The 14th February sees the first anniversary of the Bahraini protests and yet, despite the ongoing nature of these protests and despite the increasing reports of violence, torture and random imprisonment of the protesters, we still see relatively little about it in our mainstream media.
Women taking part in pro-democracy sit-in in Sitra, Bahrain.
Photo source : Wikipedia
The U.S. has made a lot of noise this week when talking about the situation in Syria, Secretary Clinton has made a personal pledge to do 'more' to ensure the rights of the protesters in that country. Indeed, she even went so far as to say
“Every member of the Council has to make a decision: Whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the Syrian people? Are you on the side of the Arab League? Are you on the side of the people of the Middle East and North Africa who have during this past year spoken out courageously and often for their rights? Or are you on the side of a brutal, dictatorial regime? It is absolutely imperative that we all be on the right side of history.”
And yet, she remains strangely reticent when it comes to Bahrain. True, she has made statements in the past urging the Bahraini Government to display restraint but, in comparison to the strength of her words this week about Syria, Bahrain does not appear to be at the top of her agenda. In fact, to be honest, I sometimes wonder if it figures at all on the agenda in the U.S. I don't go much for conspiracy theories, neither do I believe in hidden agendas in this case as I think the 'agenda' is so blatantly obvious! The U.S. has massive military investment in Bahrain, along with similar levels of investment in Saudi Arabia who, for the record, have assisted the Bahraini regime in attempting to put an end to the protests. In the above-linked article they claim that the Saudi-led military force crossed into Bahrain with the express purpose of "propping up the monarchy against widening demonstrations".
In the words of Elie Wiesel
“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
The U.S. moors its 5th fleet in Bahrain and, as Lamees Dhaif noted in the interview I conducted with her last week, the Bahraini people have welcomed the American forces into their country and have never had any kind of problem with them.
As Lamees further said
"We may be a small country, we may be small people, but we ARE still people and we deserve their support".
This week, I interviewed another person involved in the protests and I'd like to share her story with you. For reasons of personal safety, she has asked not to be identified by her real name and therefore, for the purposes of this interview, I will call her Ali. If you've been following the rapidly increasing number of detentions and random beatings by the security forces in Bahrain, then you will well understand why this protester wishes to remain anonymous. She'd like the world to hear her story but she would also like to protect her own personal safety (as far as she can) in order that she can continue to help and assist other protesters in the way she has been doing for the last year.
Anyone who speaks truthfully about what is happening in Bahrain, risks arrest (or worse), and so I would really urge you to read her words and try to imagine yourself in her position. I am grateful that people such as this interviewee exist in our world and, as she herself says, we, as onlookers, should do all we can to raise the profile of the Bahraini protests in order that they do not remain silent and hidden from view.
Here is her story ...
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