March 2004

Playing dirty politics in the name of Palestinian cause
Vol XXVII NO. 9 Monday 29 March 2004

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Politics can be a dirty game which gets even messier when novices jump on board to play. A few days ago I had the pleasure of speaking to the creme de la creme of political and social society heads in Bahrain to gauge their reaction to Hamas founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's murder.

They were all united that it was a cowardly act perpetrated with full US support and that the masses would be enraged. They all warned of the consequences of lack of Arab governments' support for the Palestinian cause - a highly sensational issue for all Arabs. And they spoke about rallies, which they cautioned, may get out of control and turn into riots if nothing is done! Like Bahrain could free Palestine and is not doing anything about it.

What really intrigues me is the outpouring of emotions from these Bahraini reactionaries who represent a broad spectrum of political backgrounds. Secularists and the Islamists shared the same views - if not the same agendas.

The next few days showed that their prophecies were true. There were huge rallies, sit-ins and even riots and acts of sabotage and vandalism.

The question I wanted an answer for is why? What do those little boys who went on a rampage know about the Palestinian cause? What did they know about Sheikh Yassin and his politics? Was it really the murder of Sheikh Yassin which drove them out to the streets or was it something else which needs to be closely examined if we are to overcome this stage of political reconciliation in a calm and dignified manner?

One of the society heads spoke about pent up anger among the young. He brought up every issue under the sun - from lack of job opportunities to discrimination, poverty, vice and concerns about the constitution. What I could not connect then was what has the murder of Sheikh Yassin got to do with all the problems Bahrainis suffer from.

Now I know it was only an excuse to make a scene. I should have known that when one of them told me that there would be a rally staged next to the Seef roundabout. The naive me immediately reacted: Why Seef? It is already congested there and traffic moves at a snail's pace any time of the day or night. His knowing answer was: To draw attention to our plight. To make our voices heard.

We all know that Sheikh Yassin was a terrorist in the eyes of Israel and its close ally, the US - but for all Arabs he is a hero who has literally given up his life to fight for a just cause. It is a shame that such a man is being used as a scapegoat by masked mobsters who only want to make trouble.



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21/03/2004
Puppet masters are playing a dangerous game
Vol XXVII NO. 1 Sunday 21 March 2004

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

What does a father do when his son goes on a rampage at home? How would he behave when the spoilt brat breaks his favourite vase, burns his prized book collection or digs up the flower bed?

Should he pat him on the back and apologise to him for being a bad father and for cheating on his mother?

Or should he deal with him using fist and leg or any other sharp object that comes to hand?

Or maybe he could reason with him to see what made the little boy have a tantrum in the first place. After all, everyone knows that boys cannot think, let alone plot for anything.

Those boys who went on a rampage on Wednesday, terrorising restaurant patrons and destroying public property, are mere puppets in the hands of bigger shark who are playing a game too big to be digested in one go.

The problem is that there are too many players at the moment and if we don't have a confession session and sit all together around a table, we will never know who is behind what is making Bahrain take one step forward and two steps backwards.

Reform and change take time. A child learns to crawl, then sit, then stand, then walk and when he finally gains his balance, he can conquer heights - only if he has the courage to do so and leaves all his phobias and insecurities behind.

Those people behind Wednesday's events are not freedom fighters. They cannot be calling for more political rights for Bahrainis because if they had anything logical to call for, there are civil ways and channels for making their voice heard.

That is how a 'democracy' works and not by burning cars, trespassing on public property and terrorising women and their children.



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16/03/2004
Officials turning blind eye to vandalism ..?
Vol XXVI NO. 362 Tuesday 16 March 2004

By Amira Al Hussaini

Our legendary Tree of Life is being vandalised and no one is taking any notice. With nothing much to do in Bahrain during the holidays, we decided to visit Sakhir and pay homage to the tree which is celebrated around the world and virtually ignored at home.

True to its legend, the lofty tree - which is now old, fragile, a picnic spot and a refuse disposal point - continues to attract scores of people during the weekends and holidays.

Every tourist who visits Bahrain makes it a point to visit this mysterious tree whose source of water has continued to baffle scores of scholars over decades.

To my dismay, I wasn't at all pleased with what I saw. The tiny fence put up by Tourism Affairs a few years ago has done little to fend off vandals, who still climb the tree, break its branches and pen their names on it. The mighty tree, which can be seen from miles, is now a dying shrub which is being treated in an undignified manner by many of the people who visit it.

The place is like a garbage collection point, with plastic bags flying around it and caught in its broken, dying branches.

Fat people, well past their childhood, are using its branches as a jumping castle. Those people, most of whom were foreigners when I visited the tree, should be ashamed of the way they are re-paying Bahrain for its hospitality. This isn't what we Bahrainis expect from you.

Some of the Bahrainis there weren't faring better either, driving their four-wheel drives up to the tree - like it would hurt them to park their cars a few metres away and walk up to it.

But I am losing the point here and instead of lashing out at the illiterates who are vandalising the tree, I would like to know what the authorities are doing to prevent these atrocities being committed against our Tree of Life.

Bahrain is trying hard to draw clean tourism and I don't see this possible by keeping the Tree of Life area dirty. It is one of the few, if not the only, natural attractions in this country.

Plans to set up a small museum, a souvenir shop and a guards station near the tree must have been forgotten now. This is what we have been promised by officials years ago and it is the least we expect.



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08/03/2004
Battle of the sexes
Vol XXVI NO. 354 Monday 8 March 2004

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

Rise and shine Princess, it's International Women's Day today!

It's an occasion more important than all the other silly days man has come up with over the decades put together.

It's the day we stand up high and mighty and bask in the glory of our achievements across the ages.

It's the day we brag about our successes and call for more equality and justice without fully realising the power in our hands and our hands alone.

It's time we got together to fight the one and only tyrant who is making this life a living hell - whether it is a husband or a father or a brother or a male boss or an MP, who has no idea what it is to be a woman and deal with the mood swings and discrimination we face every step of the way.

It should be the day we fully realise our power and use it for a change.

We run the world and this isn't an understatement. All those little men are rings we spin around our little fingers - mere players who strut and fret upon our stage following our whims and then are heard no more based on our commands.

Behind every great man, there is a woman and without us women, this world will never go round. There will be no man nor woman nor any use or purpose for this world. It doesn't take a scientist to figure this out. Everything will come to a standstill, because men - the movers and shakers of this world - will not budge an inch. They will not be able to make babies on their own to ensure the continuity of mankind. More important, there will be no audience for them to show off and flex those muscles.

We are the mothers, wives, sisters, girlfriends, colleagues and mistresses. We rule. It's just that we haven't figured out yet how to use all this power.

Respect is to be earned and not demanded. Over the ages, women have sacrificed a lot and the least we expect today is to be treated with respect and dignity.

To all those mothers out there, start at home with your little boys. Teach them to say thank you and express their emotions. Teach them to be courteous and respect women. Hopefully, a new breed of men could be trained to make this a better world for all of us - men and women.



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04/03/2004
The wrong signals...
Vol XXVI NO. 350 Thursday 4 March 2004

BY AMIRA AL HUSSAINI

It's un-Islamic? Is this what we want to tell the rest of the world every time someone asks us why we are not moving with the times?

Why blame Islam for ulterior motives, masterminded by sinister elements aimed at creating discord among members of the one family and hitting development and progress every step of the way?

The latest fuss regarding TV reality show Big Brother is surreal. A BD15 million investment is dropped overnight, 200 people, many of whom are Bahrainis, are left jobless and Bahrain's reputation smeared in international circuits.

I have no explanation as to why the programme - even though I am not a fan - was stopped.

Why has the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation and the Information Ministry succumbed to the bullying of a few?

The programme, if anything, was boring and of no interest to the majority of people in Bahrain. (P.S: I am saying this to ensure that no one brands me as un-Islamic for defending Big Brother.)

People have bigger un-Islamic headaches in real life - like adulterous husbands and wives, alcohol and drug abuse, children sniffing glue, huge phone bills and housing problems, to name a few - and are not bothered with what a bunch of children are up to in a house under 24-hour camera surveillance in Amwaj Islands.

All the problems facing normal everyday Bahrainis are un-Islamic - from the problems caused by some thieving scheming officials to the highly exaggerated interest rates banks impose on unwitting poor people aspiring to improve their level of living by borrowing money.

Why is no one talking about this?

Stopping Big Brother is a big slap to freedom of expression and all the gains made through pioneering reforms initiated by His Majesty the King. The attack the programme has come under is just a scapegoat for a more sinister scheme. It is a matter of principle and by giving in to pressure, we are giving up on all the gains made over decades.

I am not defending Big Brother here but the drastic measures - stopping the show - taken after a little bit of bullying is unacceptable by all standards.

Is this mentality of 'pack up and leave' what we will do every time someone attacks anything - whether a project or an individual - under the banner of Islam?

Surely, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Next, there will be issues of segregation, women driving, women on television and women shutting up and being cocooned at home.

Will taking women out of the picture make Bahrain more Islamic?



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