Bahrain: Behind the News
- Thomas Neuburger
- 39 minutes ago
- 5 min read
By Thomas Neuburger
The island Kingdom of Bahrain is in the news lately, as you’re probably aware. It hosts the U.S. 5th Fleet headquarters in the city of Manama. Bahrain, like most Gulf kingdoms, is ruled by a small, oppressive, Sunni minority kept in power by ruthlessness, wealth and U.S. and British protection.
The piece below was published on Twitter by Maryam Al-Khawaja, a woman whose father is a long-time political prisoner held in Bahrain. Her feed is excellent. She’s on my Twitter List of Middle East Sources (feel free to join). Her comments are always well written and well thought out.
I’m printing the following in full to give a sense of what Bahrain was and is, and indeed what most Gulf states are — small golden fiefdoms propped up over islands of grief. When you read this, you’ll understand why the vast majority of people on the Arabian Peninsula want no good to come to their “kings.”
The thread source is here. Paragraphing and italics are mine. Tweets are bulleted. Hope you find this helpful; I certainly did.
Bahrain Backgrounder by Maryam Al-Khawaja
• Bahrain is one of the gulf countries being hit with missiles, and as people follow the news, it’s important you understand the country, its context and history:
The indigenous population of Bahrain are the Baharna (بحارنة) – mostly made up of Arab Shia (it was one of the first countries to become Shia in the region in the 7th century).
The Alkhalifa family (from the Bani Utbah tribe) occupied Bahrain by force in 1783 coming from Zubara (modern day Qatar) and have been ruling with violence since then. During the 2011 uprising one of the prominent chants was “go back to Zubara, your visit is over”, as the Bahrainis consider themselves occupied. This makes Bahrain the oldest ongoing occupation in the region. [1/12]
• Around 30 years after their violent take-over, the Alkhalifas struck a deal with the British to become a protectorate (to protect them from the indigenous population). During their rule, the Alkhalifas depended on the UK and US to maintain full control, oppress the local population and one of their tools was to revoke citizenship and deport many indigenous Shia families to neighboring countries. At one point leaders of the uprising in the 50s were even sent to St. Helena Island where Napoleon was held.
Bahrain has one of the oldest civil rights movements in the region, stemming back to the 1920s. There are uprisings almost every ten years in the country. In the 1920s the British were regarded as the de-facto rulers of Bahrain (see: the diaries of Charles Belgrave) to the extent that they could replace one emir with another when they wanted to secure their interest (see: replacement of emir in 1923). [2/12]
• When the families who had been forced out of Bahrain to countries like Iran and Iraq returned to Bahrain after many years, sometimes decades, the regime tried pushing the narrative that these were Iranians coming to Bahrain that the regime was kind enough to allow. This doesn’t negate that there has also been immigration of Iranians to Bahrain. [3/12]
• The British and US have always been seen as one of the main reasons the Alkhalifas have maintained absolute power in Bahrain; and Bahrain hosts the US fifth fleet as well as a British airbase.
People in Bahrain have protested against the presence of these bases for decades, and in the short-lived lifespan of the legislative assembly in 1973, the AlKhalifas disbanded the assembly and imposed a state of emergency for 25 years because the assembly refused to renew the lease of the US base. [4/12]
• After the uprising in the 1950s, which was led by Shia, Sunni and leftist leaders and put down by the British, a decision was made that they needed to implement the strategy of divide and conquer.
The Alkhalifas very intentionally started a campaign of sectarianism in the country, in the hopes of separating the indigenous population along sectarian lines. What followed was the systematic marginalization and discrimination against the Shia majority in the country (see: the Bandargate report). [5/12]
• There are unwritten laws in Bahrain about areas in which Shias are not allowed to rent or own, entire ministries (especially sensitive institutions like the military and police) where Shias are generally not allowed to work, Shia women married to non-Bahrainis are unable to pass citizenship to their children, and in schools students are forced to write that their Shia sect goes against Islamic teaching (I experienced this myself). And this is just the tip of the iceberg. [6/12]
• Simultaneously, the regime started politically naturalizing tens of thousands of people from Pakistan, (specifically Baloch), Yemen, Syria (specifically from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa), and Iraq (specifically baathis post the war on Iraq), amongst other places.
This was for two purposes: to change the demographics of the country from a Shia (indigenous) majority to a loyal naturalized Sunni majority; and to build a military and police force that was loyal to the regime (regarded as mercenaries by many locals).
Those naturalized received citizenship upon arrival, government housing (which the indigenous population tend to wait decades for), and a job in the military or police. [7/12]
• There’s an ongoing “joke” in Bahrain that you get beaten on the street by a Pakistani, arrested by a Yemeni, interrogated by a Syrian, tortured by a Jordanian, sentenced by an Egyptian, and the only Bahraini in the entire process is the victim.
The Alkhalifas also try to paintbrush the entire opposition with whatever they construe as being the threat-du-jour (threat of the day) for the West; Nasser-socialists, communists, Iranian, terrorists, etc. They believe by doing so, and by attempting to contain the movement within the indigenous Shia areas, they can better “justify” the oppression and crackdown to the West. [8/12]
• In addition, corruption is insane in Bahrain; with rising poverty and unemployment.
The ruling family has brought in hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who are treated badly and denied much of their rights (read: modern day slavery) – including access to citizenship regardless of how long they stay in the country. They’re underpaid and overworked and many live in dire conditions. [9/12]
• On the other end of that are the “expats” (read: white westerners), who come to Bahrain, are overpaid for positions they’re not always qualified for, and treated better than the local population. They’re usually given high positions even when there are more qualified locals, and when in the exact same position as a local, they usually receive higher pay and more benefits. [10/12]
• During the uprising in 2011, many western immigrants not only came out in support of the crackdown, but it was mired in racist and colonialist narratives. In the context of the Alkhalifas relationship with the West, it was not surprising to the indigenous population that this was their positionality in response to people wanting basic rights and freedoms. [11/12]
• So when you see the reaction on the ground today [March 3], with over 30 people arrested so far since Saturday for protesting against the US and the Israeli occupation, understand the context. Bahrain is an old civilization, and quite different from the rest of the GCC in its social and political history.
This is just context - I haven't even touched upon the details of what the people of Bahrain have been subjected to in terms of repression (torture, killings, imprisonment, etc) by the Alkhalifas and their western allies. [12/12]