Save either of these buttons and display them on your website PLEASE. It doesn’t matter if you are a Bahraini, Indian, Sudanese, Saudi, Kuwaiti or Plutonian. Show your support for us Bahrainis who want to live as a SINGLE nation away from sectarianism.
And tell people about Bandargate… here’s the link you can use:
Let us tell everyone that we will not stand by idly while some scabs diligently try to destroy our lovely country.
Thank you for your support.
update 9 Oct, ’06: here’s a simpler way to display the button on your blog, just copy and paste the following html code in a location of your choosing on your blog/site please:
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Awesome idea!
Oo I’m loving the new template.. and the emoticones are sooooo cute! 😉
lovely …
prefer ” Just a Human ” though heeh . :yes:
dunno if i can insert images , but here is a link of what i think it should be moo 🙂 just an idea …
:no: :no: :X
http://80.88.250.162/imgs/human.png
They should make them as badges that can bee seen everywhere, nice idea. 😉
Way to go mahmood. Will post the logos in every single website and forum that I manage!
We need an Arabic version too 🙂
Love the new blog layout Mahmood! SLICK!
=P
I placed the button on my blog per your request as well.
for a full english language run down:
http://www.bahrainrights.org/node/528
a cautionary word to all of you investors out here (and there!). Re-evaluate and assess your exit plans. The information is alarming to say the least…
can somebody make this into a car sticker?
good thing mahmood im doing it ! nice !
Author
Car Sticker: you can now download Photoshop source file which you can increase/reduce the button size as you wish, and of course you can add what ever text you like too, though please be consistent.
Could someone get this file and do the Arabic version? I don’t have the ME edition of PS.
GREAT…
YOU ARE GREAT MAHMOOD…
I’M WITH YOU :yes:
euh… does it work for a Swiss christian like me?
Author
Why not? We’re giving away passports by the truckload! But you don’t need that, if you put that on your site you will be regarded as an honorary Bahraini.
24,000 in 2 years to be exact according to independent groups and 5,000 according to the ministry of interior. Someone must be lying…
updated on my blog…
Mahmood,
I would hope those buttons are actually written in Arabic? Afterall, it is at the end of the day for Bahrainis in Bahrain right?
-Ibn
Here’re the logos in Arabic:
http://static.flickr.com/79/261458033_5acfe23029_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/122/261458035_836700065c_o.jpg
Have a look at them Mahmood, and publish them should you find them acceptable.
Note: I posted them earlier in the wrong article, Bahrain’s Lord Voldermort. Please remove them 🙁
Ù†ÙÂاق …………………..Ù†ÙÂاق …………………..Ù†ÙÂاق…………………Ù†ÙÂاق …………………Ù†ÙÂاق كي٠تقول لاشيعيو لاسنى
انا ÙÂقط مواطنبØÂرينÙÅ
وهناك جمعيات سياسية مبنية عليالÙÂكر الطائÙÂÙ‰ ÙÂهثاك الاصالة Ùˆ المنبر الاسلامي– الاخوانالمسلمين– والوÙÂاق – تنظيم شيعيلولاية الÙÂقهية – Ùˆ العمل الاسلامي– الشيرازين– كي٠تقول ذلك Ùˆ ÙÂÙ‰ مواتم الشيعة ومساجد السنة يتم زرع الطائÙÂية البغيطة – كي٠تقول ذلك Ùˆ انت تدÙÂÙ†ÙÂيمقبرة للشيعة وانا ادÙÂÙ†ÙÂÙ‰ مقبرة للسنة ونØÂنوا مسلمينوبØÂرينينو لنا رب واØÂد وقرانواØÂد وكعبة واØÂدة كي٠تقول ذلك
وانت تنشر تقرير البندر الذيمبنيعلياشعال ÙÂتنة طائÙÂية لتكتيل طائÙÂØ© ضد طائÙÂØ© بغض النطر لصØÂØ© التقرير او انة مزي٠و الايام ستشهد على ذلك
Ù†ÙÂاق ………………….Ù†ÙÂاق ……………………………..Ù†ÙÂاق
………………… Hypocrisy. ………………… Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy ………………… Hypocrisy ………………… How can you say to the and the shi,i or not Sunii I only Bahraini citizen
There are political associations based on the originality of thought and sectarian Al-asali and Islamic Muslim Brotherhood-and- Alwafq society Shii organization -and the Islamic Action-Shirazin-How can you say that, in Matm Shii or Sunii mosques year and be obnoxious sow sectarian-How can you say that you buried in a cemetery for the Shii and I bury in the cemetery for the Sunii,and we are maslam and we have one God and deemed to be Bahrainis and we employer and one wedding and one rare and one How can you say that and You published on your saiet Albandar report, which is based on igniting sectarian sedition for clustering community against community regardless suggested that the health of the report or bogus and that the days will witness the ………………… Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy registries. Hypocrisy
http://static.flickr.com/79/261458033_5acfe23029_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/122/261458035_836700065c_o.jpg
Ahh, Brilliant! 😀
-Ibn
Author
Anon, yes, over the past 30 or so years the country has split squarely along sectarian lines. If you look at history, the 20s and 50s and even some events of the 90s you will see that the Bahraini society were one, without these over-the-edge sectarian tones.
Then, there must have been an event, studied or haphazard, that started this sectarian flights of fancy and pitting one against the other. I don’t know who started it, but we are all complicit in it. We do it blindly now, the very first thing that goes into our head when we meet someone is deciding whether the person is Shi’i or Sunni, whether they are with us or against us, is he from us or belongs to them, when we go to marry rather than asking ourselves whether we can make a good home with the other person, we ask whether they are from the right sect. Unfortunately this thought process is hardly exclusive with the poor or lower members of the society, they permeate the whole pyramid.
This has got to be resolved. Fast.
The report is hardly about Sunna or Shia, it is about unity. Are we prepared to throw away decades-worth of prejudices and try to live together as good friends and neighbours regardless of sect?
I am prepared to commit right here and now that I should be buried in the Sunni cemetery, that I will categorically not stand in the way of any of my children’s choice of partner in life regardless of sect and I will continue to love them for it.
You should do the same; in fact we should all do so.
Enough with this sectarianism. The only thing it does pretty good is allow the sowing of the seeds of hate. Imagine what the fruit of that seed would be? If we don’t watch it, this Bahrain, the idea of Bahrain the multi-cultural peaceful society will be no more.
Enough.
Anon,
In my understanding:
Mahmood is not saying you should forget about your sunni or shia heritage. He is saying that ones heritage should mean absolutely nothing when it comes to running the affairs of the country. You are a citizen of Bahrain, and all affairs of the state and its citizenry must treat you as a Bahraini, and be blind as to whether you go to a mosque or a hussiniya in your private life.
Strength through diversity.
-Ibn
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Mahmood,
I wonder how much of the recent sectarian strife is connected with the defeat of Saddam Hussein in Iraq? If I remember correctly, Saddam was a Sunni, and many Sunnis fled Iraq with the fall of his regime. I wonder how many made thier way to Bahrain and have been trying to rebuild thier past “glories” by creating a new Sunni ruling class there?
Let me be clear, this is only my own idea. I have no evidence whatsoever to back this theory up, it’s just an idle speculation. But it does seem possible.
What do you think?
اخيÙÂÙ‰ الانسانية
كلامك الانمعقول وواقعÙÅ
على الجميع انيعر٠اذا نشبت ØÂريقة طائÙÂية ÙÂÙ‰ الوطÙâ€
ÙÂانها اكرر انها ستاكل الاخضر واليابس ولنتعر٠سنياو شيعياو مسيØÂياو هندوسÙÅ
المنطقة والعقل لا بد انتكونبوصلة لنا دائما
علينا اننØÂاسب انÙÂسنا جميعندوناستثناء هل كانلنا دور ولو بسيط ÙÂÙ‰ تعزيز وزرع الطائÙÂية
الكاثوليك والبرتستانت والارثدوكس مرو بØÂروب طاØÂنة ØÂتيوصلت مجتمعاتهم اليما هيعلية الانمنمجتمع مدنى الدينللة والØÂكم للناس
هل نستطيع او انت منعليموقعك انتقول لعلماء السنة او الشيعة ذالك لاتهمت بالزندقة مثل ما ØÂدث ÙÂÙ‰ العصور الوسطيايام سيطرة الكنيسة ÙÂÙ‰ اوروبا
لذلك لنبداء منانÙÂسنا Ùˆ منبيتنا ومنعملنا ومنالشارع
قد تكونالبداية صعبة ولكنالمليونميل يبداء كما قال
My brother in humanity
You now reasonable and realistic
Everyone knows that if Harika sectarian erupted in the home They repeat it Stakl vegetation and the ground will be known Sunni, Shiite, Christian, Hindu The reason, we must always be our compass We should call ourselves Jamin without exception Are we had even a small role in the promotion and planting of sectarianism Catholics and Albertstant Alarthdoks O wars and grinding until they reached their communities to what it is now a civil religion of God and the good of the people Can we, or you, from your site to tell scientists year or Shiites These forces accused of Balzendegh such as what happened in the days of medieval church control in Europe So Nbda of ourselves and of our house and our work is the street Initially may be difficult, but one million miles Ibda step, as the Chinese leader Mao
Interesting!
The last pages of the Albandar report (page 203 – 216) is a study entitled “Proposals to strengthen the front Sunni community in the face of the planning and sectarian Shiite hegemony.” The study was carried out by Dr. Nizar Al-Ani, an Iraqi Sunni academic who worked as a lecturer at the University of Bahrain and is working now dean of the Union University of the UAE.
لا ÙÂائدة منكم
ÙÂانتم متاثرينبما قال البندر Ùˆ قال البندر وقال البندر
ولكنق٠00 ق٠00 ق٠واسئل Ù†ÙÂسك ماذ يقول عقلك
و ليس ما يقول البندر 00 وما يقول البندر00
You do not benefit
You are affected, including, he said Albandar 00 Albandar said 00 Albandar
But 00 Stand Stand 00 Stand and Ask yoursel What your Mind says & Not What says Albandar 00 and say Albandar
you know, he used to be in charge of the evaluation centre in UoB, not a lecturer. power trip and all. very unpopular.
It’s up on my blog now and i’m very proud of it!
:love: :love:
Albandar is not a saint so we accept anything he said. This is obvious, but the guy has given proofs that no one could ever dream of. If the Ruling family are serious about democracy, an open enquiry should have been opened on the same day. All in all, what we got out from Bandargate incident, is that the government is involved in this evil acts. Let us not speak about the person, but what has been said. As Al-Bander said, the thinks that it is very probable that the King him self was inolved in it!
The evil ruling family (not all Al-Khaleefa) are exposed!
I heard that The father of Ahmed (Atyat Allah) in fact has converted to Shiat, and hence he was treated very badly by Khaleefa, and he used to attand Matam in Markh and participate in the public activities. he was not given any support from Khaleefa, as any member of the family. See the father and see his sons!
it is a very good idea which had its inception in iraq with the motto i am an iraqi which we have been seeing on tv for the last month or so. i don’t know how successful it was in stopping the voinlance in iraq. still many good ideas took a long time to sink in pwople’s minds, but there are basic works that have to be done to allow good ideas to take shape in the minds and behavior of people in their every day actions and attitude. the constitution is the basis for all the laws and by-laws that govern all aspects of life in any land including wonerland. if our constitution in its first chapter defines bahrain as part of the arab nation and that islam is the official religion of the state (i don’t know which islam they mean,because according to my humble knowledge theer at least five sects and no less than thirty by-sects still active today} so how can we define ourselves as bahraini and nothing else while we are many other things according to our constitution . i am not sure of the coherance of my comment, but i hope the other bloggers will be able to refute it
Mahmood,
I didn’t know where to put this.
In the spirit of customer service encouragement, I would like to offer some feedback.
it looks very pretty, and i finally figured our how to use the he said she said, (I’m new at this, please excuse my ignorance) but i did find one thing a bit irritating: having to scroll all the way down to wherever to find the recent comments on the home page, and maybe on the others I don’t remember. And if you scroll down too quickly, you pass them and have to go up again. i personally liked it better when they were up at the top, so you could see right away if there was something new.
thank you for listening…and keep up the good work
oh, Mahmood,
I came across a book in the bookshop called world’s best blogs or something and you were in it
thumbs up =P
lol Anonymous, i don’t know where they hell you got that kind of info that he was a converted shiat but im pretty sure that woudlnt be the case. because if what you say is true and he was actually treated badly for that then how would his son be able to hold these strong positions in the government? please anon make sure you know what you are talking about before you speak.
intruder
the constitution doesn’t say Bahrain is a moslem country, it says that its religion is islam. isn’t there a difference?
ideally, i would prefer that it isn’t there at all, because the confusion would be taken out. but ultimately, look at he population, many shia describe themselves as shia, and vice versa, if we take the two main general sects in bahrain. that means they define themselves by religion rather than their nationality.
I would feel very excluded if I were a non-muslim bahraini. why should I feel less bahraini than a muslim bahraini? that doesn’t seem fair.
even people who say they are bahraini will say bahraani or bahraini, making the distinction.
sadly, there is too much religion and not enough nationalism, but that is normal whenever a party feels discriminated against. they cling to their differences.
The best way that I see for this to be eradicated is for more intermarriage to happen so the children will be related to different denominations and become nothing but bahraini.
this present fiasco will take us back years and years, i think, because it will reaffirm to people that they are discriminated against, and make them cling harder to their religion instead of their nationality.
it is a very sad sad day, that this can happen in our country and an even sadder day when it gets swept under the carpet.
I’m definatly posting this up on my site… I love the message but not the image itself. I tried to rework it a bit, but since I’m using basic imaging software I got nowhere decent… I’ll keep trying on my freetime!
Do you think you can post it up in JPEG not PNG?
Wow, sorry about triple posting… I was supposed to be studying tonight, but I got so caught up in this. I was able to do the conversions and the rest on my own, thanks for posting a PNG because I liked the background but wanted to change the text layer… anyways got that done!
on 05 Oct 2006 at 11:55 pm Anonymous
يقول
The evil ruling family (not all Al-Khaleefa) are exposed!
انها لغة رخيصة وسيئة وتعبر عنعنصرية وطائÙÂية ÙˆØÂقد عنصريبغيط ومميت
عليشعاركم السلام اذا كانت عندكم هذة اللغة الخارجة عليالدينوالقيم والاعرا٠والمبادءÙÅ
on 05 Oct 2006 at 11:55 pm Anonymous
Says
The evil ruling family (not all Al-Khaleefa) are exposed!
It cheap and bad language and reflect the racial, ethnic and racial hatred and
Youer Sticker( لا شيعيو لا سنÙÅ
بس بØÂريني! )
Without interest if you Write this language outlaw religion, values and norms
a few lyrics that people should ask themselves.
By Depeche Mode.
People are people
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
So were different colours
And were different creeds
And different people
Have different needs
Its obvious you hate me
Though Ive done nothing wrong
Ive never even met you
So what could I have done
I cant understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
People are people
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
Help me understand
Help me understand
Now youre punching
And youre kicking
And youre shouting at me
And Im relying on your common decency
So far it hasnt surfaced
But Im sure it exists
It just takes a while to travel
From your head to your fist (head to your fists)
I cant understand what makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
People are people
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
People are people
So why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully
I cant understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I cant understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
Help me understand
I cant understand
What makes a man
Hate another man
I cant understand (people are people)
What makes a man (why should it be)
Hate another man
Help me understand…
and somemore,
the Question this government should ask themselves.
By Guns & Roses. Lyrics From Civil War.
“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.
Some men you just can’t reach…
So, you get what we had here last week,
which is the way he wants it!
Well, he gets it!
N’ I don’t like it any more than you men.” *
Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they’ve always done before
Look at the hate we’re breeding
Look at the fear we’re feeding
Look at the lives we’re leading
The way we’ve always done before
My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can’t deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars
Sorry, I mean some questions we should ask our Government.
amazing ! will have it on my site 🙂
amazing ! will have it on my site 🙂
Its gathering pace…
http://manama-republic.blogspot.com/
stay tuned.
Just an observation,
As long as I look back, there was always some tension that was hidden, with quite the blank face (it was amazing how people could smile to each other), but perhaps most of that hidden tension was based on a misconception of what defines each and other group.
An observation that I’ve repeatedly came across was that groups were “defined” merely on the bases of differences that stick out with other groups, and not because they were unique in some way. That is to say, the gap between Sunni and Shi’a groups was widened because of “derogating the other” and not “embracing the self“.
As if the Shi’a would identify with being Shi’a not because they actually were, but because they were not Sunni, and vice versa. The reason for this could be that we would define (perhaps by default, or because of another reason) ourselves by what is most salient to us. Here and now, uncommon properties are way more salient than self-image.
On a more positive outlook, more contact between groups would inevitably raise awareness of this issue. I’m not saying that this is how it is, but it’s one way to look at things.
One now could at least work towards saving the next generation, our offspring, if not ours from this ugly situation.
God bless.
I disagree. I can tell you that I never ever ever in all my life thought of myself as of a particular sect until I saw how the shia were treated in the nineties and how there was so much discrimination with my own eyes. And one day, I was stopped by security at work, they took my driver’s license and grilled me about which village I come from for absolutely no reason. I was being treated like dirt by a nobody. he wouldn’t accept that I don’t come from any village and kept saying but originally where are you from, while stupid idiot me kept innocently answering Bahrain. that was the day I realized that even if I didn’t think of myself as anything, others did. duuh
we are not like other countries where there is no contact. Many of us live together, we live next to each other, we work together, we visit each other, some of us are married to each other. We are one country, one people, it is the pot-stirrers that are creating a problem where really one need not exist and really in my opinion did not exist in a huge way.
it is discrimination that creates us and them. when discrimination goes on for years, people cling harder to the very identity that defines whether they are us or they are them.
To be honest, I know people who had their name mentioned in the bander report who had nothing to do with the whole thing ! A couple of my family members are quite close aqintanses of his wife and they say that the guy was a nutter and a hypocrite, once he said that he was against all what is religous “sunni or shii” and once he said that he was against Iran now he is on shows on al alam channel (irans arabic channel)which makes you think of whether the guys intentions are genuine ! I mean one look at his hakuna matata picture makes you question is cridability ! “All what he needs is a spear and the picture would be perfect”, btw before people slaughtering me for his African heritage, well he is supposed to be an Arab and Arabs don’t wear the African dress nor do they have their hair braided ! People need to wakeup ! He didn’t show the report because he loves us ! He showed the report because he had a disagreement with the government on payment ! “Doesn’t want us to be another darfur MY ASS”
At the end of this rant, all what I have to say that we all as Bahrainis should kick sectrainsim out of this island because we can’t live without each other ! I agree with mahmood and say “No Sunni No Shi’i .. Just Bahraini”
CWTN:
I know it might seem very confusing, but I’m not saying that it is not discremination that is part of the problem, but in fact it is one of the ways in which the “gap” was widened and manifested.
When I say that we define ourselves or our groups by what is most salient, I was referring to the underlying mechanism that would then potentially push people over to discreminate which is the apparent behaviour, what you see. And that is exactly supported by your example of misfortune: that security person may have stopped you, not because he was sunni, but because you were and more crucially he wasn’t.
I put much emphasis on this because we won’t go far with solving any problem by merely shouting to abolish discremination or sectarianism, but rather we’ll have to look into what’s the underlying mechanism that’s driving them.
As for contact, (I have been lousy with properly explaining my views, I admit that, it was very early morning)I should’ve said that more contact between groups in relation to this particular issue (sliency of uncommon properties vs. self-image). As in asking one’s self of why they’re discreminating, or sometimes why they’re still caught up in this mess unwillingly.
Munther..
Egyptians, Algerians, Libyans, Tunisians, Somalians are all Aarabs. And they are also African. And they don’t wear the ghutra/igal or the thobe .. but neither do the Syrians or the Jordanians or the Lebanese. So .. be careful what you deem to be a ‘true’ Arab or not. And be careful about judging them by what they wear.
Can we talk now…
When growing up in Bahrain, I was completely unaware of Sunni/Shia split. All I knew at the time was that we prayed differently. Then, growing up, I discovered that there was a difference in inheritance, marriage laws, etc.
It has only been recently that I have started noticing things that I was probably blind to before. The discrimination between ‘Moslem and Shia’ .. this is very new and is probably a direct import from our beloved neighbours Wahabbi next door.
I used to always think that the differentiation was financial or economic in nature. Most of the Bahrainis in the lower income scale brackets are Shia from the villages. However,we have always had prominent Shia in government and the private sector. And recently, the traditional Sunnis have joined the ranks of the unemployed and the poor.
I think that whatever Bandargate has brought up is nasty, worrying and deeply disturbing to the fabric of the Bahrain that we know and love.
And if the leadership of this country, (community, political, ruling family, private sector) do not wake up and accept the reality of what this report means .. if only to address the widening and hardening shift attitudes and stances, then I think that the ‘Kingdom of Bahrain as we know and love’ is living by a clock that is in count-down mode. And I dont know what the options are when we hit midnight. Bahrainistan or the Wahabbi Military State of Bahrain.
Either way, it aint pretty. I really hope that those who can make a difference wake up, smell the gahwa, and start acting wisely instead of keeping their heads stuck in the sand …
You miss understood what I said jasra ! I know that arabs don’t all wear thoobs ! Infact I don’t wear thoobs myself ! My comment wasn’t about whether he is arab or not ! All what I am saying is because I know people who knew him closely, I know that his intentions weren’t honorable !
these were my exact words:
H
yes, it is part of the problem, but at the end of the day, people ar enot the same, and if someone wanted to classify people, they could split society into short people and tall people, fat people and thin people, university graduates and high school graduates, arab origin and irani origin, black and white races, manama and muharraq, badoo and hadhar, male and female, whatever..and once you start using that as the basis for descrimination against people, people will start being more aware of their height, weight, education, forefathers, race, colour or gender. of course it is a very effective way of trying to eliminate half (in this case 70%) of the population.
It is especially dangerous because it is religion-based and therefore strikes at the heart of instincts deep within people and draws them up to the surface, highlighting differences that in moments of (brainwashed) passion make one feel that their very existence, their morals and their identity is threatened. So although it is merely part of the problem, it is a very dangerous part.
I think that he and many others like him felt empowered by the fact that he had been instructed that Shia were to be treated as second class and were basically fair game, and the fact that he was an ignorant uneducated person who would under normal circumstances have no right to speak to me in that derogatory manner suddenly had the right to by virtue of his sect moving him higher up the proverbial ladder where he could look down at anyone who did not belong to the right sect.
The fact remains that I went home that day for the first time feeling that I had a lot in common with a whole lot of other shia whom I didn’t even know just by the sect I was defined by in the eyes of the other. and it made me very angry that I was no longer being classified as a bahraini but a particular kind who would now have to be treated a certain way.
Thankfully, I got over it, and I am more of a Bahraini now, first foremost and only, but it was scary to find out that even though I had never felt like I was part of a sect, how easily those feelings could be brought to the surface.
Munther,
1) come on. It doesn’t matter what the guy wears. Some arabs think khaleejis wear a dress, the thobe is just as foreign to them as the african get-up appears to us. He is african, why shouldn’t he dress african? that is his business. the whole point why what is happening is wrong is because it categorizes people and then labels them. Pakistani muslims wear silvar qamees and that doesn’t make them any less muslim. we are all many things at the same time and it is that which makes us who we are, and we can dress any way we choose, it doesn’t have to make a statement about where our loyallties lie.
this is equivalent to some people argument that if a woman is not a mutahajiba, then she is not a muslim since she does not wear what they think is islamic.
2)he could be chinese or martian for all it matters. he is just the messenger. it is the message that is important, not the nationalistic loyalties of the messenger
So what?? completely beside the point. Whatever his motivations are for coming forward, the important thing is the material itself. is it true? if it is, and I don’t see how it can’t be given the type of detailed information and the fact that it names names, that is the issue.if it isn’t, wonderful.
let me give you an example:
say a burglar breaks into the home of someone he doesn’t like, while he is drunk, and along with the dosh takes items thst prove the owner is a traitor or is attempting a coup. he then sobers up and realizes what he has and goes public with it.
it may well be that he didn’t have a warrant and it may well be that his motives were suspect and it may well be that he had no right to be there and it may well be that his character is more than questionable and it may well be that the evidence could be thrown out in court following the arguments of a very clever lawyer, the guy might be thrown in jail for burglary, for being drunk in public in an islamic country, for whatever. None of that takes anything away from the meaning of the evidence he found. even if the evidence is inadmissable, it is still a fact that has to be investigated, faced and dealt with. who published the evidence or why they did so is completely irrelevant, it is the evidence itself that is important.
JJ
I think that the ‘Kingdom of Bahrain as we know and love’ is living by a clock that is in count-down mode. And I dont know what the options are when we hit midnight. Bahrainistan or the Wahabbi Military State of Bahrain.
sorry i messed up with my quotation marks at the end of my message
Munther,
this is part of my comment on another post here ‘Catch the pigeon!’ as I can not seem to be able to link to the comment directly, -can you hear me Mahmood?-:
‘Al-Bandar’s political/religious reasons and intentions are totally irrelevant to the issue; is the report correct or not? are the documents true or fake? btw Ahmed Attiyatallah annouced that they are true. So, at least an explaination is required. They government not only not starting a investigation, they actually just ignoring the whole issue as if there is nothing there. There was zero comment from any official regarding the report, other than oh, it is a fake report, full stop.’
Is it not time that we started thinking of having a more tolerant, and more importantly, secular society , in which case sect or religion becomes irrelevant, and merit is what counts ?
Why do people keep concentrating on the dress issue which was a very minor comment AND forget to refer to the rest of the comment ! 🙄
Author
Munther, for the record, I was as shocked by your initial response as others have been. It sounded far too prejudiced, and I hope that you will re-evaluate your position, regardless of the mode of dress or the person of Al-Bandar.
I agree completely with “can we talk now”, JJ and Salman; don’t attack the messenger, whoever he or she may be, but evaluate the content of the message only.
You would probably agree with me that there is a huge sectarian problem in this country, we all knew about it, we all heard and seen those lunatics Mohammed Khaled and Jassim Al-Saidi expressing their disgust with the Shi’a in no uncertain terms. We all know how the religious education is skewed, we all know that in a country where the majority of its CITIZENS don’t enjoy hearing their version of the call to prayer in the official television and radio channels, we all know the sidelining they have suffered and we all heard of the Muharraq incident where some sunnis where not happy with having Shi’a being in their midst and I am sure I can list a hundred more incidents, one I heard tonight is that an investor was ready to open a specialist hospital and was not given permission to do so because the minister who approved the application happened to be shi’a, so was the developer and the investor was apparently told about the situation in no uncertain terms. I personally don’t (want to) believe that, but it is these situations that we hear of day in and day out.
What Al-Bandar did was bring proof of the inculcated and officially sanctioned sectarianism that none of us could in the past.
So the problem is proven now, and it needs to be addressed. And if some of your relations or friends have been named in this report, don’t automatically take their side, they could be criminally liable for what they have done unless they come with a statement to absolve them of responsibility, and I would love to interview them, so give them my number please and I’ll be happy to show their part of the story on this site; but also warn them that if I find them culpable that I will have absolutely no problem crucifying them.
All in all, as a fellow blogger, I ask you to calm down please, own up to the mistake, and re-evaluate your position.
Mahmood,
Uhh… really?
…what are the qualifications for becoming Bahraini?
..Could I apply? =D
-Ibn
Author
Mohammed Fadhel wrote about the subject of unfair naturalizations this morning in his Al-Waqt column and I agree with what he said. Mohammed and I agree that giving citizenships should be done by the rule of law, rather than the various exceptions to it; it should be given to only those eligible after meeting agreed criteria, a good example of the process would be the States, France and Britain.
In answer to your question, yes you can, regardless of your race, religion, sect, or sexual preference. Getting it however is a totally different thing and should require you to meet or exceed the requirements.
Moahmood, I am not against what he said %100 & I am not a person who believe in dividing the people of this country ! Both sides of the nation is at the wrong, though ! But for the love of god the person who he spoke about just wrote a book about elections ! And you know how things are over here you get paid for such things ! Is that a crime now ? he claimed that she is a part of a sleeper cell and that she get paid a hefty sum every month which I doubt ! About the dress thing I am sorry if I offended people with that comment ! I take it back ! Still though I’ll hold to my opinion about the whole situation (there is something fishy about the guy) !
Ibn..
To become a Bahraini, you would need to have some good self deprecating humor, you would need to have a good heart, a healthy dose of humility, and an innate ability to see the funny side of everything and a very healthy disdain for power, (whilst still acknowleding those who have it).
You would need to be able to deal with your very liberal friends, but be able to handle your very conservative parents/aunts and uncles. You would be able to navigate around a very schizophrenic environment and feel totally at home.
You would need to be able to drive on the weekend and see the Saudis trash your country but feel that you are somewhat proud that Bahrain can offer them a place to breathe and let their hair down.
Errm .. what else? Yeah .. you would need to have a healthy appetitie for gossip, except you would call it information sharing .. and you would have to be able to have a conversation with someone that involves english, arabic, some urdu and some persian without ever stopping to think that it might be strange.
You would be able to interact with all the brearded ones and the burqa’s ones and know stories about them that would betray their so called commitment to God .. and you would find it amusing that everyone wants a job in that little room somewhere where they go through appropriate and inappropriate videos to watch ..
Thats what you need to have a Bahraini soul.. a solid understanding of what it means to live in the middle of contradictions .. love it .. and be very comfortable with it ..
Dunno about what you need to get a Bahraini passport though …
Author
Excellent! The best definition I have read ever I think. Brilliant! 😆 :grinnod:
JJ
Very nicely put..
it’s a wonder we can still keep track of who we are!!
JJ,
hahaha! Spectacular! That was really funny! 😆
Well, I think I got most of this covered… except for my urdu and farsi. 😀
-Ibn
Author
Arabic buttons’ graphics have disappeared! Can someone re-upload into the Flickr Group please?
Not sure if its just me, but the HTML code isn’t working on my blog for some reason :no:
JJ
Cool rant! Really good.
Just to say a truth word about bahrain im come from arabian orginal was born and spend most of my life in this great island i can see in bahrain the great example of multi cultuer i get used for all the languages arabic ,english,persin . the mix of people in this island become part of it history and current life .im sad to see that a person serve the planner of division converting into angel after takeing the money he needs and serve them for years .this man discover that there is poor people he should help them by discovering the plan of division . im sorry that the evil eyes which trying to distroy the great improvment bahrain is doing now days with all the new project taking place ,many people not happy with this improvment specially one western countery which have the same feeling against india econmey improvment .
for me im im proud of bahrain and even i dont hold the passport but i own bahraini soul which no one can give it or take it from me because its gad world and gad life.
gad safe us from the jalousey eyes
😳
it’s nice