4th Jul, 2013 –
“You live in Bahrain?” she asked while pulling a facial expression that insinuated pity.
On numerous occasions over the past couple of years I have experienced this expression of horror and sympathy while overseas. But are such gestures of condolence for us Bahrainis justified?
Because of Bahrain’s tiny size, and the fact that most people round the world know nothing more about this country other than that it’s close to Saudi Arabia and it hosts the Grand Prix; Bahrain has tended to be the victim of lousy journalism over recent years.
From reading the international media, Bahrain often is portrayed like a smaller version of Syria. And as a result, misinformed commentators often conflate the two.
After revolution in Tunisia, then Egypt, then Libya; the world heard that there were protestors on the streets in Bahrain and assumed that this was the next candidate for a revolution; and because Bahrain was a monarchy – ‘what an outdated concept!’ – clearly revolution needed to come sooner rather than later.
I would need to write a substantial book in order to fully challenge some of these preconceptions. So let me make do with a few insights that I often share with my over-sympathetic foreign interlocutors, to help make you think twice about what you think you know about Bahrain:
I don’t know a single Bahraini who wouldn’t agree with me that our governing system is in great need of reform. We need a governing system that is more representative and more responsive. However, it is only a very vocal and militant minority who believe this means that Bahrain needs revolution – particularly as we watch the developing catastrophe of post-revolutionary Egypt.
Since King Hamad came to power just over a decade ago, Bahrainis voted overwhelmingly for a new constitution which brought with it a number of these reforms and did away with past repressive measures; putting our Kingdom on a slow – but steady – path to become a fully representative Constitutional Monarchy.
We have seen a number of further reforms for empowering the elected Parliament to challenge the Government and its policies – but so far many of these new reforms remain partly untested, particularly after the opposition Al-Wefaq Islamic Society walked out of Parliament two years ago (with 18 MPs, Al-Wefaq occupied nearly half the 40 seats).
Regarding the portrayals of Bahrain as a virtual war zone; these days you have to actively seek out some of the worst corners of the country to find the troublesome areas where roads are blocked with burning tyres and rioters pelt policemen with Molotov cocktails.
I myself live in an area considered a hot spot for trouble, but even here life mostly goes on as normal. The roads are blocked again? Okay, I’ll take the long route home. Tear gas wafting past outside? Fair enough, let’s have a night in front of the TV.
As a forward-thinking young person (at least that’s how I like to see myself), why aren’t I out there protesting for my rights? Well, in the early days of 2011 I had several friends who attended the Pearl Roundabout protests. However, these protests very quickly took on a sectarian and militant tone.
Unrest in Bahrain dates back to 1979, when the Islamic Revolution in Iran inspired and supported several homegrown revolutionary groups like the Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, which staged several coup attempts in the 1980s. The Front also nurtured the next generation of dissidents who came of age by burning tyres and wreaking havoc in the mid-1990s, a period in Bahraini history more commonly known as “Al-Ahdath”.
As a result, Bahrain has ended up with a radicalized and sectarian opposition leadership, which has tended to use religious figures and institutions to incentivize and mobilize its supporters.
What is wrong with this? Bahrain – originating as an island trading nation – has always enjoyed a liberal and tolerant society which does not wear its religious affiliations on its sleeve. Most Bahrainis are just as nervous about over-vocal Salafist MPs, as they are about radical Shia clerics.
Women in Bahrain enjoy prominent roles in society; we are generally free to dress and behave as we choose; and we don’t want religious figures acting to change this.
The Government and the opposition blame each other for letting the sectarian genie out the bottle. However, it is fair to say that both sides share some responsibility for this and that the unrest has polarized society to a degree never seen before by my generation.
Although many Sunnis originally joined the protests, you would have great difficulty nowadays finding any Sunni who is sympathetic to the continuing unrest and rioting. This division of society is very dangerous and I can’t say with certainty where this will take Bahrain.
So what now? Well, the Grand Prix went off this April relatively smoothly, the Dialogue carries on; recent protests have been a lot smaller and have been carefully managed by the police to minimize violent incidents.
The opposition is subject to the law of diminishing returns – fewer active supporters, dying global interest and a weaker political position.
This is perhaps why moderates within the opposition are pushing to make a success of the ongoing National Dialogue. This process seems to be moving forward very slowly, but despite a couple of temporary withdrawals from some participants, it is still taking place, which gives us a degree of hope.
Next month I, and others have been invited to Northern Ireland as part of a reconciliation project to learn more about how a very different society has managed civil conflict and far more bitter sectarian divisions.
Nobody expects the Bahrain unrest to end completely any time soon, but a great deal of the heat and danger that was present in the early days of the protests seems to have diffused and for most of us life is back to normal, with the economy once again relatively buoyant.
So does Bahrain justify your pity and sympathy?
Instead, I would rather you took the time to learn about Bahrain and understand our situation on its own merits. Bahrain is not a microcosm of Egypt or Syria; and so diagnosing similar forms of treatment for our country is likely to reap perverse and undesirable results.
Yes, Bahrain needs international solidarity in helping us continue down a path of reform, while consolidating our both liberal and conservative traditions. But the last thing we need are people wholly ignorant of Bahrain’s merits and attributes pushing us kicking and screaming down the path of violent revolution.