A second pro-democracy protester was killed in Bahrain today as some 10,000 people gathered at a traffic roundabout called Pearl Square.
Demonstrators are trying to capitalize on the revolution in Egypt, and among their very real challenges is simply finding a place to build crowds large enough to matter. In Egypt, the government tried turning off the Internet, but the protesters were able to walk the old alleys and call supporters into the streets and from there into Tahrir Square.
Bahrain is more of a new American-style landscape. "With communities separated by roads, bridges and massive malls, there are few public spaces where like-minded people can gather," the New York Times reports. For today, for now, a traffic roundabout will have to do.
(Pearl Square in Bahrain. Image: AliSABKAR by way of Andy Carvin)
Leave a Comment:
Bahrain, like Saudi Arabia and Dubai are places where the oil revenues have been so large that practically no citizen has to work...they get money from the government, along with free education and healthcare. So, the average American wonders, what in the h-e-double-toothpicks do they have to protest about?
Dignity, perhaps? The natural self-aware autonomy of adult children against a strictly paternalistic father/ruler? The longing for some kind of self-determination and usefulness in the world?
I don't believe for a minute that these serial protests are -- as FOXNoise would like us to believe -- fomented among the downtrodden by Islamic jihaddists (theyr'e coming here next to impose Sharia Law!). I think the young, educated and tech-savvy have overleaped their governments with their aspirations and want something more than more toys to amuse them.
I think that many in the muslim world are beginning to wonder why the world seems to be passing them by, socially, economically, and technically. The wiser ones among them realize that oil revenue will not last forever, maybe not even for the rest of their lives if they are young now. So, what happens when Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the rest are no longer of use to the rest of the world as the oil runs out? Any nation that depends on extracting raw materials from the ground for its livelihood is living on borrowed time. The oil has been both a blessing and a curse to the Middle East, bringing it great wealth, but allowing it to become a mean-spirited couch potato in many ways too. Young people get a good education at a university and then find their are no jobs for them in their country because there is no need for their skills there. I am so happy to see that an awakening is beginning to sweep the region, and I would also hope to see something similar happen in Africa, which has been a neglected continent for way too long. If this world is to survive and prosper, we can't simply consign whole continents to the dustbin of history.
It would be nice to see it happen as you say, Uffie. Doctors, scientists, programmers, translators, writers, artists, engineers -- generations of new thinkers whose ideas and experience contribute to the world conversation. It's exciting to contemplate.
Arabs gave us tremendous intellectual gifts in mathematics and science a millenia ago, and they didn't suddenly become stupid. There are so many generations of great minds who never got a chance to contribute because of the oppressive and regressive governments that have been in place for far too long. Everyone deserves a chance to succeed, and I hope that will happen now in Egypt, and other places as well.
Just because a government bribes its people to suffer injustice does not mean that the people are stupid. The people are likely biding their time.
I think I just got another sudden insight into why Rape-Public-CONS seem to hate the "commons"...
And a female CBS journalist was beaten and assaulted by a celebrating youth while covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square. I can hardly wait to see how they handle their new democracy.
BIG protesting in UK to get BIG business to pay their fair share of taxes...
www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/feb/10/uk-uncut-tax-avoidance-twitter
...this was also another protest facilitated by social media!