Wednesday, July 05, 2006

July 2006

Vol XXIX NO. 128 Wednesday 26 July 2006

Lebanon 'facing its darkest hour'

LEBANON welcomes all the support it can get at this dark hour of need, Lebanese Special Envoy to the United Nations Nouhad Mahmood told the GDN.

He said all funds received would be handled by humanitarian organisations on the ground, which are working relentlessly to help tens of thousands of people caught in the crossfire and internally displaced by the continuing hostilities against his country.

Mr Mahmood was speaking to the GDN in a telephone interview following the launch of a UN appeal for $149 million (BD56.322m) in humanitarian aid for Lebanon to combat the worsening crisis gripping the country.

The appeal covers an initial period of response of three months in priority areas including food, healthcare, logistics, water and sanitation, protection and common services.

Of the $149m, $5m (BD1.89m) is being allocated from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for logistics, water and sanitation and healthcare.

"At present we need all forms of help, whatever they maybe - either bilaterally from governments to the Lebanese government or through local and international humanitarian relief agencies, working in Lebanon," said Mr Mahmood, who thanked Arab and Gulf countries for their solidarity, support and aid pledges.

"We have no complaints about the way Arab governments reacted to the crisis," he continued.

"The civilian stance towards the conflict and the pledges of support we are getting from civilian and humanitarian groups is a natural reaction to the atrocities we are facing.

"All the aid will go to humanitarian and relief groups on the ground, which are carrying the burden at present and working hard to help whoever they can reach.

"We would like to thank all those who stood up to help Lebanon at this difficult time.

"Our Arab brothers and the international community have rallied behind us before."

The Flash Appeal for Lebanon, which was launched at the UN, seeks to meet the needs of some 800,000 people over the next three months.

Funding for the appeal will enable aid groups to carry out programmes to feed, shelter and protect civilians caught in the cruel conflict.

"Lebanon is yet again experiencing devastating cycle of violence, with the civilian population caught in the middle," said a statement issued by the UN.

"With the conflict now in its second week, the humanitarian situation continues to worsen.

"Hundreds of people have been killed and more than 1,500 wounded.

"Moreover, an estimated 700,000 people have fled their homes, including some 150,000 people who have crossed the border into Syria.

"The conflict has also affected more than 100,000 people from 20 different countries who had been living in Lebanon, a large number of whom require assistance to evacuate.

"In Lebanon, ongoing hostilities between Hizbollah and Israel have resulted in the deaths of more than 350 people (45 per cent of them children, according to Save the Children) and more than 1,500 injured," added the statement.

Mr Mahmood also expressed his thanks to Bahrain and its people for their moral and financial support to Lebanon.

"The whole of Lebanon is in crisis now and thousands of people are displaced and facing a real humanitarian crisis," he said.

"All organisations collecting aid for Lebanon should know where it is going and even if the funds get to Hizbollah, everyone knows that they have a wide range of humanitarian aid and social programmes and it doesn't mean that they will use the funding for other purposes.

"What is more important than pointing fingers now is to stop the humanitarian crisis unfolding, obtain a ceasefire and halt Israel's expansionist plans in the region from seeing light."





Vol XXIX NO. 117 Saturday 15 July 2006

Who are these tired Mps trying to kid?


Amira Al Hussaini

Give us a break !" This is the heartbreaking call made by MPs as they prepare to wrap up a four-year term of fist fights, meaningless arguments and endless amusement to those of us following their petty exchanges.

While I totally understand that the marathon meetings may have put pressure on our esteemed MPs, I really don't know who to feel more sorry for, them or us!

Should my sympathy go to those paid people's representatives whose main goal seemed to be to fulfil their own private agendas, or the general public, whose hopes were dashed by theatrical performances which could grace the Broadway stage.

"Give us a break indeed!" I can hear the Bahraini public echoing in chorus in reply.

It will be especially loud from those of us whose voices have become hoarse screaming for sanity in a mad, mad world and urging MPs to live up to their role as representatives of the people and stop embarrassing a nation which had high hopes for democracy and transparency.

Off the top of my head, all I can think of is what a waste of valuable time and financial resources those four years have been in the progress of a modern nation like Bahrain.

Have we unwittingly over-estimated our democratic progress? Were the 2002 elections a trial-run for a better performance next time round, or a sample of what we are to taste for the coming years?

Is the performance of this assembly a reflection of the true level of Bahrainis and the expertise this nation has to offer a new democracy ? Did qualified candidates shy away, in order to stand back and make their presence felt come the next elections?

The answers to these questions and the outcome of the next elections lie in our hands, no matter what people supporting or boycotting the parliamentary elections have to say.

For the Constitution gives every Bahraini man and woman the right to make their voices heard and elect the most deserving candidate to speak on their behalf, in this 40-member parliament.

As candidates and voters, it really would be a shame if we let our nation down a second time by not standing for elections and ensuring that our voices count in bringing the most deserving candidates to office.

Sporting a beard and having affiliations and connections to Islamic societies don't make a candidate knowledgeable in legislation which has a direct impact on our everyday lives.

Being from the same tribe or ethnic background as the majority of constituents shouldn't also automatically guarantee a candidate a seat in parliament.

My only wish is that constituents use their votes wisely this time, for Bahrain certainly deserves much better than the sorry show our parliament has put on for four consecutive years.

If we are to have a repeat performance, perhaps democracy needs a break too, for it is pointless to add more insult to injury!

Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada



Vol XXIX NO. 111 Sunday 9 July 2006

Still hooked... but not taking the bait

By Amira Al Hussaini

Long gone are the days when I could just call up friends, pick up some bait and drive to the Bahrain Yacht Club, where a humble boat was waiting to take us to nearby fishing spots to spend a few hours away from the office and the clutter of everyday life.

It really seems like a lifetime away, a previous surreal existence which I can only cherish as a fading memory, now that monotony, boredom, red tape and regulations suffocate every other breath I take.

Here in Canada, with winter, snow and dark unpredictable weather finally out of the way, I found myself walking around a pristine nearby park, which was dotted with chairs, trees which provide lots of shade from the scorching sun and delight, delight... lakes with the young and old trying their hands at landing the catch of the day.

You should have seen the smile, which moved muscles I no longer knew existed in my face and the tears which clouded my eyes, when I realised that I could once again lose myself in fishing, a pastime I took for granted in Bahrain.

My happiness was, as expected, short-lived after putting my journalistic curiosity into first gear and chatting up some of those fishing about the catch, gear needed and where to get the squiggly moving bait they were - to my disgust - cheerfully stringing onto their hooks.

"You new here?" asked an older man.

"Sort of. I was hibernating at home throughout the winter and the sun has brought me out," I sheepishly replied.

"Well, before you go out buying rods, bait and picking your fishing location, you will have to get a fishing licence," he advised.

A fishing licence? After my six-month quest to get an Ontario driving licence (which I now finally have), I really couldn't stomach the idea of studying for a fishing exam and then sitting a practical fishing test under the watchful eyes of an examiner, who secretly harboured sympathies for the hard-line animal protection rights fanatics.

No. It really wasn't as dramatic as I make it sound, but for a fee, you can seriously get a recreational fishing permit, available in two categories: one allows you to catch and keep three fish and the other gives you the option of keeping up to six fish - provided you don't fish every day!

The permit should be renewed annually and each person fishing should have his own permit, just in case an inspector passes by the creek you are looting in broad daylight.

These and other regulations are all available for people to read online before venturing outdoors to simply kill time killing fish and squashing live wriggly worms used here as bait.

Still want to go fishing? I don't know about you. As for me, I will pack my fish cakes and tuna sandwiches in a picnic box and spend what is left of summer soaking in the sun in the park, by the lake, surrounded by the fish killers.

At least I won't have blood on my hands!

Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.


Humiliated in America for simply being Arabs...

Vol XXIX NO. 107 Wednesday 5 July 2006

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Has your heart ever beaten so fast, you actually felt it pounding hard in your chest?

Have you ever been terrified even when you knew deep in your heart - the one beating with fear and anxiety - that you haven't done anything wrong?

Have you ever been paraded in a flock like cattle to the slaughterhouse in front of people following you with prying eyes, accusing you of things you have had no hand in?

Have you ever felt like you were Public Enemy Number One and had to smile extra hard just to show others around you that even if you are coloured and Arab-looking, you were still a normal, law-abiding, fellow human being?

A recent trip to New York, which is just across the border from where I now live, conjured all those feelings and much more in split seconds.

No matter how many horror stories you hear, nothing prepares you for the encounter with the awe-inspiring immigration officers who greet you with a frown at the border.

The reception is certainly worlds apart from the warm welcome Americans get when they visit our countries, except perhaps Iraq, where fundamentalists and other fanatics quite wrongly view the courageous liberators as mercenary occupation forces.

While I am in absolutely no position to debate the practices of the Homeland Security officers, in charge of investigating people entering the US from select countries, I would like to share with you the surreal experience of being paraded in front of hundreds of passengers, on the train which took me to the Big Apple for a short break.

First a shouting officer came on board yelling questions at us. I still don't understand why he was shouting and can only assume that he perhaps thought we were deaf, or was doing it for the amusement of his colleagues or the other passengers.

After all, he knew those travelling to Manhattan would be spending at least 12 hours on the train and needed some entertainment.

After showing him our return tickets and visas to the US, he confiscated our passports without telling us what was expected of us. Following about 40 minutes of suspense, another officer asked us to follow him to the back of the train.

On our long march, I saw the line getting still longer, with others pulled out from their seats.

Soon we were all in a room, where two officers were already screaming at an Indian, calling him 'dude' and 'yo' and threatening to send him to jail.

After further questioning, filling out forms, listening to everyone else being interrogated and embarrassed, finger-printed, photographed (Arab males were apparently so photogenic they had to be photographed twice) and three hours, we were back in our seats en route to our relaxing holiday.

What a way to start a vacation!

If I only had the authority and any respect for my citizens, I would have a shed outside every Arab airport and point of entry and give all visiting Americans a similar welcome, especially now that 'home-grown' terrorists have become fashionable in those parts.

* Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

June 2006


University dashes summer jobs hope for students


Vol XXIX NO. 91 Monday 19 June 2006

By Amira Al Hussaini

With Bahrain University shut for the summer, God only knows what its 20,000-strong student body will be up to in hot, smothering Bahrain this holiday season.

Surely not all will be privileged enough to travel to cooler climes to escape the boredom and heat and soak in the culture, arts, good weather, fresh air and change of scenery, to name a few of the benefits people get from holidaying abroad.

While some have parents who are ready to spend on them until they are well into their late 30s, many feel obliged to fend for themselves - especially in larger families where wallets are already stretched and parents are counting the days until their older sons and daughters graduate from university and help shoulder the burden they have carried alone for years.

For those poor souls, a family holiday is off the books and the wait for their dear ones to complete their studies and join the labour market will be a little longer, as without summer courses at the university many students have to wait for the beginning of the next academic year in September to resume classes and complete the credit hours necessary for them to graduate.

Personally, I never bothered myself with summer courses while studying at Bahrain University for I was lucky to land a summer job as an intern at the Gulf Daily News, which started in the summer of 1991 and continues to this day!

I took my own sweet time, working and studying at the same time, taking a good five years to complete my Bachelor's degree, which wasn't a waste of time really if you consider the fact that I have worked throughout that period.

I fully understand that I am not alone in this experience and that some of the students are already employed and are studying at the university part-time. Therefore, I cannot and should not presume that all 20,000 will be wandering the streets of the kingdom, twiddling their thumbs and scratching their heads with nothing much to do this summer.

But with no figures available, it is quite difficult to gauge just how many students will be embarking on new exciting careers or driving around aimlessly in Adliya and Exhibition Avenue, joining devil-worshipping cults or simply melting into the crowds that make the Seef District an off-limits area for claustrophobic people like me.

Unfortunately, Bahrain's soaring unemployment problem may mean that not many students will be able to secure summer jobs, especially those who made no early plans and were caught out by the university's decision to axe the summer course, as part of its cost-cutting plans for this year.

Funny enough, our robust parliament will also be off for the summer and I don't think parliamentarians would cut short their well-deserved break to discuss what mischief our youth could be up to away from their books and studies.

Well, at least they won't be attending mixed classes for two whole months.

What a real waste of resources!

* Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada



Is this the face of Islam we want to project abroad?


Vol XXIX NO. 83 Sunday 11 June 2006

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

The circus has come to town. Seventeen people, including five minors, were arrested in Southern Ontario on terrorism charges, allegedly belonging to a Taliban-inspired terrorist organisation, plotting to bomb sensitive and commercial targets including the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Parliament in Ottawa, taking over a television station and last but not least beheading the Canadian Prime Minister!

How much of this is fact or the hallucinations of a demented mind is hard to determine now as the court hearings are continuing and the investigations, which have now spilled over to at least five other countries, are shrouded with secrecy in what has become today's hottest issue on all television channels and in newspapers.

The arrests came as a shock to many Canadians, including a family we were having dinner with on the same night the news made the headlines.

Considering that my husband and I were the only Arabs and Muslims in their living room, there were a few minutes of awkward silence until the size of the calamity which has hit otherwise peaceful Canada seeped in.

In a country that has worked hard to dissolve all and any of the differences between the scores of ethnicities and races which melt in its cosmopolitan pot, what many cannot understand is how can Canada breed its own brand of "homegrown" terrorists?

If those arrested have in fact planned to commit such atrocities, many find it difficult to imagine how citizens who were apparently fully integrated into Canadian society and were born, raised and educated here have turned against their countrymen and hold such extremist ideologies, which spew hate and destruction of the country that has embraced them and treated them as equals.

I don't want to jump the gun and sentence those still being heard in court, but in this mad, mad world, although such terror plots are mind numbing, they aren't impossible to imagine.

Muslim extremists have also openly shown their fangs and wholehearted support for similar unfortunate acts in the past.

If anything, such an endorsement of terrorism by extremists is exactly what has brought untold harm to the very religion whose principles they claim to be upholding.

Is this the face of Islam we want to project wherever we go? Are we really a bunch of lunatic hardliners, whose only obsession in life is destroying anything and everything that goes against our teachings? Isn't Islam the religion of peace, tolerance, compassion and mercy?

If convicted and found guilty, this entire episode is extremely disturbing as once again a handful of Muslims have tainted the reputation of the entire Islamic world and painted us all as terrorists.



Shell out for World Wide Web or go fly pigeons!


Vol XXIX NO. 78 Tuesday 6 June 2006

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

I sure don't understand what all the fuss with our national telecommunications company Batelco is all about.

So what if they have changed their Internet packages and the customer will have to dig deeper into his pockets to satisfy his quest to keep abreast with happenings in the developed and not-so-developed worlds, access information and news on taboo subjects that are not available in the mainstream media and waste his entire day freely downloading overpriced games, songs and movies (which are a total waste of time and energy if you ask me)?

For those who cannot and will not live without the Internet under the disguise that they need to keep in touch with business and personal contacts through their e-mails, MSN or Google Talk, I say tough luck!

Either live with the assigned threshold, pay more money or better still, get a carpenter to build a few cages on your rooftop and call the Pigeon Society of Bahrain (I swear they exist somewhere) for professional help on how to raise and train carrier pigeons, which could fly for thousands of miles carrying messages.

If kings, scholars, rebels and military leaders of epic and mystical proportions have used the flying rats for relaying crucial information before Alexander Graham Bell came up with his Satanic development - the telephone - I don't see why you can't use them effectively too.

Moreover, the bird flu scare is just a hoax and even if it was true, it won't happen in Bahrain for our efficient Health Ministry has taken all the measures possible to avert its outbreak in our beloved kingdom.

And even if the ministry's claims are shaky, our robust and alert parliament, which has been elected by the people and for the people, will surely look into the matter and come up with a foolproof plan to save the existing population and all future generations that will walk the land.

Health scares aside, caring for and breeding pigeons can be a very rewarding pastime. If you get young ones involved, it will surely distract them from dangerous pursuits they can learn about over the Internet, such as drugs, pornography and Satanic worship rituals.

You see, we can kill more than one bird with one stone!

Look at me here, all alone in boring Canada, with unlimited access to the Internet for about BD7 per month.

What did I do throughout the cold winter months? Bingo! Instead of going to ski resorts and making the most of the frosty spell, I spent all my free time indoors online, stalking friends, relatives and whoever else was available on the World Wide Web. Now I guess I will have to stand by my window, waiting for my pigeon to bring the good omens!

Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


Driven round the bend with red tape...

Vol XXIX NO. 75 Saturday 3 June 2006

By Amira Al Hussaini

I HAVE just returned from a written driving exam. Yes. To get a driving licence here in Canada and in many other parts of the world, wannabe drivers have to actually sit down, study and sit an exam, which will ask them about anything and everything ranging from weird road signs I have never ever come across in 15 years of driving to the permissible alcohol content in a driver's bloodstream.

They then have to spend two years driving with a licensed driver, before having to do a road test, which if and when they pass, could get their full licence.

Why am I sitting the driving exam six months after first arriving in Canada? Well, my laziness isn't the only excuse.

When I went to apply for a learning permit (stop laughing please) immediately after arriving here, I discovered that my name was spelt differently in my Bahraini passport from my Bahrain driving licence.

To tell you the truth, I was never bothered with how my name was spelt in English on official documents as all our official dealings were conducted in Arabic, so the blame completely falls on my head.

The Canadians rejected my licence as fake and asked me to come back with the "correct" documents.

I sent my licence to Bahrain to my sister, who dutifully went to the General Directorate of Traffic, requesting a new license with the correct spelling.

They referred her to the CPR office, which they said should change the spelling in their documents before a new licence could be issued.

To cut the story short, the CPR threw the ball back in my court, saying that I have to be there in the flesh and blood to complete the transaction - without offering to pay for a first class return ticket to Bahrain! Canada isn't exactly around the corner, but then who cares?

When I returned back to Bahrain earlier this month, the first place I visited was the CPR office.

I got a new CPR with the spelling on my passport, which is by the way not how I spell my name, but then who is really bothered with what my preferences are?

Upon my return to Canada, I went again to the Driving Centre and applied for a licence, this time with two other Bahrainis who have just come to town.

We all produced stamped certificates to the centre, stating our names and years of experience, along with our Bahrain driving licences and passports.

The fussy lady at the counter accepted the documents, but after further scrutiny, returned them to us saying that the signatures on the letters weren't the same!

We explained to her how we had no control over who signed the documents at the Bahrain Traffic Directorate and since we got the letters on different dates, it could be that the officer in charge of signing them was either on holiday, has been promoted, demoted or even perhaps retired!

After checking with her boss and a lot of confused looks, and just as I was debating in my little head the best dates to return to Bahrain to get the correct certificates, she came back to us handing us our exam questions.

Phew! That was close. A driving licence is certainly a privilege here and not a right!

* Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

March 2006

27/03/2006
Pitfalls of a borrowed lifestyle...
Vol XXIX NO. 7 Monday 27th March 2006

By Amira Al Hussaini

News that demand for personal loans has fallen from BD681.3 million in 2004 to BD656.2m last year must have been welcomed with relief in many quarters - except banks of course!

Who would want to see his profits drop, even if it was an indicator of a number of things, including perhaps that people have started to realise the dangers of the vicious circle of being in debt, the futility of trying to keep up with the richer Johns, or have become so poor that no bank will risk giving them loans.

A number of banks have actually expressed their disappointment, blaming the Bahrain Monetary Agency for the fall.

While it doesn't take a genius to figure out the reason for their dismay, I find myself thinking how long will the Bahraini society continue to survive on loans, with many living way beyond their means to sustain false appearances.

Many youngsters, myself included, took the bait and reaped the short-term benefits of loans early on in their lives, only to regret it later as the repayments became a burden and one loan led to another, spanning a few decades to pay off.

I personally had to take a loan to buy myself a car at the beginning of my career, since every job demands transportation. As I climbed the ladder, I thought I needed a better car, to reflect my new status, if not my salary!

This called for another loan, even though I hadn't completed the first loan and you would assume that once bitten, I would be twice shy.

Since I had already borrowed money and was in debt, there was no harm in adding insult to injury and treating my mother to a new car too.

Well to say the truth, she deserved it and I shouldn't be bragging about it years later.

As I was already up to my eyeballs in loans, there would really be no chance for me to see the world and enjoy myself without having to borrow more money.

So a third loan sealed the deal and booked me holidays to Europe and the US, which I still boast about today - without mentioning that my travels and expenses were made possible thanks to bank loans and not my ingenuity in saving money.

Needless to say, I never enjoyed the thrill of a full salary as it was distributed as soon as it was deposited in my account, while the banks doubled, tripled and quadrupled their profit at the expense of fools like me who always think they have made a great deal, when in reality they have been taken for a ride!

* Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada



18:55 Posted in Miscellaneous | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0) | Email this

12/03/2006
A giant leap forward for Bahraini women...
Vol XXVIII NO. 357 Sunday 12th March 2006

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

I have already circled September in my calendar! I know exactly where I will be and what I will be doing.

It is a date which every Bahraini should be proud of as a Bahraini and Arab woman will for the first time assume the role of president of the United Nations General Assembly.

Shaikha Haya bint Rashid Al Khalifa will be the second woman to hold the post in its 61-year-old history, after Angie Brooks of Liberia, who was president in 1969.

Congratulations Shaikha Haya on this great achievement, which is truly a huge leap in terms of showing the rest of the world the high calibre of Bahraini women and the heights they have reached.

We have indeed come a long way.

I hope this will answer all the questions people ask me about women in my country.

For if the picture is not all that perfect, there is great hope in the future with two female ministers and finally a woman president of the UN General Assembly.

It is a gain of such a great magnitude it is sure to generate interest from around the world about Bahrain in general and the status of its women in particular.

The responsibility placed on Shaikha Haya's shoulders is indeed huge, as the world's eyes will be focused on her during her tenure.

She will be responsible for running the General Assembly, attending endless meetings and facing the questions of some of the world's most seasoned journalists in one Press conference after another, to name but a few of the challenges ahead!

While I wouldn't want to be in Shaikha Haya's shoes, as I am more comfortable covering events from the sidelines, the post of General Assembly president is an unenviable one which I am sure she has already been briefed about and ready to deal with its realities, come September.

This takes me back to days when I was a cub reporter and won a scholarship to the UN to cover the proceedings of the 49th General Assembly meeting almost 10 years ago!

Being in the General Assembly hall was daunting to say the least. But heading the meeting is another story altogether.

Thank you Bahrain for placing your trust in a woman and showing the rest of the world our civilised face, which I am more than sure Shaikha Haya would be able to project, given her earlier performance as our ambassador to France.

It is indeed a bright page in Bahrain's modern history.

* Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.



04:28 Posted in Current Affairs , Women's Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Email this

11/03/2006
Family law opponents living in the dark ages

Vol XXVIII

NO. 356 Saturday 11 March 2006
By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI



Bahrain is once again making the headlines for hosting the biggest event in racing history - and it is the number one race on the Grand Prix calendar.

While thousands of people are working behind the scenes to make the event a success, a smaller number of locals are openly rallying support for a demonstration to coincide with the race - to call for banning the newly drafted Family Law, which seems to be getting closer to reality by the day.

What is it they are calling for exactly? A race against time and a trip back to the dark ages?

Have we gone totally mad in Bahrain or it is just me getting negative vibes from everything happening back home?

What are the turbaned clerics against exactly? A written codified personal law which guarantees the rights, responsibilities and duties of every member of the family?

Or the fact that the carpet will be swept from under their feet and they will lose the unchallenged control they have over people's life and destinies?

The fact that we are in the year 2006 and there isn't a written law to safeguard family rights is a joke, especially when legislators are busy calling for covering up mannequins and segregating institutes of higher education.

They could have better used their time and our public funds on discussing more worthwhile issues.

Why is a family law such a threat to the clergy and men in general? What are the side effects they are so worried about? How will it upset the family unit in Bahrain?

What will outlining what the duties and rights of the husband, wife and children in line with Islamic Sharia upset the clergymen so much?

And what baffles me is why have so many women gone out on the streets to demonstrate against a law which will finally give them recognition as wives and mothers - and some standing in a court of law, which will have a written code of conduct and not depend entirely on the whims of one man?

Sigh! The future looks bleak indeed if we have reached crossroads where our people are actually rallying behind oppressing women and not giving mothers and children their legal rights, as ordained by the Holy Quran and Islamic Sharia.

*Amira Al Hussaini now lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada




04:00 Posted in Current Affairs , Islam , Parliament Bashing , Rants , Silly Boys , Women's Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0) | Email this

10/03/2006
How women footballers are scoring over men

Vol XXVIII

NO. 355 Friday 10 March 2006
By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI



Bahraini women have once again shown the rest of the world their resolve, dedication and ability to score even better points than men!

Although I am anything but a football fan, I can't deny how excited I was with the news that my countrywomen have brought pride to the kingdom by winning the first Arab Sevens Football Championship in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

How I wish I was with the spectators on the stands, cheering and rallying behind them!

To think that Bahraini women are enjoying a popular team game such as football - practising, running, sweating, beating teams from other countries and clinching a trophy is laudable to say the least. You rock, girls!

Winning a regional tournament and being named the first Arab ladies in football, of all games, is a great achievement.

The challenge is now to remain on top, continue to bring in more trophies and encourage more women to get involved in sports, for life should include recreational activities and fun - as all work and no play makes Jill a dull girl!

My only hope is that women athletes would be able to share the limelight with their male counterparts and benefit from the spoils allocated for developing sports activities in Bahrain.

I completely understand the sensitivities among the local community of seeing women dressed in sportswear and exercising en masse in public and have no objection against it, as it is part of a code of traditions and behaviour that we should respect.

What would be fitting is to see women-only clubs and recreational facilities opening up, which include football pitches, tennis courts and squash and badminton areas - to name a few - to encourage more women to have a life and get involved in sports and other activities.

Sport will not only boost their morale, but also help fight off extra pounds, which many of us have amassed over the years simply because sports and outdoor activities have been exclusive to men in a society which has for long frowned upon women who run, jump and toss balls.

Our aspiring women politicians too can learn something from our budding women's football team and make the headlines, come the October parliamentary elections - for it is with hard work and sincere effort that many of us can achieve their dreams.

*Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada




16:43 Posted in Women's Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1) | Trackbacks (11) | Email this

06/03/2006
Sales ban on Doulos senseless
Vol XXVIII NO. 351 Monday 6 March 2006



By Amira Al Hussaini



It is great to see common sense prevailing at last and the Doulos being allowed to sell books!

But I still cannot bring myself to understand the rationale behind the decision to allow the world's largest floating bookshop to dock at Mina Salman, but ban it from selling its books!

It was like chopping someone's hand off and giving him a pen!

What have we got against the written word? Wasn't it the Holy Quran that ordered the believers to read? Wasn't it Prophet Mohammed who instructed his people to seek knowledge?

Why was the Doulos allowed to call on us, if we were to snub it and show the rest of the world our fangs and our "great sensitivity" towards books as if they were the plague?

Why were people who read in Bahrain herded like horses to water, but denied to drink from it? It's not like we are spoilt for choice when it comes to books in Bahrain so that the floating bookshop posed a threat to local businesses.

The sad fact is that if anything, we need more cultural activities and books to encourage people to learn, expand their horizons and fight intolerance and backwardness.

Revising the decision will not eradicate it overnight, but is a step in the right direction.

A quick search on the web exposes a sad reality, not only in Bahrain, but in the rest of the Arab world.

According to the 2002 Arab Human Development Report, Arab countries produced 6,500 books compared to 102,000 in North America and 42,000 in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Citing Unesco figures, the report says that book production in Arab countries is only 1.1 per cent of world production, although Arabs make up 5pc of the world's population.

To add insult to injury, Arabs produced no more than 1,945 literary and artistic books, making up 0.8pc of international production.

This is less than a country such as Turkey produces - with a population about a quarter of that of Arab countries, according to the report.

What a shame!

I will never forget how, after every holiday abroad, my bags were searched at Bahrain International Airport - not because they contained contraband items, but because they were full of books that made custom officers jump up and down with excitement!

The fact that the books were in English and contained very little graphics made them ponder on them longer than they would with other items, until I intervened and told them they were for my studies.

And I wasn't lying, for it was from books that I have learned more than I have at school, university and my working experience - all put together.

*Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


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05/03/2006
Allowance a massive relief for homeless families



Vol XXVIII NO. 350 Sunday 5 March 2006

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI



For the 40,000 families on waiting lists for government housing, there can't possibly be better news than the BD100 monthly windfall promised by the Premier.

While the amount will go a long way towards helping them meet increasing rent and possibly even afford better accommodation, I can't bring myself to imagine the costs the government would have to shoulder to meet this gesture, considering housing projects are coming up at snail's pace and the waiting lists and periods are, if anything, just increasing.

But it is a gesture, which once again reinforces the government's commitment to ensuring a decent dwelling for every Bahraini family, as stipulated in the Constitution.

Because of a lack of lands, haphazard planning, poverty, unemployment and the sad reality that there are so many dilapidated homes - which I will not bring myself to call slums - in many areas of Bahrain, it brings hope to many impoverished families which would otherwise have to continue stomaching appalling living conditions.

It is a remedial measure, which will at least help many families make ends meet and move to better accommodation.

It will be particularly helpful for the swarming families, who live like sardines in one room in an ancient family house that is too shocking, but accepted as reality in many villages and even towns in Bahrain.

BD100 a month will help them rent another shanty dwelling, which they will finally be able to call home, as they continue to wait for their promised home.

I really wouldn't want to be in the shoes of housing officials in Bahrain, for the issue is really a sticky one.

Most lands are privately owned, land prices are escalating at breakneck speed, the harsh arid desert climate is taking its toll on existing homes faster than government homes are actually being built and people are getting more and more frustrated with the long wait for a refuge, which will elevate their status from sardines to people who can at last aspire to dream of a better tomorrow.

For all the pessimists out there, who think that this gesture is another cosmetic fixture to appease the disgruntled, I say that something is surely better than nothing.

It is a laudable move that will enable the poor to breathe a sigh of relief at last.

My only hope is that the government itself deals with paying the deserving citizens their housing allowances in a transparent and systematic manner as soon as possible and not leave it to parliament or the municipal councils to fight over.

*Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.


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02/03/2006
Caught in the web of Internet rip-off...
Vol XXVIII NO. 347 Thursday 2nd March 2006



BY Amira Al Hussaini

Batelco is doubling its authorised capital from BD100 million to BD200m! Hurray! What does this mean to me and you and all the other consumers under their mercy?

Will it mean lower phone and Internet bills?

I doubt it, not as long as their profits are climbing steadily - despite the "increasingly competitive telecommunications environment" if I am to use the words of its chairman Hassan Ali Juma.

But let's face it, telecom companies are the same the world over and as a lucrative business, their primary concern isn't to bring you closer to your dear loved ones as much as to bring them closer to your dwindling purse.

When we first arrived in Canada, we shopped for a few weeks for the best telephone deal.

With all the promotions and competing companies that was possible, even encouraged by companies, which actually give you the chance to compare their rates with the competition.

I opted for the $25-a-month unlimited local calls mobile phone - one for me and another for my better half.

I was cursing and swearing for the first month about how much I have been ripped off for years when I now have a better deal for a much lower price. That was until the first bill came. It was a whopping $200!

Angered at being taken for a ride again, I picked up the phone and called the company, explaining in as many words as I could put in a sentence how enraged I was.

What on earth was I thinking? Did I really think I would get a deal from a telecom company?

They said there were installation charges, connection fees, a fixed amount for caller ID, charges for receiving overseas incoming calls, another few dollars for ability to access the emergency number and other miscellaneous charges I would rather not draw the attention of telecom providers in Bahrain to - and all this multiplied by two! Oops!

And before I forget, there is of course the 15 per cent tax on almost everything here, including your phone bill.

But like it or not it is necessary and without it, I frankly feel naked, lonely, insecure and vulnerable to almost everything.

It is my guardian angel and the only means in which I can get access to my family and friends with the click of a button until I get home and make myself comfortable on my sofa and log on to the Internet!

This is where a new world opens, hugs me with its open arms and throws me into the heart of my Isa Town home - where my family huddles around the PC listening to me and seeing me live, doing monkey faces and relating to them how good or bad my day went.

My one-year-old nephew Ali thinks I actually live inside the computer, which I really do, waiting for the minute my loved ones come online - when Batelco's servers are having a good day!

* Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada



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February 2006

27/02/2006
Silence over abuse of women is shameful
Vol XXVIII NO. 344 Monday 27 February 2006



By Amira Al Hussaini



Once again, a newspaper report draws our attention to some of the injustices women in Bahrain - and much of the Arab and Islamic world - suffer when their rights and dignity are stripped away, for no other reason than that they are women.

I realise I keep repeating myself and I sometimes wonder whether my comments serve a purpose, or whether they all fall on deaf ears.

No woman deserves to suffer the indignity brought to our attention of a 38-year-old Muharraq widow, who is being threatened with becoming homeless overnight.

Whatever the reasons for the feud with her in-laws, she is a mother with children, whose destiny was to lose a husband at such a young age and face the dilemma of not having a roof over her head, where she can live in peace or do whatever she chooses to do with the rest of her life.

Instead of rallying behind her, for her circumstances are cruel, her in-laws are making her life a living hell, with beatings and abuse, not only for her but her daughter as well.

So what if she brought men to fix the pump at home?

Instead of attacking her, the incensed brother-in-law, who happens to live in the same house, should be asking himself why he had not been the one responsible for fixing the broken pump.

For him and his wife to gang up against the helpless family is unacceptable and for the police to turn the grieving widow away, without as much as investigating the case and showing the attackers that there still is some law and order, is appalling.

I am happy a lawyer has intervened in this particular case, but my heart bleeds for all the other women, whose voices and cries don't reach us because they suffer in silence in a society which is adamant in treating women as second or even third-class citizens.

Law-makers, the government and parliament should take a closer look at atrocities being committed against women every day and should ask themselves whether they are doing their jobs properly, when half the country's populated is wronged.

Ownership laws should change in Bahrain if we are to aspire to empower women and give them their rightful place in society.

A home should be jointly owned by the husband and wife, for it is paramount for the stability and security of the family as a whole.

For society to wash its hands of such atrocities being committed against helpless women and girls is ridiculous and for us all to watch injustice committed and keep our lips sealed is shameful.

*Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.



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20/02/2006
That magic oasis of peace has disappeared!
Vol XXVIII NO. 337 Monday 20 February 2006



By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI



Nothing warms the heart this winter more than meeting former Bahrain residents and reminiscing about the Bahrain they knew until they left - the land of peace, calm and tranquillity and where the hospitality and friendliness of Bahrainis smothers you to death.

It fills me with pride and joy to know that Bahrain has carved a niche for itself in the hearts of all those who have passed by the Land of Dilmun and experienced life as it was in that magical oasis of peace.

"But what is happening in Bahrain now?" asked a man, who left Bahrain in 1995.

"What do you mean?" I answered, trying to sound as naïve as I possibly could without laughing.

"All the attacks on foreigners," he ventured to explain.

"It isn't that bad, just isolated incidents," I replied, trying to steer the conversation to another topic.

"And all the stabbings and armed robberies," he pressed.

"What stabbings?" I interrupted.

"You know. Locals stabbing expats!" he said.

"No, I don't. And no society is immune to crime."

All of a sudden the friendly Bahrainis have become knife-wielding vandals going about stabbing and attacking expatriates, as a part-time job or a form of recreation, I presume.

As much as such generalisations annoy me, what annoys me more is the fact that workers are being attacked and the incidents are brushed aside as if nothing had happened.

The perpetrators aren't punished simply because those victimised do not have the protection necessary to make them equal in front of the law.

Over the previous two weeks, two attacks were reported in the GDN. One involved a Nepali employee attacked by a Bahraini at Al Muntazah Supermarket in Hoora, for no reason.

The other was about an Indian driver dragged out of his minibus and punched by a local, following an accident in Salmaniya.

Would those two have been attacked had they been locals? Would the man involved in the accident punched the driver had he been a Bahraini, wearing a thobe and driving a Mercedes?

They would have thought twice, just as they should have done if they had any respect for themselves and understood the gravity of their actions and how they are interpreted by people around the world.

Violence is an unacceptable form of dialogue and as such should not be tolerated, if we are to protect the reputation of our country.

Whatever happened to reasoning, in a civilised manner?

* Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.



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18/02/2006
Why do men in uniform think they are above the law?
Vol XXVIII NO. 335 Saturday 18 February 2006


By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI



The sheer arrogance of some people baffles me. It really gets to me, especially when it comes from people wearing a uniform.

Wearing a uniform should be a declaration of loyalty to a code of ethics and conduct, be it the white coat worn by doctors, school uniforms enforced upon students, the khaki worn by policemen or the fatigues donned by soldiers.

Each represents the duties and the code of ethics and conduct the person wearing them has sworn to adhere to and which they should live up to, in or out of uniform.

For instance, a doctor is still committed to saving life, with or without his white coat and a policeman is still responsible for upholding the law, in or out of uniform.

This is exactly why I find myself outraged at a Yemeni soldier in Bahrain, who stabbed a Moroccan woman after a scuffle at a hotel, then arrogantly boasted that since he was working at the BDF, he was above the law.

He reportedly stabbed the Moroccan woman several times, after a dispute over money, in a Manama hotel.

"The man was saying how proud he was for being Yemeni and working for the BDF and continued to say how he is not scared for doing what he did because he knows that he will be set free for being a soldier," the hotel's security manager told the GDN.

I am in shock over his remarks and also hurt to see an immigrant worker, who has come to my country to earn a decent living, utter such nonsense and flaunt all the things we really believe in like justice and right and wrong, just because he is wearing a uniform.

Is he really above the law for being a soldier? Will he be set free as he arrogantly boasts?

I certainly hope not and I really do hope that the ministries of Defence and Interior take those allegations seriously, to bring back some respect to the police and army.

Bringing back respect to men in uniform is a national duty and can only come about by more openness and a serious effort to punish those who think they are above the law.

This is imperative, if we are to put our trust in men and women in uniform.

Otherwise, all is lost in a country which upholds the doctrines of democracy and human rights and wants to show its sons and daughters that the law is applied equally to everyone.

* Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.



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11/02/2006
Unfaithful Valentine given the bird by pet Ziggy...
Vol XXVIII NO. 328 Saturday 11th February 2006





BY Amira Al Hussaini

With Valentine's Day around the corner, there couldn't have possibly been a better time for one particular story to hit the headlines.

I can actually see men and women queuing up at pet stores, booking parrots as gifts for their loved ones.

Chris Taylor, of Leeds, England, thought his lover Suzy Collins was faithful, until their big-mouthed parrot ratted her out.

The couple was cuddling on the sofa when Ziggy the African grey suddenly sqawked: "I love you Gary".

To add insult to injury, the parrot also made smooching sounds every time the name Gary was repeated.

Ms Collins admitted that Gary was a lover she had been making hay with at home while Chris was out.

As a result, the girlfriend was booted out, along with the eight-year-old parrot, since Chris could not stand to hear him repeatedly calling Gary's name.

What really surprised me though is that Chris did not see any tell-tale signs, especially as the couple were conducting their affair at his apartment.

It must have been a rude awakening when Ziggy let the cat out of the bag, proving without doubt that parrots and not just dogs can be a man's best friend.

But there is a lesson to be learned from Chris' heartache - animals are more faithful than humans.

Having grown up in a household full of pets, I find this story amusing to say the least.

The pets we have had and still have are a source of great joy for all of us.

The parrots we have had and still have didn't create family feuds and our Persian cats were mute.

My hamsters would sometimes create a racket, but they didn't reveal anyone's secrets and my turtles, bless them, were oblivious to their surroundings. The most hilarious creature to walk into our house was the aptly-named Iguana, who made heads turn and squeamish girls scream their heads off when it as much as moved his head.

One day, Iguana decided to inspect our neighbourhood.

Before long we had our neighbours knocking on our door screaming, that our 'dinosaur' had escaped.

I wish they had done the same when one of our cats went out for a stroll.

As soon as it stepped outdoors, someone snatched it, put it in a cardboard box and went running off to sell it at the Isa Town flea market.

Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


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06/02/2006
Parents' ignorance could have cost child's life...
Vol XXVIII NO. 323 Monday 6th February 2006




BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

I am so annoyed and disgusted at the sheer ignorance of some parents, who would rather see their children die than allow medical intervention to save their lives.

I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday when I read the GDN's report of the Sitra parents who refused to let doctors operate on their five-year-old despite being diagnosed with appendicitis.

Doctors had to snatch her away from her parents and operate on her without her loving parents' approval, five days after she was first diagnosed and her parents refused to allow the doctors to do their work.

Had this happened in the West, there would have been a major outcry.

The police, social services, child rights groups and every Tom, Dick and Harry would be up in arms, calling for the rescue of this poor child.

But our civil organisations seem to be a tad too busy waging war against Denmark than looking into more pressing issues at home.

I really can't understand what was going on in her parent's head, but their excuse that operations were conducted unnecessarily is so lame, adding insult to injury.

This is a government hospital. Doctors don't get paid per patient. Doctors don't even get paid proper doctor wages, compared to other doctors in the region.

It is also a central hospital, where doctors don't perform surgeries as a recreational activity.

Had it been a private hospital, I would have been more sympathetic towards the parents.

But turning down free surgery that would have left a scar and meant immediate relief to a child in pain? This is really unbelievable.

I just feel like screaming. People like this baffle me and being of a poor background and from a village is no excuse.

A parent is a parent is a parent. How did they bear their daughter's screams and pain for so long without doing the right thing?

Why did they return to the same hospital again, if they knew deep in their heartless hearts that the operation was unnecessary?

How could they have sat back seeing their child in agony for so long, before budging and coming down from their lofty towers and seeking help from the same hospital they refused treatment at earlier? Why didn't they seek a second opinion?

And how do they feel now that their daughter, a young innocent child who had no say on what had fallen upon her, is lying in a critical condition in intensive care at Salmaniya Medical Complex.

Some people would do just anything to get children of their own, while to others it obviously means nothing to lose a child.

Or is it because she is just a girl? Had she been a boy, would the attitude of her parents been any different? Just wondering.

*Amira Al Hussaini now lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


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04/02/2006
Parliament proceedings have never been a big draw



Vol XXVIII NO. 321 Saturday 4 February 2006



By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI



It is no wonder that advertisers are shunning Bahrain satellite television and Channel 38, whenever Shura and parliament sessions are being broadcast.

Even though I haven't conducted any research, I am sure they are right in anticipating a low target audience.

Personally, I have never seen anyone rush home, the way they do here when yet another season of American Idol or Survivor starts, to tune into the latest discussions at Shura or parliament.

I can't help but laugh when I hear that MPs have actually spent their precious time drafting a request to have their sessions broadcast in full, which is customary in many countries around the world, where parliaments really debate and reflect society's woes, concerns, needs and worries.

Even then, the average Joe isn't very keen to know what legislators are going on about, but Bahrain's unique experience and the quality of some of our representatives could draw attention and make a few jaws drop and tickle some, should the MPs manage to make their long-cherished dream come true.

Having covered the sessions for years, I understand the concern of advertisers.

Even journalists were caught dozing off and trying hard to suppress their yawns, as one honourable member after the other repeated the same argument, using more or less the same words.

My biggest concern after covering each session was facing the music from the deputy editor, who would cross-examine me as if I had control over what they discussed and not.

"Is this all they had to say ?" he would ask.

"Yes," I would reply, not knowing what else to say to hide my complete disappointment and even embarrassment at the level of some of the discussions.

"Didn't anyone stand up and challenge this?" he would continue.

"No. Not really," I would tell him, fully understanding his exasperation at the childish amateurish exchanges we had to sometimes report.

I used to envy television reporters covering the sessions, because they just had to broadcast what they filmed and not try to decode some of the encrypted messages uttered by the members.

Giving television audiences 90 minutes of sessions, which sometimes exceeded five hours, is enough punishment I suppose, especially when many members echo each other and rarely come up with something new, outrageous or even ridiculous to say.

When this does happen, television officials censor it, protecting the public from some of the fun we journalists used to experience first hand.

A better programme, which would guarantee a full house, would be a two-hour show summing up four years of squabbles, fights and heated exchanges between the members, as well as all the juicy scenes censored by Bahrain Television! It could even be dubbed "Bahrain's Funniest Home Movie."


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January 2006

28/01/2006
Squabbling doctors tarnish image of noble profession




Vol XXVIII NO. 314 Saturday 28 January 2006



By Amira Al Hussaini



It really is appalling to see what I presumed to be mature professionals resorting to name-calling in their bid to solve a gigantic problem, which touches the lives of the most vulnerable people when they are in genuine need of help.

People, at least most people, only go to the Salmaniya Medical Complex's Accident and Emergency Department, when they are in dire need of professional help.

The last thing they want to think about is whether the doctor is more concerned with their medical condition or with internal politics on the ward.

To think that doctors of all people are squabbling in the open and resorting to name-calling and tarnishing their reputations in public is sickening.

I am all for letting people know about all that concerns them, but to shake their trust in the medical system and the men and women who have dedicated their lives and energy to taking care of them, is really uncalled for.

I also don't understand why the Health Ministry did not intervene earlier and try and solve the issue before it escalated to this level, especially that it has been bubbling for a few months.

Personally, I turned down the opportunity to study medicine because I really didn't think I had the dedication and selflessness to be part of this noble profession.

I guess I was wrong in giving low grades to my character, as time and time again doctors are showing us that they aren't infallible and that they too can attack below the belt, with or without reason.

What is all this talk about some emergency doctors allegedly "bringing Arab women to the ward at night"?

This certainly is a far cry from the days when a doctor refused to treat my sister about three years ago, when a wok full of oil tipped on her, giving her second and third degree burns all over her thighs and legs.

I immediately rushed her to the SMC's emergency, where a bearded male doctor reluctantly glanced at the injury and sent her to the dressing room for further treatment.

He didn't even take a second look at the scalded thighs, which made me mad, especially when the wounds got infected the next day and another doctor said that she should have been hospitalised there and then for a skin graft operation.

My sister still carries the gruesome marks on her thighs, a daily reminder of how a modest doctor could damage a girl's self-esteem.

Now parliament is debating whether to discuss the issue of the squabbling doctors at SMC or not.

Oh please!

Let the doctors solve their own problems and get back to doing their jobs.

Parliament too has a full agenda and issues to discuss, as their days are numbered.

l Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.


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21/01/2006
Time we gave migrant workers their due respect
Vol XXVIII NO. 307 Saturday 21st January 2006




BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

How long will we just sit back and read stories about housemaids being abused in Bahrain? I realise that the Migrant Workers Protection Society is doing all it can, after the plight of runaway housemaids comes to their attention and the damage is done, but not before and I am in no position to blame them for that.

They are doing a great job, something which is much needed if Bahrain wants to live up to its reputation as a safe haven for migrant workers, who have left their families and lives back home to look for a better future overseas.

Like everything else in Bahrain, whatever happens behind closed doors is a shameful secret and homes are a protected sanctuary, which they should be.

But householders are responsible for all that happens under their roof and such abuse should not be tolerated. The perpetrators should be punished.

Bringing in someone from a Third World country to slave all day for BD40 is ridiculous by all standards.

While in Bahrain, I have come across horror stories of families forcing their maids to sleep on kitchen floors, of couples who lock their fridges and of sick people who actually have so much time to spare and hearts full of spite and hate, that they actually count the tea bags and cans of tinned food in their cupboards.

Having a housemaid is really a widespread phenomena only in our part of the world and is considered a luxury beyond many elsewhere, including here in Canada.

People here frown at me when I shamefully have to admit to them that I have never had to wash dishes, clean my room or do laundry in my life, because we had what amounted to a live-in slave.

When I tell them about the virtually free domestic help we get at home, they are appalled.

You should see the expression on their faces to realise the parasitical existence we indulge in day in, day out.

Even doctors and professors here have housework to do when they return home, something I was ashamed to do when I first came here.

I actually contemplated for a while whether I should seek some domestic help to clean, sweep, dust, wash, cook and wipe my dirt for me.

What put things in place was that everything here has a price tag. If I wanted domestic help, I would have to pay through the nose and give up that Louis Vuitton bag and much more.

I don't know whether the Canadian model is applicable in Bahrain but the plight of housemaids could disappear overnight if their work and services were dignified and they were paid proper wages for their effort.

After all, how much respect do we have for BD40 ?

*Amira Al Hussaini currently lives with her husband in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


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14/01/2006
Women must play right political cards
Vol XXVIII NO. 300
Saturday
14 January 2006



By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI



Hurray! With 10 months to go for the parliamentary elections, a woman has already voiced her plans to run the race - against an Islamic fundamentalist, that is. As much as I adore the courage shown by women's rights activist Mariam Al Rowaie, the last election has proved to us without doubt that bearded men fared better than those who prefer a clean shave.

And women? Well, out of the eight women candidates, not all are blessed with facial hair and not a single one won a seat, making me wonder whether we as a Bahraini nation are more prejudiced towards body hair.

While the constitution gives men and women equal political rights, society has seriously undermined the democratic reforms by unilaterally deciding that only men get the votes and the right to join the legislative branch of governance.

It has automatically alienated half of society, leaving issues of concern to women and families away from the debating floor.

Yes, some people may argue that women have made some hard-won gains, thanks to the direct intervention of parliament.

We now have veiled women driving cars on our roads and this was only possible because the issue was raised and rubber-stamped by the 40-man strong parliament.

Too bad, women cannot go to women-only classes at Bahrain University, female patients cannot be seen by women doctors only and girls cannot shop in women-only malls.

But there is always hope that these issues can still be debated and approved by parliament, if hardliners get their way again and the silent majority continues in its hibernation.

If you want a blunt opinion, the truth is that parliament does not reflect society and doesn't give outsiders or even Bahrainis for that matter a true picture of the real Bahrain.

But the fact also remains that it is our own doing. Not enough women stood for the last elections for many reasons - the very same reasons why some competent men shied away from ridiculing themselves and standing for an election they knew before hand they would not win.

If you are a believer in the theory of probability, then you know as much as I do, that if enough women join the race, there are likely to be some who will make it to the finish line. Let's see how many women play their cards right this year.


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07/01/2006
Future of Bahrain too precious to squander




Vol XXVIII NO. 293 Saturday 7 January 2006

By Amira Al Hussaini



Doctors say that the only way to fight cancer is by early diagnosis. While they cannot guarantee a 100 per cent success rate in the treatment of all cases, the fact remains that patients whose illness is detected early fare better than those who have unknowingly suffered the disease until it was way too late.

Having said this, confronting cancer takes a lot of dedication, a strong will and an optimism to face an unknown tomorrow - whatever challenges it may bring.

It also takes the skills of a dedicated medical team, whose members know exactly what they are doing and the size, scope and implications of the vicious disease at hand.

In Bahrain, sectarianism, prejudice and discrimination are what are gnawing at our flesh, sapping dry our resources and tearing our nation apart.

Calls for a one-family spirit have proven to be a short-term balm for a cancer which is spreading by the day and which may prove terminal to the dream of a true democracy, adherence to human rights and a decent quality of life for all citizens and residents alike.

Fingers point out to one culprit when it comes to all the vices and problems at home and that is discrimination.

Every individual sees any concern or issue from his own perspective and is not ready to see the picture as a whole or to reach a compromise.

Every faction feels it is being wronged.

We seem to be at loggerheads and the future and reputation of Bahrain are far too dear to squander because of the egos and vanity of some.

When I was growing up, I had no clue what my sect was. All I knew was that I was Muslim, Arab and Bahraini - in no particular order.

My ethnic and religious background made no difference to me then, as it doesn't matter much to me today.

But society does not and never will judge me on who I am, but on who my parents are and on which part of the spectrum of ethnicities and religious ideologies they belong to.

I grew up in a truly cosmopolitan society. At school, we had Shias and Sunnis, Catholics and Protestants, Hindus, Buddhists and Jews, amongst others.

In my Utopia, we were all equal. It didn't matter what our colours or tongues were. We were all students with one goal - to get the out of school as fast and out into the world.

To be realistic, I could say the same about society at large, where people of different backgrounds are supposed to work together and co-exist peacefully.

The only difference is that real life is nothing like school. Maybe it is time they started mirroring each other.

Isn't it time to identify common goals and work towards achieving them?


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02/01/2006
Incest-rape case is beyond comprehension




Vol XXVIII NO. 288
Monday
2 January 2006

By AMIRA AL HUSSAINI



What a way to usher in the New Year. For one Bahraini family, the year 2005 has been blackened forever in their memories.

I don't know the full story, but what I know from newspaper reports is that a 16-year-old boy was handed over to the police by his own father for raping his 13-year-old brother and sister, 14, on the same day.

According to sources, it is one of the worst incest-rape cases police have ever had to deal with.

And it should be, for the very son who was entrusted with caring for his siblings, while his parents were outside the house, turned out to be the person who should have been least trusted - yet another one of life's shocking ironies.

I don't know what was going on in this young man's head, but to brutally attack his younger brother and sister and rob them of their innocence and shock an entire society in the process, is something I cannot comprehend.

What gave this 16-year-old monster the right to ruin the lives of both his brother and sister and bring shame and heartbreak to his parents and society?

Did he think his siblings would stomach the pain and humiliation?

Did he think his parents would cover up his criminal act?

Did he really believe his gruesome act would go undetected and unpunished?

Who is to blame for such a tragedy?

Should we blame it on his upbringing, or point the finger at society?

Do we blame our clergymen, who have become too involved in politics and have put the serious job of shaping the characters of youngsters on the back burner? Should we blame an education system which has failed to teach young people - especially boys - the simple principle of respect?

I am so disgusted by this sheer act of violence against everything all the decent people out there hold dear, that they are working hard day in, day out for - a dignified and better tomorrow for each and every Bahraini.

I am extremely annoyed that this act has come to shame our society at such a critical time, at the end of an already bumpy year.

Even the pessimist in me did not expect it to plummet to this level. Even I was looking forward to a fresh start for the year ahead. I hope this menace, though he may be only 16, rots in jail for a long time to come.


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December 2005

31/12/2005
Why the delay over battered women's shelter?







Vol XXVIII NO. 286
Saturday
31 December 2005


By Amira Al Hussaini



Can someone, anyone, explain to me why plans for a shelter for battered women are still on the shelf when mothers, wives and daughters are still being abused by husbands and fathers, even as I write?

I don't buy the excuse from the Social Development Ministry - which is headed by a woman minister - that a permit is being denied because the group (Al Sharaka Amnesty International) which has applied for it is not registered with the ministry.

I think there are more sinister forces out there who do not want to see women given a choice, a safe haven to turn to when life becomes too miserable to bear and the walls of a horror house they are forced to live within become too suffocating.

In our society, a woman has no other place than her father's or her husband's house - or her grave.

Any woman living outside the parental or marital home is seen as a source of shame and an object of suspicion.

Women are continuously monitored, least they decide to take charge of their own affairs and bend some already twisted rules.

It is sad that in a country which has gone a long way to give women equal rights, including free access to education and the right to vote or stand in parliamentary or municipal elections, women still lack so much when it comes to protection from domestic abuse within their own homes.

It is the norm for families and friends not to get involved in family disputes, even when they turn violent - even when bones are broken and spirits are crushed.

With family and friends turning away and refusing to interfere, the problem is compounded by the lack of a written family law and penalties to punish those involved in domestic abuse, though parliament has at last taken up the cause.

Even doctors say they can't do much when women are admitted to hospital with broken bones and bruises, when the women themselves are too afraid to press charges because they know it won't get them anywhere and may bring them more trouble when they go back to the hell called home.

What is better, a temporary shelter for abused women, which gives them a chance to clear their heads and seek a permanent solution to their suffering away from threats, or continued abuse simply because they have nowhere to turn for protection?

The choice is simple and is obviously in the hands of the Social Development Ministry, which should come up with a solution matter quickly, since family affairs come its umbrella.


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27/12/2005
A clean start in the life laundry
Vol XXVIII NO. 281 Monday 26 December 2005


By Amira Al Hussaini



Do you miss Bahrain?" This is the question many people ask me day in, day out.

It has only been two months since I have left the home I have lived in all my life, the home of my fathers and theirs' before them.

I don't want to sound ungrateful or unpatriotic, but do you want to hear the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

I am glad I am out of there. I am enjoying the experience of being free and independent and I am relishing my time off work, during which I can read, write, paint - or just learn to keep house.

For the first time in my life, I am learning how to operate a washing machine, a microwave and an oven, not that we didn't have those commodities in Bahrain.

On the contrary, we had all those gadgets and more, but because we were so pampered and protected by our families, everything was ready for us when we got home or rather to the "hotel", as my mother refers to it.

Being away from home hasn't hit me yet and I really don't know whether I miss Bahrain or not.

It could perhaps be because we have been adopted by Indian friends, who lived in Bahrain for 19 years.

They have been here for eight years, but still love everything Bahraini and it is perhaps down to them that we have not yet felt the pangs of homesickness.

At this point, all I'm sure about is that I miss my immediate family, my mother, sisters, brother and their children and my dear and near friends and relatives.

Life is not the same without them. I cry every time I speak to any of them - and I know it isn't because we are benefiting the telephone companies by running up high bills.

I also closely follow all that is being written about home and still get annoyed when I surf the Internet and read about some of the things happening back there.

My blood boils every time I hear about yet another demonstration or rally. I cringe when I see newspaper headlines and continue to read the same stories I have read over and over again.

But whatever the situation, whether daily occurrences in Bahrain bring me pride or shame, there really is and will never be any place like home. A home is where your heart is and not your house.

l Amira Al Hussaini currently lives with her husband in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


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24/12/2005
Housing loans for women a step in right direction
Vol XXVIII NO. 279 Saturday 24th December 2005


BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Finally, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. According to Works and Housing Minister Fahmi Al Jowder, 35 per cent of the 1,175 families who will benefit from housing loans worth BD31 million are headed by women.

This is a sizeable proportion, considering that traditionally a woman cannot be seen to live on her own in our society.

Should her marriage fail or her husband die, God forbid, she should automatically return to her parental home.

Shelter is one of the fundamental human rights in the Human Rights Charter, a right many women were denied in the past, simply because they were women.

The fact that they are mothers, with children, parents and other relatives to care for, meant nothing to many decision-makers who believed that a Utopia existed where all men were responsible and provided for their families and ensured that there was a shelter over their heads.

The fact that there are single women out there who are not destined to be married and who have no homes of their own, did not make a difference.

When marriages turn sour, women and their children are usually the first and only victims, with some cruel men actually throwing their families on the street.

With archaic property and housing laws which stipulated that government homes must be in the name of the male head of the family, some women found themselves on the streets with their children.

I have seen with my own eyes what has happened to women turned away from their families' homes and told to fend for themselves, in a world which is not and has never been charitable to divorced and widowed women.

I know of a woman who has been moving apartments every few months for at least 18 years, because every time she applied to the Housing Ministry for a home, her application was turned down because she was not married!

I am delighted to see that women are finally being treated with a little bit of justice and that they will be given nearly a third of housing loans approved by the government.

This will give those women and their children safety, security and peace of mind.

It will go a long way towards ensuring that justice, government support, human rights, independence and dignity are not restricted to men alone.

Amira Al Hussaini currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


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10/12/2005
A strange feather in Bahrain's cap..!
Vol XXVIII NO. 265 Saturday 10 December 2005





By Amira Al Hussaini

Forget all about our 4,000-year-old Dilmun civilisation, the mystic Tree of Life and the A'ali burial mounds.

Forget about our history and legacy as the Land of Immortality and the enchanting tales of King Gilgamesh and his search for the fabled flower.

Forget modern-day achievements including our global position as the financial hub of the Middle East, the home of the Middle East Grand Prix and a pioneer in ushering in a new democracy and political reforms to the region.

This isn't what Bahrain is famous for today - at least in the part of Canada I now live in!

Only three of the scores of people I have met here over the previous 45 days knew where Bahrain was - and what surprised me most was why.

For the rest of the unwitting souls, here are some of the exchanges I have had:

"Bahrain? Is that in the Bahamas!"

"No. It is in the Arabian Gulf," I reply.

"Oh yes! I know where that is...the Gulf of Mexico," one man, who happened to be very educated, except perhaps in geography, told me.

"Oh well...whatever!"

"Bahrain... I know where that is," said a woman of Italian descent I happened to share my umbrella with, outside a convenience store one cold rainy day.

"It is far away. It is like my Sicily!" she continued.

The first part of her response gave me hope. A lot of hope. The second part left me gasping for fresh air.

"Her Sicily indeed," I hissed, moving as far away from her, leaving the geography buff in the rain.

A handyman from El Salvador, who helped fix my curtains, fared much better.

"Where are you from?" he asked with some authority.

"Bahrain," I replied - exasperated with giving more explanations, thinking that if educated people didn't know where my country was, why would Mr Fix It?

"Oh. Bahrain. Small country. Big problems. Like El Salvador," he said, sending shockwaves down my spine.

Well, he knows, I told myself. There was no need to elaborate. Can we get that curtain rod fixed now please ?

The other three who really knew where Bahrain was had their vested interests.

One was my banker and the other two work in the apartment block we have just moved into.

They wanted to check our legitimacy, so they 'Googled' Bahrain on the Internet and learned all that they needed to know about my country.

"We know all about Bahrain. That is where Michael Jackson is!" was all they could say about home.

Of course. Another feather in the cap.


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03/12/2005
Stop the fuss and get on with passing a family law



Vol XXVIII NO. 258 Saturday 3 December 2005

By Amira Al Hussaini



Excuse my ignorance but I really don't understand all the fuss over the personal status law. Why is it taking this long to pass a law which is aimed at safeguarding the cornerstone of society, the family unit, stipulating the rights and responsibilities of every member of the family (be it man, woman or child)?

What is wrong with unifying a code of conduct which helps deal with domestic issues in a civilised and organised manner?

Why are some people so opposed to the idea of giving men, women and children their social, legal and religious rights in the form of a written law, which could give people an idea of what their rights and responsibilities are - even if it is only on paper?

We all agree that there are problems in some homes which cannot be solved amicably and which should be taken to another level and we all know how long it takes for our courts to process cases, from petty thefts to gruesome murders.

Divorce, abuse and custody battles take their toll on family life and should be resolved in a systematic manner - not according to the whims of certain individuals.

Why are clergymen so against having a unified written family law in a country like Bahrain, where the population doesn't exceed 700,000 and where the majority of people are Muslim?

And why is the government, which had no reservations in passing the controversial societies and demonstrations and public gathering laws, playing the waiting game and allowing this issue to be blown out of proportion?

It is in the interest of all parties to ensure that families are stable and that people know what their rights and obligations are within the family unit.

I realise the issue isn't as simple as I make it sound. I also understand that there are a few subtle differences in the way clergymen interpret family law in Islam.

But what I can't accept is how can a problem, which has remained unsolved for so long, be blown out of proportion when its declared purpose is to ensure the rights of men, women and children in a state of law.

To all those squabbling factions out there, stop fretting and get down to work. The more time wasted on issuing a law of this magnitude, the more women, children and even men will suffer. Injustice isn't a good feeling to grow up with, not when the next generation is at its receiving end.

Let's set our differences aside and try and settle scores on bigger issues - issues which don't involve breaking homes, slamming of doors and social stigma and scars that the victims of divorce and domestic abuse have to cope with for the rest of their lives.


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November 2005

28/11/2005
Freedom? It's your choice...
Vol XXVIII NO. 253 Monday 28 November 2005




Freedom? It's your choice...

By Amira Al Hussaini



Apparently the fight is now on in Bahrain to protect personal freedom and safeguard the very values the reforms of 2002 are based on.

These include respect for human rights, adherence to international conventions ratified by Bahrain over the years and giving people a shared responsibility in the decision-making process, by electing their own representatives to parliament and municipal councils.

On paper, all this looks great, but something is amiss. People are not happy with their representatives or the decisions being shoved down their throats.

Where have we really gone wrong?

What has happened now which has made people think that those very rights which have been granted following the National Action Charter referendum of 2002 are infringing on personal freedoms and hurting the very economy they were supposed to have catapulted to new heights?

We can continue to stick our heads in the sand, or we can take a good look at ourselves and assess the situation and see how it has reared its head and turned against us, the very people yearning for freedom, respect and equality.

We can't and shouldn't blame it on Islam, because at the end of the day it was us who elected these people to office.

Before someone jumps the gun and attacks me and my religious beliefs, let me make a few things clear: Islam is a great religion. It is an encompassing way of life.

If followed properly - the way Allah decreed and not the way practised by power grabbing men who have twisted it over the centuries to meet their petty selfish needs - is a very balanced way to live life to the fullest while respecting others, protecting human rights and even complying with contemporary international conventions and charters.

Islam isn't the opponent to progress. It isn't that ugly hairy monster which comes in handy for parents wanting to scare their children and should not be abused as such.

The choice is after all up to the people of Bahrain. They can make or break their country.

With 2006 round the corner, I really do hope that people will think with their minds and not their religious affiliations when they entrust another 40 men and hopefully women, with running their affairs.

Amira Al Hussaini now lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


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21/11/2005
When natural instincts took a back seat...
Vol XXVIII NO. 246 Monday 21 November 2005




When natural instincts took a back seat...

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

It started as a drizzle. A little bit of rain won't harm I told myself as I resisted getting under the umbrella, held by my beloved husband as we walked from what we hope will soon become our apartment to a nearby mall.

"Amira. Come under the umbrella now," said a cautious Amer.

"It's only a little bit of rain. Water doesn't kill," I replied smugly.

Very soon, the drops were getting bigger and before I knew it, it was raining camels and donkeys!

It was then a mad dash for safety from the furious drops, which were attacking us relentlessly, and the gusts of wind that were blowing the umbrellas away from the crowds running for shelter.

I was awed. In Bahrain, there is hardly ever any rain and I have never brandished an umbrella in my life. Here, it seems to be an essential.

A necessity, in fact, and I only realised its importance after I was soaked.

Not that the umbrellas would have been useful in that sort of a storm.

I wasn't prepared for that 10-minute downpour, nor were my feet - which got drenched and are now angry with me for not wearing boots.

To be honest, nobody in the whole of Hamilton, my new home, was ready for the onslaught.

But at the mall, it was business as normal.

You wouldn't have noticed that there was a storm outside, people running for safety and - unbeknown to us at the time - a tornado-like, full-blown attack on Upper Gage Street, which is two blocks away from where we are now staying with old friends from Bahrain.

The angry gale tore through a few blocks, wreaking havoc, uprooting trees and blowing off the roofs of the homes and a school - full of students in class - in its path!

What annoyed me most was that we had driven up a section of that street a couple of hours after the storm and didn't notice anything different. I saw an uprooted tree, but didn't make much of it.

"Maybe it has always been there!" I mused, knowing that something was amiss. Unlike the swamped roads of Bahrain after a few millimetres of rain, the roads here were dry - as if the earlier storm was a figment of my imagination.

What made me furious was that I only knew about the fact that it did happen and the extent of the damage it had caused some seven hours later, when I heard names of familiar streets on the 11-o-clock news!

And to think that I was once the news editor of Bahrain's leading newspaper!

Where has my nose for news gone and my natural instinct to be at the centre of events as they unfold?


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13/11/2005
Caught in a web of online hype
Vol XXVIII NO. 238 Sunday 13 November 2005

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

SO much for all the lip service we have been given for years on the virtues of online banking.

According to legend, the days of queuing up at the bank and carrying sackloads of money are over.

Historians claim this practice is outdated and associated with the barbaric activities of cavemen from a bygone era, that the modern world moves around using plastic money.

It is no longer classy or safe to be seen with cash in your wallet in chic places.

The myth is that thousands - if not millions - of dinars are transferred from one account to the other at the click of a button every second of the day, 24/7; that the globetrotting rich and mighty flash their platinum cards as they shop till they drop from Milan to New York to Tokyo; and that it is only the nouveau riche who carry embarrassing amounts of cash to boost their self-image and remind themselves every waking minute that they really have money.

When I left Bahrain to my new home in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, last month all I took with me was a bunch of cards - which have since proved to be useless.

"Why should I carry any cash on me?" I thought smugly to myself.

I don't know if it was me or my traditional, technically challenged mindset - which is still adamant that a computer is for writing articles and editing stories.

Somehow I jinxed all my prospects of accessing my accounts in Bahrain when I called the helpline number in a moment of panic as I was doing a last minute check on my way to the airport.

A frantic husband asked me where my Internet banking details were and after a thorough search I gave up and declared them missing.

I then called the helpline number, where the operator told me he couldn't help me as the system was down and to try in an hour.

Fearing that the access code would fall into the wrong hands, I called up my bank directly and begged a more helpful banker to cancel my account and mail me a new access code number.

The number took 10 days to be mailed from the bank's Adliya branch to my A'ali home address and a day to be faxed to me in Canada.

I now have the codes, but still no access to my bank accounts. Three weeks have passed and the efficient Internet banking system is still down.

I don't know how long it will take me to figure that one out.

At moments like this I ask myself why I did not resort to tradition and put all my money in pockets on a belt around my waist.

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