CNN: Poverty in Bahrain
Lulu once again has an excellent opinion which is well worth reading:
Hala Gorani, presenter of “Inside the Middle East,” apparently was in Bahrain, interviewing Shi’a poor villagers, Nabeel Rajab, and a couple of government Ministers. The program started with an assertion that Bahrain, despite being one of the world’s richest countries in terms of per capita GDP, has a “hidden population.” Political and economic issues in Bahrain were reduced to ” long-standing tensions” between the ” poor Shi’a majority” and the “ruling Sunni elite.” And that’s that.
update: Anwar Abdulrahman, that doyen of democracy and righteousness has also spoken about this subject in his column in today’s GDN:
This must reflect the extreme naivety of producer Hala Qorani, who has allowed herself and her film crew to be lured into exaggerated and unrepresentative situations.
I wonder what they hoped to achieve by such blatantly untrue, unfair and biased reporting. Bahrain is presently buzzing on the cusp of an economic boom, which must have been obvious to these cameramen and ‘journalists’ as they toured various parts of the country.
…
Ironically also, such irresponsible reportage has been released when the United Nations has bestowed high honour on our Prime Minister for his key role in human development, placing the urban poor at the very centre of Bahrain’s modernisation strategy.
can you smell the roses yet?
The programe shed light on some known issues here in Bahrain & thats good, but i did not like the key words (Sunni & Shi’i) repeated over & over, they should replaced these words by Bahraini citizens regardless of what religion or race or color, this problem of poverty is related to all Bahraini citizens that requires an immediate solution & a future plan to avoid this to our kids.
I dont know wat to think. On the surface it looks like a good way to show wat problems we have in bahrain. But why would CNN come all the way here, say alot of Sunni Shii and leave? Yes we have poverty and yes it has alot to do with power and whose who.. For now I take it as a good thing to show the world wat Bahrain goes through.
Someone just revealed the truth to the world.
Guy in the blue shirt is going to be sitting on a bottle very soon, and will be prosecuted for “inciting hatred against the regime”.
And this seems to me like more of a plan to stir up more sectarian hatred between the Bahraini population.
But then again, she speaks the truth about marginalization. Interesting video. Thanks Mahmood, was looking forward to seeing it.
It’s the new media frame for the Arab world – ancient and inscrutable sectarian hatreds abound!
This story is true i accept that, but it should be resolved, and not make this country another afghanistan or iraq.you know what they did there..
this is what the westerners want!
my biggest fear is that vocalizing views like this naturally alienizes sunnis who are being categorized as part of “the ruling minority” instead of as “citizens with grievances” themselves, enlarging the divide instead of strengthening the unity.
All they are trying to do is create more problems than we already suffer from. We are trying to resolve the matter of poverty, and trying to unite against the discrimination, yet they come and try to spark it up all over again.
People around the world never knew what Shia & Sunni were until the Iraq war.
As interesting as the video is, i would have thought it would have at least been biased.
Yes, the government does bring in its policemen and army personnel from Syria, Jordan and Yemen. Yes, they are Sunni. Yes, it does show a sign of mistrust in the local Shia citizens.
And Al-Jowder talks about housing units? What housing units? All of them are being given to the naturalized Syrians, Jordanians and Yemenis. Who is he bullshitting?
Of course, as usual, he would be ass kissing the government. He would not risk losing his job.
The lands this man has swooped up to himself are endless, not to mention the cars he purchased with the ministries allowance, and then sold for peanuts, to himself i might add.
A lot of areas in Bahrain are being neglected, because they are not within the view of the foreign investors, nor does the main stream media report about them. But now at least some one has. Now i think the whole world will be shocked and thinking “such a rich country, and it leaves its people living like this?”. And its a problem, regardless of sect.
By the way, i read in the news papers the minister of labour blasting Bahraini youth for their demands of jobs while being under qualified , and that the expat gets the job because he is able to perform the job of 3 Bahrainis and the same time. By the way, he can quit his job, and we can have an expat do his job, and the job of the other 2 people working below him, don’t you think?
Do you not think the educational system is to blame if the youth are under qualified? Is it not the responsibility of the ministry of education to provide us with better a education? Is it not the responsibility of the nation to breed strong and healthy minds?
Praise to God over what he has privileged me with, and may he privilege the rest of Bahrain with better than what i myself have, Inshalla.
Salman,
There are two things to this story, firstly fanning the flames of sectarianism ( however true the documentry may have been) will turn Bahrain into another Iraq. There is no real quick fix to Bahrains problems but for sure the wealth of the country needs redistributing in future to give just rewards to people who work and produce for the economy.
The second story – unemloyment is also difficult to fix overnight.
The dependance on low paid imported labour for the development of the country has also resulted in dependence by the private sector for pure profit, and domestically, dependance on low paid labour to make things bearable at home.
It is interesting to note that whilst there is a groundswell of opinion in Bahrain to introduce a minimum wage for Bahrainis, there is active resistance to other governments insisting on a minimum wage for their nationals. In short the message Bahrain is sending out to the world is ” I want BD 200 a month salary minimum to work my five day week but I am not going to pay my 7 day a week housemaid whom I employ, any more than BD 55 a month”
We were promised the introduction of the labour reforms 18 months ago but it never happened. This was going to help pay for training and education by taxing employers who employed foreigners. This put the price of Government Construction Contracts up as labour costs were forecast to increase as a result – mainly because Bahrainis didn’t want to work on construction sites. This sent out another message to the world. ” I don’t mind paying an Indian BD 50 a month to build my house for me in the hot noon day sun, but I am not prpeared to work outside for BD 200″
It doesn’t help when the Minister of Labour pledges ” Air Conditioned jobs for all Bahrainis” – what sort of message does that send out to the world ” I am not capable of working outside because it is too hot”
So there is a bit of discrimination, a bit of injustice, a few jobs not available to certain sections of the community what does that really matter when the opportunity for wealth lies in the hands of Bahrainis themselves.
The reason why there is a housing shortage is because Bahrains don’t want to build their own houses and thereby create the wealth such industry brings. They prefer to pay others in the mistaken belief that it is cheaper, just like the cheap housemaid. All the money that leaves Bahrain every month for India and the Phillipines could just as easily be in circulation here.
Anyway the message is clear, don’t give in to US fanning the sectarian flames and please recognise the Bahrain ” poverty problem” for what it is – reliance on slave labour and a cultural abhorrance of any work which Bahrainis consider beneath them and which Indians/Filipinos should be doing.
I am sorry, but building a house is no cheap feat. And you need to be quite well paid to be able to afford to build your own house. Do not forget you also need a land to build your house on.
Actually NO, this is NOT what we “westerners” want. Thanks for speaking for me and just about every other “westerner” who doesn’t wish that. It’s no wonder why the divide between the Muslim world and The West continues to stay open, with statements like yours. It’s like pulling at a gash, if you keep pulling at it and keeping it open, how can you expect it to heal?
This type of situation is not particular to Bahrain or even the Muslim world, it has analogues with other divisions of the social strata. It’s all the same, but wrapped in a denominational coat. How many of you realise that even in the west, wars and bloodshed were fought between sects? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Wars_of_Religion
Here’s a question, since it seems to be self admitted here, how does one go about working to bridge the gap between Sunni and Shia? Or, is it that the division between the two denominations is far too wide to reconcile?
Do you confront these issues, or do you hide it behind a façade and pretend that the problem isn’t that there’s a “sectarian” issue, but it’s just the west trying to divide the Muslim world and create endless wars (which leads into the whole, let’s blame others for our problems)?
doesnt it break your heart when u go to a petrol station and see a poor bahraini boy sweating in the heat filling up your car with petrol and earning no more than 100bd a month whilst others who shouldnt be in bahrain sit in nice air conditioned blocks? this isnt right.. and this is not a shia sunni affair either…yes the ruling family are sunni, and yes the majority of the population are shia…however, there are also sunnis that are oppressed as well as shia… (i am shia myself by the way)….why is this? it obviously not because they are sunni…that wouldnt make sense right? its because they wouldnt go down oon their knees to suck al khalidas hairy toes! oh yes….this is the truth, and anyone who denies this is probably one of those toe suckers!
Barry,
Being Sunni or Shia is entirely dependent on personal beliefs, and there is no bridge to gap. It is a freedom of practicing your religion, the way you see fittest to yourself. I am a Shia myself, but that is my decision, and my beliefs. And the same way others who choose to be Sunni, they do so according to their belief of what is right.
Look at Mahmood’s campaign of the No Shia No Sunni, Just Bahraini move. What we want, is to be recognized as Bahrainis, and not Sunni and Shia. We want equal rights, and equal opportunities. Whether we are Sunni or Shia is entirely up to us. When at work, you work professionally, and what you practice, you practice alone, to yourself.
This Shia Sunni thing is almost like racism, except to there is no difference in the color of skin.
Maybe you haven’t seen the old passports that had م ش written on them
If you do not know the Arabic letters, م is the letter M, and ش is the letters Sh. I think that is enough that people were even classified in their passports with their beliefs.
Babbling One,
Yes, you are right. Kissing some ass and licking a few toes will get you anywhere in Bahrain. Well, not just Bahrain, anywhere in the Arab countries, it works! It is those who refuse to do so who are side lined.
I’m not sure if you mean the same person here, or have any proof of these allegations.
I can tell you for free though that Al-Jawdar is one of the very few ministers who actually are known for burning the midnight oil. And he makes his staff do the same too if there is work to be done and that is why he is respected.
What he is saying is factually true; his ministry has built tens of thousands of houses which normal Bahrainis have benefited from. I doubt very much if the allocation of those houses are his soul decision though, yet, there is no denying that people are being housed.
So let’s give the government some due, especially in this department.
and they will forget it immediately they finish their corn flakes, with an “ah well, gotta get to work” if we’re lucky.
These programs do raise some flags, and that’s good, applying pressure no matter how minute will illicit some kind of reaction, in the good direction we hope, but the real change must come from within. That is gathering pace and it behooves the government to embrace that change rather than blame everyone and their dog for stressing the crown or some such trumped up charge.
Ali J, the job market target for Bahraini should never be low-wage/hi-labour. It is not necessary. I don’t want to see a Bahraini sweeping streets or emptying garbage tips. I would; however, fully support a scheme where a Bahraini is trained and re-trained to take up higher paying more value-based jobs.
No, it doesn’t. He’s doing honest work and probably collecting just as much – if not more – of tips.
I guess you’re talking about the imports here. Yes I do mind.
This is absolutely key. The more that condition gets defined as spiritual rather than political belonging, the better we will get and be.
yes, if people keep talking about sunnis and shias, it makes some people, especially when they are agrieved, use that as a nail to pin their problems on. sunnis are not better oss than shias.
there is no gap. really, there is no gap.
nope. not one iota. i’m glad they have a job and they are worlking hard. i’ll tell you though it makes me very mad to see illegal aliens selling flowers at the roundabouts and strawberries at traffic lights, without a permit.
if you go around making baseless outrageous claims, you credibility will be questioned next time. you need to find some new sources that don’t make up stuff.
I trust my source. I know what i said, and i didn’t type it with second thoughts. And it is not important to me if my credibility is questioned, and it would not bother me if others trusted what i say or didn’t.
By the way, he is not the first or the last to do it. It is merely a game of “follow the leader”.
There is a huge gap, a bit gaping wound that has almost completely healed after the events of 1923, completely healed again between 1954 and 1956 only to flare up completely when the loyalty of the Shi’as was brought into question during the Khomaini years.
We have a problem, a big one that needs to be talked about openly so that we can bridge it and get on with our lives.
Only a couple of days ago I received a call from a girl so angry that a university professor (Islamic Studies) “explained” to her that Shias are not really Muslims and that they “make things up” and that they are loyal to Iran and all that sort of stuff. He put it – apparently – in a very sweet way to this naive girl that she came out thinking that these are how things should be; only when asked what went on by her friend did the complete horror dawn on them.
The girl who talked to the “professor” happened to be a “mixed” girl, her father is Shia while her mother Sunni, so instead of this gentleman embracing the fact that she should represent what could be the beautiful version of Islam – by just being a Muslim – she was coerced into taking sides.
The girls were asking if there is anything I could do to help, being associated with the Just Bahraini campaign. I’m afraid that just distributing buttons is not longer enough. We have to think of more creative ways to bring the message to these people and educate them that they can be whatever they want to be and however they want to be spiritually, but understand that it is their private matter and they do not need to marginalise the other to appear “more correct”. We need to think of ways to make people realise that tolerism is the best way forward for them and their country.
Salman, I’m afraid you burnt your cards with such a position. You cannot just throw accusations and stand behind “I trust my source” without sharing more information to corroborate the allegation. This just will not stand.
Can we talk, you hit the nail on the head when you talked about Sunnis only being presented as the ruling elite. There are many Sunnis going through similar situations. I am not sure why Sunnis in general are always being painted as the oppressors… it’s not accurate at all. We should start saying “the rulers” without attaching Sunni or anything else to them that allows us to categorize other Sunnis in the same manner. This only feeds the problem we are facing.
One thing worth pointing out, if it hasn’t already been said, is that Fatima Al Baloosh does have a point when she said that some people would rather stay unemployed than do hard work. You may disagree with her other principles but this one is valid as it’s happening all around us. Still it shouldn’t be used as an excuse to leave such people out in the dry; but some effort should come from us as well.
There are people who are unemployed and while many job opportunities arise, they want something “better” so that they can be proud of their higher position. Not many are willing to start low and rise. I’m not denying the problem of unemployment in this country and I do think that there should be more good opportunities especially for those that aren’t in the field of banking, finance, or business, but there is also a level of arrogance here where lazy people demand the impossible.
I truly admire the ones who are busting their asses for their money and while they have every right to complain about their employment conditions; many don’t. I’m certainly not excusing it and I do think they deserve much, much better, especially since they are putting a lot of effort instead of expecting the effort to come from others, but I just think that we all at least have to start this low and prove that we are putting in the effort and only then can we start making valid complaints.
I just don’t see how people can be taken seriously when they don’t put in the effort and when offered certain jobs they don’t accept it because they are too proud to be anything less than a manager with a suit. Many of my friends here are like that. Because they have a college degree they think that they deserve more than what they are offered; and while that may be true it doesn’t mean you have to start high. Needless to say these people are still unemployed after years of trying (and giving up, and then constantly complaining about the state of job-hunting in this country.) So their living conditions continues to be poorer and they blame the State for it.
We all have responsibilities…. I think we deserve a lot from our government but I don’t think that we should sit around and just expect it. That’s just my 2 cents.
mahmood, when i say there is no gap, what i mean is that shias and sunnis are not different breeds of people, they are not different races, they are not even opposing religions. although a lot of shia feel discriminated against, there are many poor sunni families as well. and when one claims that they are the only aggrieved ones, all that does is increase resentment among sunnis most of whom do not feel that they are getting such a great deal themselves either. ideally, we should all be uniting against discrimination of any kind not looking for differences to highlight and calling them gaps.
if we keep dividing people and labelling them we will have categories of sunni and shia, ajam and hwala, intelligent and stupid, home-owners and non-homeowners, people with university degrees and people without, blacks and whites, men and women, muharraqis and rifaées, young and old, muthajibas and non-muthajibas, guys who wear thobe and guys who wear trousers. would you call all of these gaps?
you know something, personally, as a female, i feel a bigger gap between muthajibas and non-muthajibas than between sunnis and shias. i also feel a bigger gap between working mothers and stay at home mums than between sunnis and shias.
the fact that some idiots teach obscene stuff at university does not validate the differences between us, they merely underline the limits of their small minds. there will always be people among us who enjoy feeling superior about themselves and if they have to put down most of the population to do it, they will.
this girl should make a formal complaint about the instructor who said that and an investigative committee will be set up to determine what was said and then the instructor will be disciplined accordingly. which would not be the first time something like this has happenned. as i write this, i am wondering if this is not the same guy who was accused of something similar a couple of years ago. he was cleared last time, but if such things persist, they will be more credible. the solution is to address cases like this case by case, not by demonstrations, etc, but by following due process so that others would see the futility of following suit. she needs to talk to the head of her department, or the dean of her college. if they are not supportive, she should go higher. the man is entitled to his opinion, but should not be preaching it.
Injustice cannot continue, this is a fact that has been assured since God created this world. Just sit and watch and coming days shall disclose it all …
Also I believe that the guy in the blue shirt is a hero .. he is a real hero …
…..and, they have nothing to put on their resume, which means it is just getting harder to find a job against more competition as older jobseekers with more responsibilities who need higher salaries.. and the problem just gets bigger.. meanwhile the guy who took the burger-flipping job for peanuts has long moved up to a better paying job..
i know it is not ideal, and things need to change, but that doesnt men everyone has cut off their nose to spite their face. change takes time, meanwhile you need to eat.
you can go on believing what you choose to believe, but don’t go around accusing people unsubstantiated. people’s reputations are not chewing gum
I agree with the first part of the statement; we should unite for in unity lies strength.
While I see your interpretation of the “gap”, I do not completely agree with it; at best, I would call our differences here are just semantics rather than an actual disagreement. We both recognise that somehow the differences between the two sects are emphasised for political gain, rather than anything religious or spiritual.
Both sides are aggrieved. Both sides are suffering some measure of marginalisation. Both are being generalised and identified as loyalists and opposition; Sunnis for the former and Shia for the latter, which we know is a gross simplification of the problem, as you and I know that some of the greatest opposition figures in the history of this country have been both and did not regard their religious affiliation at all when fighting for societal justice.
I believe that through this exploration will lie our salvation; we should not (and you haven’t, I am just talking generally here) rob people of their religious affiliation. Let them be whatever they want to be: shi’a, sunni, Buddhist, Jew, Christian, whatever pleases them to reach their spiritual fulfillment, but let that be on the spiritual rather than the nationalist scale and let that not be a cause to subdue others in order for one to feel “more correct”. Tolerism, as I have said before, is the key.
Your suggestion of telling the girl to raise the issue with the Uni’s superiors have been made and I hope that she feels courageous enough to follow through with it. As you so rightly said, every case should be fought and won for the sake of making examples of narrow-mindedness in order to promote the idea of tolerism.
Yes, this disturbed me. We, people; in the states hadn’t seen the deplorable conditions until I saw it on CNN. Yes, Sunni & Shiaa were discussed a lot. Hey, it’s predominately Shiaa neighbors who are living in squaloring conditions.
Why are you so racist amongst your on kind?
Jen
First, I have not yet watched the video, so I’m not commenting on the video, but on Esra’s comment above.
OK, I will have to agree with you on the existence of lazy people. We have a major unemployment problem though. I do not know how much of this problem is contributed by people’s laziness.
Again, this is not the general rule. The fact that some people are lazy does not mean we can go on saying that unemployed people cannot be taken seriously. There are many hardworking people out there and to say that they all (or even most) want to be managers in suits is quite offensive. Bahrainis work as waiters, in petrol stations, technicians, electrecians, cleaners, and I can go on.
Interesting point, so do you really think that offering a college degree holder an non-graduate post with a very low salary is fine and that they should swollow that easily? I’m not saying sit and home and do nothing, for sure, if that’s all you have then go for it. However, that does not mean that this is fine and that this is not a problem. That itself is a big problem. People expect their college education to pay off, that’s natural. Here, I don’t meaning having to start as a manager, but the actual distinction between a graduate job and non-graduate job in terms of both skills and pay. If only one is missing then that would probably compensate for the other, but you really have a problem when both are.
Very true. Still, sometimes there is only so much that some people can do. It does depends on the opportunities you’re presented with, it depends on your background, the circumstances. There are clueless people, there are people out there who genuinely need the job and are looking for it and still not finding it.
I will be back, after watching the video.
Mubarook, Bahrain problems are now start discussing in CNN seems very soon USA and Israel are going to start Shia and sunni war in Bahrain like Iraq.
NO shia NO sunni
just muslim
Muslim,
Oh for God’s sake …. will you PLEASE stop with the victim mentality already????? Why are we always so good and blaming everyone else and NEVER taking responsability for what we do to our own?
Do you think that the idiot professor who thinks that the Shia are not Moslems is a result of an Israeli-American strategy that specifically targets some professor in some random college somewhere in order to prove a point?
PLLLEEAAASSSEE.
Firstly, this is CNN what did u expect, fair and balanced? The simplistic black and white rhetoric dressed up as some kind of discovery and investigative journalism will enlighten the world is classic CNN style. Despite this, I thought it was better than nothing and i’m sure it’ll piss off quite a few officials, which is always good; the image of impoverished Bahrain on an international news channel flies in the face of millions spent on glossy fake PR.
Secondly, the minister needs to now be question on what happened to the 45,000 housing units that provide ‘a home for almost every Bahraini’. I know at least 4 members of my family who have been on a waiting list for 10 years or more and some outrightly denied.
Thirdly, from nabeel rajab’s statements were true although unhelpful in this context, it’s one thing to be seen through a sectarian watchglass, and it’s another thing to internalise it. Bahrain’s cause and the calls for social justice is not an exclusive shia one, it is a plain and simple humanistic one.
Hi Cradle,
Hmmm… I never implied that all unemployed people are lazy. I said more than once that we should be given opportunities, overall. I also never denied the existence of a big unemployment problem in Bahrain despite the “booming economy.” I just said that these people do exist and they only contribute to this growing problem.
I don’t think it’s fine. But I don’t think you should sit at home and whine about it either. In Bahrain, with no connections, you usually get nowhere. I see more dumb, lazy, and unqualified people in higher positions despite their low college grades or the fact that they had no good experience whatsoever. Some are in such positions even though their college degrees were completely irrelevant. But because he is the son of this or that guy, he gets special treatment. This is a problem and it exists. However, while it’s a problem; it’s not an excuse. If this is our reality we should protest it but not while sitting around and doing nothing at the same time.
What I’m saying is that we shouldn’t be arrogant in the job-hunting process nor should we expect the best findings. We need to build ourselves and our experiences up. Only after we give it our best shot and actually make an effort, can we honestly complain.
My neighbor here says, “they build these financial harbors, but for sure we won’t be the ones employed, my son is trying to find a job and he can’t because they give it all away!” ….. his son flunked college, twice. He hardly speaks English. He also refuses to work in any job without a desk and an AC and a big office. What his father is asking for is unfair. If you don’t work hard you simply don’t deserve such higher positions and shouldn’t expect to be rewarded with it by the government. For example, in Sitra Mall, they are hiring employers in stores, and after suggesting the idea he says “my son will work in no mall!”
Do you see this level of arrogance? This is what I’m talking about. This happens a lot and it does contribute to our troubles. I never said the majority are like that – if you go to Karana and other villages you will see people working literally day and night for maybe BD 5 at the end of each day if not less. I respect and admire them because they at least do something with their lives instead of just sit around and complain. These are the ones who really deserve more.
“Yes, this disturbed me. We, people; in the states hadn’t seen the deplorable conditions until I saw it on CNN. Yes, Sunni & Shiaa were discussed a lot. Hey, it’s predominately Shiaa neighbors who are living in squaloring conditions.
Why are you so racist amongst your on kind?
Jen”
Jen,
Honestly, I’m surprised people gave you a pass on the crap you wrote; count your blessings. Did you really need CNN to do a series about the ME for you to realize that there has been poverty in the area forever and that the peoples there face the same problems as the rest of the planet? Just fell off the turnip truck, did you?
“Why are you so racist amongst your on kind?”
Is that the same thing as the Amish being racist against the Baptists?
People around the world never knew what Shia & Sunni were until the Iraq war.
Untrue. Just do a quick look at news stories from the 1980s. I think you’ll find that the sect of the group responsible for attacks was always named. Particularly, if they were Shia, such as Hezbollah.
Maybe it’s people in the middle east who were unaware of the differences? At least, it seems like that’s what Arabs would like people to believe, isn’t it?
Look at Lebanon’s civil war and tell me Lebanese didn’t know the difference between a Sunni and Shia, going back to the 1970s. Amal was formed in the 1960s, wasn’t it? What does that have to do with a US conspiracy to stir up sectarian tensions?
These people are trying to help. Brushing the sectarian nature of problems in Bahrain will buy you the same thing that’s been bought everywhere else in the ME where people mis-stated the true nature of social problems.
Craig,
A perfect excuse to remain in Iraq longer. Just say “we are fighting terror, and we will not leave till we bring peace in the country, and make it a safe place for all” and not to mention “suck Iraq dry of its oil resources, and leave the country with nothing but a bloody civil war and walk out of it”.
If you ask me, was safer when Saddam was in power. Maybe not as free of a country as it is now, but still safer.
And i am beginning to wonder if all the so called car bombs are actually acts or terrorism? Or staged terrorism by the invaders themselves to use it as an excuse?
Salman,
A perfect excuse to remain in Iraq longer.
I think you really don’t understand what is going on here, in the United States. We are on the verge of losing only the second war in our entire history. The troops are NOT going to be in Iraq, much longer, whether there is an “excuse” or not, and the neocons have all but destroyed the Republican party. Even a majority of Republican want the US out of Iraq. Bush is out of office in a year and a half, and he will leave office with a humiliating legacy. I can’t understand how any sane person can believe that the situation in Iraq is what the US wanted it to be. It’s like we live in different realities.
It is quite obvious that a lot of you deny that there is an ideological gap big enough to swallow a bus here.
Also, can we PLEASE stop talking about how we in the west are going to use this obvious divide it to start a war in Bahrain. Just because these gaps have been exposed doesn’t mean it’s going to be used to go into your country to cause a war. Please, shut up, shut up, shut up! If you knew any of us, most of us don’t want that so stop generalizing all of us. Do you like it when idiots here in the west generalize you as being part of a “hate mongering” religion? No, so please, stop it. It’s incredibly offensive to me, ignorant of you, and small minded. I don’t make judgements about you like that, so stop making them about me and every other person from “the west”.
this shows you your government’s sectarian plans. Im sure CNN will be blocked now in Bahrain.
Bahrain has long suffered from sectarian discrimination, with the Shia majority getting the short end of the stick. Freedom of speech is detested by this corrupt government. If you treat your people like dogs rest assured they will bite you one day, and not even the US (to which this government is an obedient slave to) will save you.
… What a mature refutation.
Barry, can you calm down? Who here is making generalizations about you? The ones who addressed this issue are talking only about the political institutions that are being fed by certain media outlets and vice versa. Don’t be so defensive. People applaud us when we criticize ourselves; but they go nuts when we criticize them for legitimate reasons.
You need to calm down and approach others here with some respect. Listen to what others have to say instead of shutting them up.
Hmmm. Try again. This report is not the naked “truth” as we should see it and as many already stated it only furthers the already existing gap.
Salman,
You have already been called to question for your dubious sources, and then you claim:
Statements like this show you to be what you truly are – a verbal bomb thrower. You just want to fuel the conversation with out any reasoned responses. Yes, that’s a brilliant strategy, kill your own troops to make the situation worse.
I don’t even know why you bother to post.
Is this wrong? People come here to work and support their poor families back home, at teh same time suffering without them and at times at the mercy of the employer who treats them like property and without medical or pesonal insurance that cost few dinars. This is true. Housemaid insurance in Bahrain is quite cheap. You can check it out.
Some of us like me blow most of our salary to have comfortable life here and try to invest outsite as the markets are doing better in India, Asia, South America, at least better than in Bahrain.
Am I the only one who’s worried Bahrain might end up like another Iraq or Lebanon?
I have seen them at the BDF hospital, actually
Bibi, I understand your point. Hopefully your comment will not be deleted of course but I would like just to make a quick comment: try to read before you actually comment. Your comment may apply to (e.g.) Anwar Ahmad’s editorial in Akhbar Al Khaleej where he denied that poverty or discrimination are a problem in Bahrain, but I don’t see how it’s relevant here.
Of course there are huge problems. And there IS a gap. But the issue here is that you place a causation between people’s sect and the treatment the government gives them, whereas the causation is really political. Historically, the government (or the ruling elite) gave privilages to people who were supporting it and withhled privilages from people who opposed it. It’s an authoritarian government, what do you expect? Yet to focus on Shi’a suffering as if the government is “targeting” the Shi’a misses the point. The government can easily put dummy Shi’a figures in government and show that a substantial percentage of housing beneficiaries are Shia but the problem is still not solved. And at the rate the government is going with naturalization and corruption, the problem of poverty is simply spready across sects faster than ever.
Again, I understand people’s concerns and sensitivities, but realistically to solve our problems our only option is to call for reforms, transparency, human rights, etc for ALL. For all its worth, Wefaq and Haqq seem to realize it and I admire them for not getting involved in this controversy now.
Comments will be deleted if they are disrespectful. If anyone wants to come into my house, they’d be well advised to remove their muddy boots at the door and abide by the house rules. If all that person wants to do is swear at me of be disrespectful or overly quarrelsome for the sake of showing off, they are not welcome; not in my house.
I’ll let it stand, this time, but will have no quarrel whatsoever in erasing it from existence if that person does not behave.
All I’m going to say is that i love the soil of Bahrain,
I love the land, but now days it have changed alot and it is not the friendly little island that i knew once.
Is this wrong?
it is not wrong, but it hurts the economy. this is called “leakage”. governments try to attract foreign investments and tourism because it brings money into the economy, money which stays in circulation, is spent procuring local goods and services and therefore providing jobs (hopefully for locals). if people work here and spend a large portion of their salaries locally, by renting houses, buying groceries, club memberships and restaurant meals, buying cars and petrol, clothes as well as invite their friends and relatives to visit and spend more money here, then that’s a good thing. local businesses profit and grow and hire more employees. if these are local or white collar expats, the cycle continues strengthening the economy.
but if the employees do not spend any of their money locally, because they come here to help support their families back home, and they live in shanties and are provided meals which cost next to nothing, their whole salary is shipped out. although it isnt much individually, altogether it adds up to a substantial amount, which is “leaked” out of the country.
now, i am not discussing the role they play in the development of this country, that is another issue altogether.. i am simply stating why leakage is bad for the economy.
Comment No. 40,
Chas,
You seem to underestimate what power hungry people will do to get what they want. It is called “framing” in normal terms.
At the end of the day, if you killed your own soldiers, they will only be marked down as “heroes” at the end of the day.
The government can play with the emotions of the people to get support, and they know how to do it.
That is the way they did it to Bahrain. Freed all the political prisoners, pardoned the exiles, gave everyone raises, and double salaries every now and then, and visits to the villages and cant even remember what else they did to win the hearts of the public, made everyone vote for what they wanted (at the moment, the people were blinded by all the goodies, and thought that finally the changes were going to happen) and here we are again back to where we started
And that same theory applies. Play with peoples emotions, and they will do anything.
I don’t want to see a Bahraini sweeping streets or emptying garbage tips.
What’s so special about Bahrainis that they can’t get their hands dirty? Why is manual labor frowned upon?
This is honest labor that performs a needed function in society. If the problem is that it is poorly paid, then something needs to be done about salaries.