahrain.<\/div>\n
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About the author:<\/u><\/strong><\/div>\n

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<\/u><\/strong>\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 <\/div>\n

Until February 15th of this year, I was an Assistant Professor teaching in the American Studies Center at the University of Bahrain.\u00c2 I submitted my resignation following the Fall semester at the end of January, as my wife, a Moroccan national, was granted an immigrant visa to the US by the State Department with the proviso that we be residing within the USA by April 1, 2011.\u00c2 Little did we know in January, when I submitted my resignation, that we would be in a race for time before we could leave, as the Arab rebellions were sweeping from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen and into Bahrain and beyond.\u00c2 We left Bahrain on February 25th, the day of the largest demonstrations in Bahraini history, and have since been residing in Seattle, Washington.<\/div>\n
\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 <\/div>\n
Background on Bahrain:<\/u><\/strong><\/div>\n

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<\/u><\/strong>\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 <\/p>\n

On February 14, 2011, the citizenry of Bahrain rose up in opposition to the Al Khalifa monarchy and demanded democratic reforms.\u00c2 Their voices were met with stiff resistance from the autocratic regime which has been in power for over 200 years now.\u00c2 Unbowed, the citizenry took to the Pearl Roundabout in downtown Manama with some advocating for a constitutional monarchy and others a democratic republic.\u00c2 In response, the regime unleashed a reign of terror down on the protesters.\u00c2 Meanwhile, the US was directing its focus on Libya and getting through the United Nations a resolution for a no-fly zone over that country, which passed on Thursday, March 17th.\u00c2 One week prior, on Friday, March 11th, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew to Bahrain and met with the King and the Crown Prince, and on Monday, March 14th, approximately 2000 to 3000 Saudi Arabian and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) tanks and troops rolled across the causeway from Saudi Arabia into Bahrain to crush the opposition.\u00c2 The next day, March 15th, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa issued Royal Decree No. 18 for the year 2011, declaring a three-month "State of National Safety".\u00c2 The Bahrain Defence Forces (BDF) subsequently began a systematic crackdown on anyone who was suspected of opposing the monarchy and calling for democracy.\u00c2 On March 18th, the BDF tore down the Pearl Monument, known to locals as either "Lulu" or "the GCC Monument" and to the international press as "Pearl Square" due to its similarity to Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt where protesters had gathered.\u00c2 The regime's crackdown is an attempt to wipe away the memory of the 2011 Bahraini Democratic Spring from the popular mindset, and they are sparing nothing to root out and crush, using force and intimidation including torture and murder, any further resistance.\u00c2 The silence from most of the mainstream media in America is deafening.<\/div>\n
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The fact that the US Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain and the fact that the US is completely dependent on and addicted to Saudi-monarchy oil–i.e. oil doled out by a corrupt and sclerotic regime, and that both regimes (i.e. the Al Sauds and the Al Khalifas)–indeed all GCC regimes–in turn, are kept in power by US guns, makes all the difference–for now at least.\u00c2 The US is clearly supporting the Al-Khalifa monarchy, putting its oil interests ahead of its avowed democratic principles.\u00c2 From all accounts, the beating into submission as well as the subsequent bloodbath continues in earnest.\u00c2 For US citizens, it is another lost opportunity…\u00c2 But with your help and voices, we can eventually rectify our country's policy in this regard and realign it with our country's stated principles.<\/div>\n
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US interests in the long term will ultimately be served by supporting democratic elements and, eventually, democratic regimes in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region.\u00c2 Does that mean we should overthrow existing governments?\u00c2 No, but it does mean that we should not be arming, financially supporting, and enabling corrupt regimes to slaughter opposition forces advocating for democratic rights in their countries, and then remaining silent while it happens.\u00c2 Sycophancy in the service of autocratic rulers with decidedly undemocratic ethos is degrading and demeaning.\u00c2 Such a stance is an affront to humanity.\u00c2 Putting off the goal of aligning ourselves with democratic elements for short-term advantage will have negative repercussions not only on current US foreign policy but, as well, on US domestic policy, as millions of petro-dollars will find their way back into US politics attempting to undermine our democracy here at home.\u00c2 While countering theocratic influence in the region is understandable and necessary, this will require a strategy with quite a bit more sophistication than is presently being demonstrated.\u00c2 As well, implementing such a strategy will necessitate experienced hands who are neither intimidated by the apparent chaos often associated with democratic movements nor infatuated with monarchical tendencies and supportive of elite rule.<\/div>\n
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NOTE:<\/u><\/strong><\/div>\n

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<\/u><\/strong>\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 <\/p>\n

Names and other identifying information have been removed and\/or redacted in order to protect the safety of the sender[s], unless the person(s) is (are) a reporter or a public activist(s) and want their names to be known, as publicity sometimes gives them some protection from regime retaliation.\u00c2 If you are not a known public activist and\/or reporter, please inform me if you would like your name to appear along with your report; otherwise, I will redactit to maintain your anonymity.<\/div>\n
\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 <\/div>\n
regards,<\/div>\n
\u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 \u00c2 <\/div>\n
csc <\/div>\n
__________________<\/div>\n
Colin S. Cavell, Ph.D. <\/p>\n
P.O. Box 9087<\/div>\n
Seattle, WA 98109 <\/p>\n
(206) 734-8187<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
ccavell@gmail.com<\/a> <\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.cscpo.com\/<\/a><\/div>\n
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\u00c2 \u00c2 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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———- Forwarded message ———- <\/p>\n
Date: 2011\/5\/8<\/div>\n
Subject: Bahrain updates: May 2-8<\/div>\n
To: "Colin S. Cavell, Ph.D." ccavell@gmail.com<\/a><\/div>\n
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[redacted]<\/p>\n

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The past week has been a very long one.\u00c2 People assume every week that the government will be satisfied with the retribution acts and destructive behavior they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been carrying out for the past three months and for\u00c2 the past month and a half in particular, but the government just keeps on exceeding everybody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s expectations in their stubborn, indifferent approach, which can only express the extreme arrogance and narcissism of monarchs. <\/p>\n

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Their \u00e2\u20ac\u0153loyal\u00e2\u20ac\u009d parrots are celebrating the death sentence rule, demanding more of it, and continuing their hate campaigns on the streets, at work places, and on the web. Many people are harmed at work or in their\u00c2 personal life because of pictures, videos, or mere allegations by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153loyal citizens\u00e2\u20ac\u009d online or in real life. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taking a toll and starting to be really dangerous. <\/p>\n

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The degrading investigations at workplaces are still continuing. Staff are being interrogated, then punished by being fired or suspended, for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153crimes\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of participation at demonstrations, speaking to media channels, or merely setting foot on the roundabout.<\/p>\n

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Several people have gone through these investigations; they are humiliating and outrageous to any free person on this world. Putting people on witch trials, telling them they are guilty of speaking an opinion or having a wish that did not sit right with the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wise leadership\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.\n<\/p>\n

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Believe me, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t appreciate freedom of speech, until you live in Bahrain these days. Many of the freedoms and basic given rights that are taken for granted all around the world every day are being horribly violated and infringed upon today in Bahrain.\u00c2 <\/p>\n

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Today, opposition leaders went\u00c2 on trial in the morning.\u00c2 It's not over yet; they have another hearing on May 12. It's unclear, as usual, how things went inside the court. Later in the day, however, the king announces that the "State of National Safety" will be lifted on June 1, 2011, which came as a shock to pro-government crowds, especially after Parliament voted last week for\u00c2 the extension of the "state of national safety"\u00c2 for 3 more months. I guess now, both the opposition and the "loyalists", know how the parliament is structured in a manner which makes it purely a facade and not a real, effective, functional institution. The Minister of Foreign Affairs tweeted that elections will follow this. I have no idea how that will go. <\/p>\n

\u00c2 <\/p>\n

I don't believe the government is intending to implement any improvements to the situation or at all address the major issues that brought the uprising into being or the ones that caused the crackdown. I honestly think they are only announcing that they will\u00c2 lift the martial laws because it's hurting their pocket. We all know that the investment companies in Bahrain Financial Harbor and the twin towers in Manama have threatened to leave in June if martial laws are not lifted. Bahrain has already lost so many credits and points internationally. The Crown Prince's baby, the Formula 1,\u00c2 will only have a shot at taking place if the martial laws are lifted, as he was given an extension till 3 June, 2011 to confirm Bahrain's readiness to receive F1 this year in compensation of hosting the first stage as previously planned in March. The revenues and profits made in these and many other institutions\/ projects\/ functions all around Bahrain all go into the "good hands" of the royal family. I don't think justice will be served by June or afterwards if it were up to the royal family. Things will stay the same; only the surface will be changed, i.e. removing check points and military vehicles from the streets. <\/p>\n

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I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so sickened by the folly and evil surrounding me. Read my updates and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get my sentiments: <\/p>\n

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This week they include:<\/p>\n