{"id":8399,"date":"2012-04-08T19:13:19","date_gmt":"2012-04-09T02:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=8399"},"modified":"2012-04-09T16:33:13","modified_gmt":"2012-04-09T23:33:13","slug":"bahrain-youth-group-slandered-by-f1-profiteers-as-the-ready-thier-bloody-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=8399","title":{"rendered":"Bahrain youth group slandered by F1 profiteers as they ready their “bloody race”"},"content":{"rendered":"

editor: take notice of the headline, “Bahrain youth group targets Formula 1”, February 14th Youth Coalition, said it would not be able to \u201censure the safety\u201d of Formula 1 participants amid popular anger that would be triggered by the race going ahead. They didn’t target anything, they simply issued a warning. I expect there is far greater threat from King Hamad’s “ignorant ass” police and regime loyalists agitating violence on spectators and participants, than there is the from the opposition. Phlipn <\/em><\/p>\n

Bahrain youth group targets Formula 1<\/strong>
\nBy Simeon Kerr – 8 April, 2012 – FT<\/p>\n

Bahrain\u2019s youth opposition movement has issued a warning to Formula 1 organisers, sponsors and spectators, ahead of the island\u2019s controversial grand prix planned for April 20-22.<\/p>\n

The February 14th Youth Coalition, an online organising body for anti-regime protests, said it would not be able to \u201censure the safety\u201d of Formula 1 participants amid popular anger that would be triggered by the race going ahead.<\/p>\n

While renouncing violence, the statement said the organisers would be regarded as part of the ruling family\u2019s \u201cbloody regime, responsible for shedding the blood of the sons of Bahrain\u201d.<\/p>\n

Keen to present an image of business as usual, the government has pressed on with the island\u2019s biggest tourist attraction, which was cancelled last year as unrest swept across this strategically important US ally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe anticipate Formula 1 will continue and hope it will be a success,\u201d said Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Mubarak al-Khalifa, a government spokesman.<\/p>\n

While Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has said the race should go ahead, opposition is growing amid daily clashes between the security forces and young opponents of the regime.<\/p>\n

Pro-democracy protests that broke out in February last year were crushed when Saudi troops marched in a month later to back a government crackdown. The regime blamed the unrest on Iranian interference.<\/p>\n

An independent commission slammed the security forces for excessive use of force and systematic torture. The minority Sunni-led government says it is reforming but the opposition, led by the majority Shia, says change is too slow.<\/p>\n

As the death toll rises to more than 60, Richard Burden, a UK member of parliament, has backed calls from former F1 driver Damon Hill for the decision to hold the grand prix to be reviewed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a context where genuine and sustainable reform is taking place, holding a grand prix could be a unifying event for the people of Bahrain,\u201d Mr Burden wrote on a blog. \u201cBut things are not at that stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Protests, mostly confined to clashes in Shia villages surrounding the capital, have been turning increasingly violent. At the weekend, youths set a bus on fire, describing it as a \u201cwarning\u201d to the ruling family.<\/p>\n

Ala\u2019a Shehabi, an opposition activist, says increasingly radicalised young protesters aim to use the race to refocus the world\u2019s attention on the Arab spring\u2019s \u201cforgotten uprising\u201d.<\/p>\n

Pressure is also mounting on the government to release jailed opposition leader and human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who is in his second month of a hunger strike.<\/p>\n

The judiciary yesterday rejected a Danish request for Mr Khawaja, a dual Bahraini-Danish national, to be transferred there for medical treatment. Sheikh Abdulaziz said Mr Khawaja remained in a stable condition at a military hospital, where he was being cared for by an \u201cindependent\u201d medical team, including a Danish doctor. …source<\/a><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

editor: take notice of the headline, “Bahrain youth group targets Formula 1”, February 14th Youth Coalition, said it would not be able to \u201censure the safety\u201d of Formula 1 participants amid popular anger that would be triggered by the race going ahead. They didn’t target anything, they simply issued a warning. I expect there is more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247],"tags":[2306],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8399"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8399"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8435,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8399\/revisions\/8435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}