To the sad sad people who’re trying their utmost to compare what has happened in Bahrain to the UK’s current riots and come to the staggering realization that they’re one and the same: don’t. The twains do not and shall never meet.
Over there, it’s yobs, criminals and looters running rampant and they deserve nothing less then to be brought to justice. Here, the vast majority of demonstrators were peaceful and their demands were not DVD players, TVs and sneakers but to be able to live with dignity, have their human rights respected, get a representative government and inculcate social justice.
So get over yourself or stay in your padded hole. These things ain’t the same. Live with it.
Comments
Well put. Also, those Brits that do get arrested will not be subjected to torture, threatened with rape and incarcerated indefinitely without due process,
M.
Agreed! With the notable exception of the Black Bloc and the original Tottenham demo/riot which WAS targeted at the suspicious police shooting of Mark Duggan..
However I would draw your attention to this:
“Deaths in police custody since 1998: 333; officers convicted: none”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/03/deaths-police-custody-officers-convicted
Parallels?
However I am of the firm opinion that the riots were *allowed* to be as bad as they were!
1/ Police inaction now has the ConDems U-turning on cuts to Police
2/ Tories have made sure that the story is “chav scum” rather than “Hackgate” or “Global Meltdown”
3/ The state also now has an excuse to clamp down on Twitter; BBM; Facebook etc
The Met have emergency measures for civil unrest. They were not used. When the riots kicked off there were 3000 Plod deployed. Only three days later were there 16,000 actually doing something: after the state got the TV coverage they wanted.
The fact that the Pro Democracy protesters were allowed to reclaim Lulu only to be attacked there a second time is equally suspicious.
Well the results are the same, the protests occupied manama city, blocking the streets and preventing people going on with their lives. They are the same in the destructive nature of their actions. No matter how noble their reasons are, they are still disruptive to other people’s lives.
Get a sense of proportion Jons – the results ARE NOT one and the same.
Blocking streets and preventing people going on with their lives is an inconvenience. Having your business/home looted and all your wordly possessions stolen or burnt to the ground is incomparable. Drop the heightened sense of victimhood. I happen to live in Brixton, please do not compare your inability to go to the mall with the terror we have lived through the last few days and the massive losses my friends and neighbours have suffered.
Yes it was annoying being stuck in traffic for hours when the financial harbour was blocked – yes it was unpleasant and very scary having to go through ridiculous checkpoints set up by community vigilantes across all sections of society but how many shops/homes were looted in Bahrain during the unrest? I heard of damage to 2 well known supermarkets and a 24 hour store, and the perpetrators were certainly not protestors. Likewise, private cars destroyed and smashed up – again, the perpetrators were not protestors, they were wearing masks and uniforms. Mosques & Matams, who trashed those? How about village gateways and a communal garden planted by a widow in memory of her late husband? How about the desecration of graves, including those of greatly revered clerics? None of these acts, for which there is abundant evidence were perpetrated by protestors.
So calm has now been restored to the streets of the UK following the worst riots in 30 years. How many rioters were killed by the UK police? 0. How many bullets were fired, live, rubber or shotgun? 0. How many teargas canisters were used? 0.
I say go ahead and make your comparisons- beginning first and foremost with the police response.
Jons: There was very little destruction in Bahrain (at least by the demonstrators!), no more than an average protest in any part of the world. Granted there are hotheads on both sides, however we still do not know exactly which ‘side’ contributed to any ‘destruction’. Blocking of streets is an inconvenience, it is NOT terrorism!
Mahmood is quite correct. Bahrainis were protesting, not rioting, while the British yobs were rioting, not protesting. In Bahrain, it was the government which rioted and was the vehicle of violence while in Britain the police were pacifist and feeble in the face of thug violence. In Bahrain, the protestors were trying to build a better nation while in Britain the yobs were trying to tear their nation down and burn it up.
Max Hastings has summed up the conflict neatly:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2024284/UK-riots-2011-Liberal-dogma-spawned-generation-brutalised-youths.html
Simply put, the deficit crisis among Western nations and these riots are nails in the coffin of the welfare state.
Spot on Steve, I was nearly frothing with rage when Darcus Howe claimed that these riots were sending a message and that it was akin to the “Arab Spring”. He even snaked his way to saying it’s a result of police searching black youths. Boo hoo, it’s a hard life over here isn’t it.
These yobs chose to target high end designer stores because their clothing doesn’t reflect a lifestyle they wish to portray they have the money to lead. That’s a long way from fighting for freedom and against repression. If they had nothing and were robbing food stores I would have sympathy but they have enough money to own and use Blackberrys, they’re hardly destitute.
Mahmood, it’s a strange parallel, but whilst watching our riots I was thinking the police needed to come down harder, even read the riot act and that’s basically what the Bahraini police did. I guess it’s just the reasons behind “why†that justifies the force.
Cameron hit the nail on the head saying that these people know their rights but nothing of their responsibilities. I support the welfare state 100% in principle but when it becomes a gravy train to not work it needs reform.
This opinion piece in the leading Tory paper is worth reading:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100100708/the-moral-decay-of-our-society-is-as-bad-at-the-top-as-the-bottom/
I don’t know if you were in Bahrain when this happened but I was and I think you are unaware of the Shiite gangs reign of terror over the Asian community. I have many Asian clients who they terrorised. Stealing the possessions of poverty stricken South Asian labourers and then burning down their labour camps, wounding 100s and killing 4 of them over a period of 4 days when the police were so stretched [March 13th to 17th] there was no law enforcement were horrific events for the Asian community. These things were ignored by the International journalists and human rights activists. I did not get my information from any biased source but out of the terrified mouths of the South Asians that I teach. So there are some similarities between the two situations. But of course the thugs who attacked and terrorised the South Asians here are lauded and their murderous rampages have not been reported because they were apparently fighting for a political objective that the media approve of. By the way, I had to teach a Filipino nurse who had just gone through an illegal road block and she was shaking after having had a sword held to her throat by one of the peaceful protesters so it was not quite so benign as you seem to think.
1. I would like to directly speak to those “asians that you teach” please call me and I’ll be available at any time to do so. If for nothing, I enjoy meeting people.
2. More than 30 Bahrainis were killed. Those must account for something, or is it that our blood is less valuable?
3. International journalists are no fools. They generally can smell shite miles away, ignore it, and report on the actual things happening on the ground. They have their reputations to protect, and to them, that quality and the truth trumps all other consideration.
4. Criminals, no matter what color or hue they are should be fairly tried and if found at fault should have the book thrown at them. Until they are actually proven guilty, they are innocent, so step away from that soap box please.
5. I’d like to talk to that nurse too if you would care to get her to contact me.
6. It might help your case if you de-anonymise yourself and your allegations.
2. More than 30 Bahrainis were killed. Those must account for something, or is it that our blood is less valuable?
It has no value to your government. In general, the rule appears to be that Arabs don’t mind other Arabs killing Arabs, only non-Arabs killing Arabs.
3. International journalists are no fools. They generally can smell shite miles away, ignore it, and report on the actual things happening on the ground. They have their reputations to protect, and to them, that quality and the truth trumps all other consideration.
International journalists are indeed fools who revel in shite. They have no reputations for honesty. They have little interest in reporting truth or ensuring the quality of their reports, but great determination in promoting their politically correct narrative, even when it requires ignoring massive evidence to the contrary.
I echo HMMF. Our office boy stated that his door was forcibly broken open at night by thugs during the period HMMF mentioned and he was threatened.
The thugs demanded his CPR (ID) card and when they saw that he was Indian, not Pakistani they told him to stay inside and not go out. If he had been Pakistani they would have beaten him up. The office boy stated that there was a lot of this going on at the time and that he was very scared to do anything at the time.
Read my reply above. This too is just as ludicrous.
I’m curious as to why you think that this was ludicrous. Do you think that someone being threatened with a beating is funny or derisory? Or do you just deny that it happened?
In no way does this affect the appalling loss of life that occurred. The two are mutually exclusive. However, the office boy was scared and there is no getting away from what happened to him and the Indians and Pakistanis who live in Manama.
With regard to the International Journalists. When they can call a roundabout a square, how accurate is that?
Were they accurately ‘reporting the actual things that are happening on the ground.’ I don’t think so, or at least, they didn’t seem to be totally objective. They reported what they saw and seemed to be prompted by whoever wanted to influence them. Since I don’t believe that many of the journalists working for UK news media could read or write Arabic they relied on people who could, and who could feed them whatever line they wanted. Maybe I’m being totally cynical, but only one side seemed to be presented. Hardly ‘balanced’ journalism.
I believe that to the foreign media, at the time, Bahrain was a story that not many people in their target audience knew much about and so they had carte-blanche to write what they liked. Sometimes with scant regard to the facts. They knew very well that there would be no, or very little, comeback if they got it wrong and so were able to write much as they pleased. The government of Bahrain is apparently taking one of these journalists to court for defamation. Personally, I don’t think it will amount to much.
Bahrain did not have anyone who could act as a spokesperson with strong language skills to rebut anything that was written. They still apparently don’t and this is, in my mind, a big mistake that the government is making. There are many Bahrainis who are totally fluent in English who could be groomed to give the alternative point of view. Similar to what Netanyatu did during the first Gulf War. No matter what you think of his views or consequent actions, he was a very effective communicator when his country was being shot at with Scuds. Bahrain needs a similar communicator. Who would want the job is a separate matter.
Now, I’ll get off my soapbox.
No, I don’t take someone being threatened lightly. But the continuous harping on of “the poor asian” is more than ludicrous. At best, it makes them the victim unnecessarily and undeservedly. They are capable human beings some of whom have lived here all their lives and know that no one really means them harm, and if harm is done then the perpetrator should unquestioningly be put to court. This “poor asian” thing is distasteful now especially because they have been used as expedient fools and the very people who cry for their misfortune are the ones at other occasions who abuse them with alacrity.
I have Asians working for me, one lives by the CID place in Adliya, the other in Tashan and another by the Gold City, although they found the situation scary, as I and many others have, they were the first to the office during that time and only me deciding as a business owner to shut the office for 4 days stopped them from making their way through the rubble, the police cordons, the vigilantes and through the lines of thugs to get to the office. I think this “poor Asian” should stop, it’s way past its sell-by date.
As to international journalists and Bahrain suing Robert Fisk for libel, the answer is really? Really? What brainfart is this? Robert Fisk is one of the most highly regarded journalists and they want to pin on him some ludicrous notion is farcical, as were the attempts of the sycophants to “get at” Kristof. Do you honestly put these journalists with our very own Anwar Abdulrahman and his lot, or Mahmood Al-Mahmood and his or the whole bevy of wannabes at the Arab press? Purleez!
I’ll tell you what Bahrain needs more than an erudite spokesman. What we need is to face the truth and be humbled by it, adopt it, amend our ways and ensure that social justice prevails and stop being so sensitive about this spick of an island being much bigger than it really is. Once we face reality and honestly address our shortcomings, we won’t need any paid spokespeople, every one of us will become a shining ambassador to the world with pride.
زينتسوي،عندك اياهم!
طبعاً لا اتوقع رد ايجابيمنهم .
1. I would like to directly speak to those “asians that you teach†please call me and I’ll be available at any time to do so. If for nothing, I enjoy meeting people.
Well talking to people it seems pointless now what have been done ppl still have those horrifying memories and looking at your history i will sure not agreeing not even on talking over the fone so you can make a phony story of urs and publish it
2. More than 30 Bahrainis were killed. Those must account for something, or is it that our blood is less valuable?
Well lets see how did this dirty blood spill happened. 1st of all lets look at international peaceful standards or rioting when you have given a liberty in a certain area u utilize it you dont cross over and terrorize people or stop daily life job for people and create chaos. I’m sure ull come up with another dramatic story.
3. International journalists are no fools. They generally can smell shite miles away, ignore it, and report on the actual things happening on the ground. They have their reputations to protect, and to them, that quality and the truth trumps all other consideration.
CNN,BBC and al jazeera we dont give a crap about them all biased.
4. Criminals, no matter what color or hue they are should be fairly tried and if found at fault should have the book thrown at them. Until they are actually proven guilty, they are innocent, so step away from that soap box please.
Nabeel Rajab and al khawaja’s are the biggest criminals please dont join their league if the govt have really given you a chance to be neutral.
I guess its enough so can start your sarcastic comments 🙂
Thanks ,,, God bless you
At least in UK you can call them rioters … in Bahrain… they are cold blooded killers! they have killed , kidnapped and torutred many poor people the so called peaceful protesters of bahrain… they were not peaceful at all.. they themselves admitting on facebook and twitter what they did…. they have blocked roads and highways forcing their opinions on others… they have attacked poor children in a KG and university students were attacked by them as well… thanks to god and to the GCC forces who saved us from their killing spree.. they are black and dark full with hatred to anything… i wish they all leave Bahrain and leave us live in peace…
i can give you a good parallel…. in Bahrain you can never see a homeless person while in uk you will…. you will never pay any tax of any kind while in uk you will pay and alot.. education in Bahrain is free while in uk its not… Bahrain is much much much more cheaper in uk in every single aspect of the word… in bahrain the so called peaceful protesters which were not peaceful at all and actually they were killers and thugs… were protesting as per orders from Iran to take over the GCC and this is not a conspiracy theory , its a face that we bahrainis all know… we bahrainis will NOT allow this to happen no matter what…. they will not take the rule no matter what as well….
I am an Expat living here in Bahrain , While u guys where so comfortable taking over the whole city we were like hostages in our own homes , no work , no schools , no shops and even if people wanted to go to work u would not let them , now can u tell me what kind of protesting that is ? You blocked all roads , no street lights it was like a war zone we were living on our nerves for over a month.
You run over unarmed police men not once but twice but that was not enough u get out of ur SUV and start kicking his dead body, the Poor Pakistani men my God what u done to them u would not do to an animal, the Taxi driver 74 years old stabbed and died later , the Imam whose tongue and ear was cut off , why are we not hearing about these people is their blood any different? Mr Nabeel Rajab Human Rights man lol well I think he is a small man a man that leads children on a protest at night with their faces covered like terrorists marching and holding rocks in their hands , hello!!! what is this ? Human Rights new way of tackling a situation with terrorist acts, I would slap him in the face if he led my son like that , by the way I have the picture to prove his stupid act, I could go on and on about u guys ,also what u r doing on Facebook but I will leave that for another comment , I am sure by now I could write a book about u and all the terrorist acts u r doing on Facebook , for another day to be continued,,,,,,,
It seems like any one who tries to show the more sinister side of the rioters is being voted down, and their comments hidden.
I’d like to share my experience of the protests turned rioters in Bahrain…
I grew up in Bahrain, went to BSB then St. Chris and so Bahrain is my second home, and so I would like to see it flourish.
When the protests started they were peaceful, and I was optimistic that their needs would be met….Then Pearl roundabout was raided (for some people its pearl square etc). This lead to a great deal of anger, and post raid it became quite unsafe for any non caucasian (non white) foreigners to visit the roundabout to show support to the protestors.
It was after this time that gangs started going round Manama forcing shops to close and checking CPR’s. This DID HAPPEN and Mahmood you seem content on saying otherwise.
Things became worse when gangs started abducting Pakistanis and other asians and beating them. Mahmood there are some videos on Youtube, and you can also call the Pakistani and Bangladeshi embassies; they’ll enlighten you. (As an employer of many Bahrainis and Asians I was asked to contribute funds to help the injured Asians return to their countries of origin, thats how I know their embassies and clubs should have records).
This is the same time that news described by Elish and HMMF came out (kidnapping and torture by rioters). There were several videos on youtube and the British Embassy advised British citizens to leave Bahrain.
To be honest I felt the GCC force intervention brought some measure of calm to the country despite their forceful demeanor.
These were unfortunate sequence of events for Bahrain, and I do pray every day that some sort of solution is found. As a student I loved Bahrain…it was home. After graduating from University in the UK I poured well over US1m of my family’s money into the country right before the crisis (you could say I have a vested interest in peace!).
Mahmood I’ve been following your blog since I was a student, and was quite appalled that you simply ignored the other side of the story. Whether you believe it or not ‘extremist’ Bahrainis are high jacking your quest for democracy. With them in the same boat as yourself, and the inability to distinguish between the two, you’ll never achieve your goals.
Back to the original article…theres a big difference between Bahrain and UK. The UK riots were dominated by thugs who worked together to loot and pillage, and Bahrainis attempts to achieve a democracy was thwarted from within by a group of thugs who caused great mayhem.
(From memory the majority of deaths on the Protestors side occurred post GCC force intervention, whilst Asian deaths and torture cases happened prior to this. IMO the only mistake the gov of Bahrain made was to raid pearl r/b during the initial peaceful protests).
Someone forgot to send my wife, son and an employee and her partner as well as a couple of other friends who fit your description the memo then…
Quite possible. This is what happens when people get killed and thugs are carted around to attack people. Ill feelings and will do pervade.
I don’t condone violence of any sort. If this did happen, then the pending report from the BICI should highlight it and address this problem. Perpetrators should also be identified and put to justice.
Funny. Including the killing of several Bahrainis. I guess our blood is cheaper in your eyes. Great sense of calm indeed.
ahuh.
finally.
Agree with the first part, the other part suggests that you’re blinded for some reason and cannot evaluate what’s occurred here, or worse, naively accept some accounts of what happened as gospel. Re-evaluation needed by yourself I suggest.
You don’t say!
And of course you have evidence to corroborate this.
Hardly. This is just one instance. An intelligent person would go back further and try to understand the situation before spouting unsubstantiated and naive accusations. Regardless of the sums of money you or your family have “invested” here, we have given you back a lot more than you’ve put in. So be thankful, and don’t take sides. Or at least, try to understand the situation more fully rather than just scratch the surface and think that you understand our dynamics.
-Quite possible. This is what happens when people get killed and thugs are carted around to attack people. Ill feelings and will do pervade.
The problem is you’re defending those who use this opportunity to cause harm to the innocent.
-I don’t condone violence of any sort.
Funny…you seem to contradict this by implying its natural.
-Funny. Including the killing of several Bahrainis. I guess our blood is cheaper in your eyes. Great sense of calm indeed.
I never said Bahraini blood was cheaper…you assume things…I said things calmed down. The general population can go about their business. Protestors should try to cause the least disruption possible. You may not have noticed how businesses especially banks are lining up to leave. It’s the Bahraini’s they will fire not the expats- they’ll be moved to Dubai etc.
-you’re blinded for some reason and cannot evaluate what’s occurred here, or worse, naively accept some accounts of what happened as gospel. Re-evaluation needed by yourself I suggest….Regardless of the sums of money you or your family have “invested” here, we have given you back a lot more than you’ve put in. So be thankful, and don’t take sides. Or at least, try to understand the situation more fully rather than just scratch the surface and think that you understand our dynamics.
No I completely understand whats been happening in Bahrain…but perhaps you should follow your own advice and “be grateful” for what you have.
In terms of a second home…thats the only thing I got from Bahrain…but I paid for it with by my own money (nothing was free for me as a non-bahraini, I got my own healthcare; paid for my own house with no subsidies; pay my own bills etc). So Bahrain really hasn’t given me anything to be grateful enough to not protect my investment. All of our wealth was generated in the UK.
-And of course you have evidence to corroborate this.
I told you where to look. By turning a blind eye you are just as guilty as those who targeted the defenceless. You’ve spoken just like Ahmadinejad…just because you didnt see it with your eyes you should not ignore the evidence already out there.
I am living in this country and have been for the last 11 years and I only mix with the locals Shiites and Sunies and to be honest with u ur full of crap , u have no idea what has and is going on in Bahrain. The people from the villages or should I say the kids who are pushed to go out their every night to as u call it protest is shameful they are ordered by some big thugs cowards who are sitting at home giving them their orders to these young kids to do their dirty work for them.They are messaging them and also over the net , why is it that only the villagers are out ? oops!! is it because they are uneducated and they are being used?
I have followed these people on the net for many months now and I have learnt a lot thanks to their hateful pages , so I am not fooled as I get all the info I need to know from them , straight from the horses mouth . I will say it again full of propaganda and a lot of advice coming from out side to encourage the protesting game , no blind eye from my side my eyes are wide open , thank u 🙂
Your eyes might be open, but the lights are most definitely off!
Ah Elish aka Liz Lane strikes again. Famous for her GDN whines re her hateful facebook pages being removed. Long may they continue to do so. Give it a rest Liz!
lol, So called James Benson u should have went with the name Bond, hahahaha!!!! guess what James boy ? I am not going to stop! and for my so called hateful page I will say to any of u who have a face book account please look up Expats of Bahrain 2, and it will prove to u how they lie little by little and they do not like it when some one speaks out , They also like to use foreign names and why do u think that is ? lol so that they will get noticed , full of lies and propaganda and now people are beginning to see behind the one sided story ,, oops!!! James u for got to mention the threats that u guys sent to me but not to worry I have them all keeping them for a rainy day,
Take care James boy 🙂