June 6, 2011, 7:58 PM ET
Obama to Meet Bahrain’s Crown Prince
By Carol E. Lee and Jay Solomon

President Barack Obama will meet with the crown prince of Bahrain at the White House on Tuesday, an administration official said. But in a show of how delicate relations with the U.S. ally have become, the sit-down is not officially on the president’s schedule.

Instead Mr. Obama will “drop by” a meeting that Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has Tuesday afternoon with National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, the administration official said.

The White House said last week that senior officials would use Prince Salman’s visit to push for political reforms in Bahrain, where the government’s harsh response to uprisings has created a diplomatic challenge for Washington, because of the Khalifa family’s role in helping U.S. efforts to combat terrorism and Iran’s nuclear program.

Last week, a senior administration official said the White House views Prince Salman as “a serious interlocutor” and believes there is “value in engaging with him directly.” The official said the White House sees as a “positive sign” the recent call from Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa for a national dialogue.

In a speech at the State Department last month, Mr. Obama criticized the crackdown in Bahrain, including the government’s detainment of hundreds of political prisoners.

It is unclear how long the president will spend with the crown prince on Tuesday. The White House does not plan to open any portion of the meeting to media coverage. The administration official said the White House will issue a written statement afterwards. …source

Posted on Monday, 06.06.11
Bahrain media charge that U.S. backs regime’s overthrow

By ROY GUTMAN
McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD — As Bahrain’s reformist crown prince headed to Washington on Monday for top-level talks, official news media in the Gulf state stepped up a drumbeat of anti-American attacks, some even accusing of the U.S. administration of colluding with opposition leaders they claim are trying to overthrow the state.

Al Wasat, the onetime opposition paper now under direct control of the Sunni minority government, carried an editorial with possible racial overtones Monday that claimed that “American black fingers are aiming to weaken the Gulf” states so the U.S. can create its own “Greater Middle East.”

Media attacks have also been directed against individuals at the U.S. Embassy, first the human rights officer, who departed early, and now against the acting head of mission, Stephanie Williams, a foreign service officer.

The Akhbar Al Khaleej newspaper on Sunday accused Williams of “collusion” with the moderate opposition group, Al Wefaq, and adopting what it said was the group’s “sectarian Shiite agenda.”

Another paper, Al Ayyam, charged in a column Monday that the U.S. is in an “evil alliance” with the opposition group.

The government ostensibly lifted martial law on June 1, but it’s still rushing highly dubious cases to its military tribunal. On Monday, 47 doctors and nurses were formally charged with a variety of crimes, from the murder of patients to attempting the overthrow of the regime, as well as some lesser offenses, such as taking part in an unauthorized public gathering.

In a May 19 speech on the “Arab Spring,” President Barack Obama called for Bahrain to release political leaders now in jail. “You can’t have a real dialogue when parts of the peaceful opposition are in jail,” he said.

But more than a month after arresting two former members of parliament, the Bahrain government hasn’t allowed them to see their families or consult lawyers, and seems to be preparing to bring them before the military tribunal.

It’s out of this cauldron of shrill rhetoric that Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, 41, a graduate of American University in Washington, is coming to call on members of the Obama administration, which has done its best to avoid public criticism of Bahrain, with the exception of the Obama speech.

The crown prince is the leading advocate of reform, and he encouraged Bahrain’s citizens to voice their dissent and exercise their right to assemble during the monthlong protests that lasted from mid-February to mid-March. Now, many of the people who listened to him find themselves in jail or even charged with a criminal offense.

Reform on the island would open up the political system to far more participation by the Shiite Muslim majority, which has been limited, through gerrymandered districts, to less than half of parliament, and has been kept from most high offices and positions of influence in the security services.
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Bahrain: Targeting of religious processions a clear violation of freedom of belief practices
June 6th, 2011

“Freedom of conscience is absolute. The State shall guarantee the inviolability of places of worship and the freedom to perform religious rites and to hold religious processions and meetings in accordance with the customs observed in the country”. (Article 22/ Bahrain Constitution).

On 12 April 2011, Minister of Interior announced that the religious processions- for Shia Community- are not allowed “temporarily” due to the National Safety law (Emergency law). Ref: http://www.alwasatnews.com/3140/news/read/537003/1.html

On 4 June 2011, Bahrain TV announced that the religious processions- for Shia Community- are allowed after the end of the National Safety law (Emergency law).
…source

The riot police attacked the religious processions in several areas (Ma’ameer, Sitra, karzakan, Buri, A’ali, Dair, Kawara, Hamala, Duraz and other). Ref “Ma’ameer village:

The riot police later detained the participants in the religious processions.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) expresses deep concern at the targeting of religious processions and emphasizes that freedom of religion in Bahrain is in danger. BYSHR calls for the Special Rapporteur of Religious freedom to take urgent actions. …source

Democratic change in Bahrain does not serve US interests: Kissinger
Submitted 10 hrs 51 mins ago

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger emphasized that a democratic change in Bahrain did not serve the interests of his country, highlighting once again the western double standard towards the Arab revolt, the daily Die Welt reported Monday.

Speaking at a round-table discussion on global affairs in Berlin, Kissinger said it’s ‘not in our interests’ for Shiites to take over power in Bahrain since this could lead to ‘the breakup of Saudi Arabia.’ He conceded the upheaval in Bahrain and other Arab Persian Gulf countries was a ‘strategic and at the same time moral problem’ for America.

The silence of the world, and particularly the US, in the face of the murderous Al-Kalifa repression is galling to ordinary Bahrainis who oppose the crackdown, who watch the world condemn rulers in Libya and Yemen without a mention of Bahrain which is also home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

While Washington initially urged Bahrain’s government to negotiate with the opposition, it has issued no strong condemnation of Bahrain’s use of violence and intimidation since the middle of March, when Saudi Arabia sent more than 1,000 troops into Bahrain to help the despotic Al-Khalifa regime quell the protest movement that started in February asking for democratic reforms.

The US refusal to condemn massive human rights abuses committed by the Bahraini security forces while condemning such abuses in Libya and Yemen has undermined any credibility it had with Bahrainis.

Human right groups have complained that the White House has been publicly mum amid reports that Bahrain’s Sunni-led government is waging a violent and bloody crackdown — destroying Shiite mosques, illegally detaining and torturing dissidents, attacking medical personnel to prevent them from treating wounded protestors, abusing women and girls, and expelling journalists from the tiny island kingdom. …source

FIA leaves door open for Bahrain GP rethink
Alan Baldwin, Reuters June 7, 2011, 3:39 am
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LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) – Formula One’s governing body has left the door open to a possible U-turn on holding a Bahrain Grand Prix this year after announcing last Friday that the postponed race was back on the calendar.

“If we have clear evidence that there is a risky situation this will obviously be taken into consideration,” International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Jean Todt told the BBC on Monday.

The race at Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit would have been the March 13 season-opener but was called off after civil unrest prompted a bloody crackdown in the Gulf kingdom.

It was reinstated, despite the teams making clear that they would rather not go and opposition from human rights campaigners, for Oct. 30 after a fact-finding mission to Bahrain last week by Spanish FIA vice-president Carlos Gracia.

“Our special envoy had meetings with the human rights people responsible in Bahrain,” said Todt. “He met many people before the report was submitted and unanimously agreed.”

Red Bull’s Australian driver Mark Webber said on Saturday that the wrong decision had been taken but did not expect the race to happen anyway despite the FIA announcement.

“As a competitor I do not feel at all comfortable going there to compete in an event when, despite reassurances to the contrary, it seems inevitable that it will cause more tension for the people of that country,” he added.

Police in Bahrain clashed with Shi’ite marchers in a religious festival on Sunday night.

Bahrain: Doctors on Trial, Shiite Professionals Dismissed

Today, 23 doctors and 24 nurses who treated injured anti-government protesters at the state-run Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama during previous months of unrest were charged with attempting to overthrow the monarchy, participating in illegal rallies, denying medical treatment to Sunni patients, and spreading false news that harmed the public. According to a government official, the medics ”cooperated with those protesters to hold political and religious rallies within the hospital grounds and provided misinformation to media outlets.” Their arraignment was in a closed-door hearing of a special security court comprised of military prosecutors and military and civilian judges, and authorized under emergency rule, which was lifted last week. The 47 accused have been detained since March. Authorities have placed a gag order on proceedings against opposition supporters, allowing a few select journalists to cover the trials. An additional hearing is scheduled for June 13.

The government has also dismissed hundreds of state employees and professionals accused of participating in anti-government rallies. Activists claim that the majority of those dismissed have been targeted for being Shiite. …source

Women In The Arab Spring

By William Fisher
The Public Record
Jun 5th, 2011

Since the beginning of the Arab Spring – starting with the unrest in Tunisia in early January – questions have been raised about the role of women in the uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East.

Photography of demonstrations in Egypt’s Tahrir Square reveals the presence of women of all ages. The same appears to be true in other parts of Egypt, and in Tunisia, Syria, and Bahrain.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights has cataloged the role of women in the demonstrations in that country and the often brutal actions taken by security forces to force them from the streets.

The Center says, “Bahraini women are paying dearly for expressing their views.”

The organization says that dozens of Bahraini women “are being detained in prison facing torture and humiliation for participating in peaceful protests. The government is killing, detaining, physically and verbally abusing and dismissing women from work and education.”

In a statement, the Center says it “strongly condemns the ongoing crackdown against the peaceful protesters in Bahrain, specially the repression and detention of a great number of Bahraini women such as political and social activists, doctors, teachers, housewives as well as school and university students. These women are facing torture as well as physical and verbal abuses that leads to death in some cases; in addition to the dismissal from work and education.”

The Center says it believes the3se actions are “a vengeance against Bahraini women for the key role they played since the beginning of the protests; a way to force them giving up that role and retreat any activity they had in the protesting movement since last February. It is also a way to add pressure on the opposition to retreat their legitimate demands.” …more

[Editor Note – see more important voices at Oslo Freedom forum Videos]

Medics’ trial in Bahrain postponed until next week
From Jenifer Fenton, CNN – June 6, 2011 — Updated 1634 GMT (0034 HKT)

(CNN) — Medical workers accused of trying to overthrow Bahrain’s monarchy, among other charges, will get additional time to consult with attorneys before their trial begins, a military court judge ruled Monday.

The judge postponed the trial of the 47 health workers to June 13. It originally was scheduled to begin Monday.

Many of the medics — 24 doctors and 23 nurses and paramedics — worked at Salmaniya Medical Complex, which the government says served as a coordination point for protests against the government where staff neglected their duties.

The justice ministry said the accused are charged with crimes that include incitement to overthrow the regime, deadly assault and refusal to help persons in need.

Activists and human rights groups allege that the medical workers are being prosecuted for treating protesters.

During Monday’s session, lawyers for the medics challenged the court’s legitimacy and asked that workers accused of misdemeanors be released, according to one person who was in court and an opposition figure who spoke with someone who attended the hearing.

The judge denied both motions, the sources said. …more

Embattled Arab Leaders Decide It’s Better to Fight Than Quit
Reuters – By MICHAEL SLACKMAN and MONA EL-NAGGAR
Published: April 27, 2011

CAIRO — Arab leaders facing public revolt have increasingly concluded that it is better to shoot to kill, or at least to arrest and imprison, than to abdicate and flee.

That calculation appears to be based on the short-term results of the Arab Spring. Those who have left, namely Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, face the humiliation of a criminal investigation, a trial and possible imprisonment. Those who have opted to stick with the use of force, like the president of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, have retained power and appear to have leverage to negotiate immunity should they leave, regional analysts said.

“I don’t think we’re going to see rulers run away, like Mubarak,” said Mustafa Alani, an analyst with the Gulf Research Center in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. “We passed this stage. They will not run or abdicate. They will take their chances.”

The wave of Arab uprisings, which began with popular protests that quickly ousted entrenched autocrats, has evolved into deadly confrontations in Libya, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere, with leaders willing to use sustained lethal force against a public convinced that persistence is the key to victory. It is a face-off, a test of wills, which has left thousands dead and opened a dark chapter in what was initially called the Arab Spring. …more

Saudis perched on the Faisaliah Tower in Riyadh. The kingdom is aggressively emphasizing the relative stability of monarchies. – By NEIL MacFARQUHAR – Published: May 27, 2011

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia is flexing its financial and diplomatic might across the Middle East in a wide-ranging bid to contain the tide of change, shield other monarchies from popular discontent and avert the overthrow of any more leaders struggling to calm turbulent nations.

From Egypt, where the Saudis dispensed $4 billion in aid last week to shore up the ruling military council, to Yemen, where it is trying to ease out the president, to the kingdoms of Jordan and Morocco, which it has invited to join a union of Persian Gulf monarchies, Saudi Arabia is scrambling to forestall more radical change and block Iran’s influence.

The kingdom is aggressively emphasizing the relative stability of monarchies, part of an effort to avert any drastic shift from the authoritarian model, which would generate uncomfortable questions about the pace of political and social change at home.

Saudi Arabia’s proposal to include Jordan and Morocco in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council — which authorized the Saudis to send in troops to quell a largely Shiite Muslim rebellion in the Sunni Muslim monarchy of Bahrain — is intended to create a kind of “Club of Kings.” The idea is to signal to Shiite Iran that the Sunni Arab monarchs will defend their interests, analysts said.

“We’re sending a message that monarchies are not where this is happening,” Prince Waleed bin Talal al-Saud, a businessman and high-profile member of the habitually reticent royal family, told the editorial board of The New York Times last week, referring to the unrest. “We are not trying to get our way by force, but to safeguard our interests.”

The range of the Saudi intervention is extraordinary as the unrest pushes Riyadh’s hand to forge what some commentators, in Egypt and elsewhere, brand a “counterrevolution.” Some Saudi and foreign analysts find the term too sweeping for the steps the Saudis have actually taken, though they appear unparalleled in the region and beyond as the kingdom reaches out to ally with non-Arab Muslim states as well.

“I am sure that the Saudis do not like this revolutionary wave — they were really scared,” said Khalid Dakhil, a Saudi political analyst and columnist. “But they are realistic here.” …more

Webber casts doubt on Bahrain race
5 June 2011

Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber says he will be ‘highly surprised’ if the reinstated Bahrain Grand Prix goes ahead later this year, despite the FIA’s decision to set a new date for the race. During a World Motor Sport Council meeting in Barcelona on Friday, a 26-strong panel unanimously voted for the event to be staged on the weekend of October 28-30, but Webber believes the wrong choice has been made.

“My opinion is unchanged since I was first asked about this in late February,” the Australian explained on his official website. “Even though a decision has been made, I’ll be highly surprised if the Bahrain Grand Prix goes ahead this year.

“In my personal opinion, the sport should have taken a much firmer stance earlier this year rather than constantly delaying its decision in hope of being able to re-schedule it in 2011. It would have sent a very clear message about F1’s position on something as fundamental as human rights and how it deals with moral issues.

“It’s obvious that the parties involved have struggled to reach a decision but sadly I feel that they still haven’t made the right one. Like it or not, F1 and sport in general isn’t above having a social responsibility and conscience. I hope F1 is able to return to Bahrain eventually but now isn’t the right time.

Webber added that he would not be happy to race at the Sakhir International Circuit in October, arguing that the situation in the country could worsen again as a result.

“As a competitor I do not feel at all comfortable going there to compete in an event when, despite reassurances to the contrary, it seems inevitable that it will cause more tension for the people of that country. I don’t understand why my sport wishes to place itself in a position to be a catalyst for that.” …more

Bahrain protesters promise ‘Day of Rage’ as drivers want safety assurances

By now everyone’s moved on from Formula 1′s decision to return to Bahrain this season, right?

Umm… not quite. Protesters in the country are promising a “Day of Rage” on October 30. Rubens Barrichello, the head of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, is saying that the F1 drivers are going to need some serious assurances they will be OK. And British Sports Minister Hugh Robertson says the sport may have “a disaster on its hands.”

And some of the reports I’m seeing are now questioning that “unanimous” vote of the World Motor Sport Council. No one seems able to present an actual count of those votes. An FIA spokesman has been unable to give just a basic tally.

Let loose the conspiracy theories of F1!

(Fun side note: Do you know who owns 30% of Nicolas Todt’s, son of Jean, GP2 race team? Would you be surprised if I said, “Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al Khalifa”? I didn’t think you would.)

I suspect the drivers and teams will be forced to answer the question, “Will you go to Bahrain?” more than a few times this week during Canadian press conferences. So stay tuned for that.

I wish I could determine how this is going to play out. Negative Camber’s piece pointing toward insurance and all the law-talking guys does seem one eventual path. I also wonder if the Bahrain government is not going to have to find the intestinal fortitude to call the race off — I assume that’s the best scenario for Bernie Ecclestone and F1′s owners.

You know who I really worry about from the F1 side of things? (I’m certainly concerned about the protesters and people of Bahrain.) I hate to say it, but I’m not that concerned about the drivers and team bosses. I know Jenson Button had his run-in in Brazil once, but these folks will probable be taken to the track in tanks. I wonder how the engineers and the caterers and the “regular” folks who fill out the teams will be treated. I’d think they are the ones who legitimately would be freaking out. I’d love to hear from one of them.

Go on, F1 journalists with access to the teams. Get in there and ask those people what they are thinking. That would be my first stop when I got to the Canadian GP. …source

Bahrain: Urgent Appeal: Growing violations to the University Students’ rights to education and freedom of expression
University students are being subjected to arrests and expulsions for merely expressing their political opinions

6 June 2011

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights has sent out an appeal to the Human Rights and Academics Rights organizations regarding the crackdown on the university students in Bahrain and the growing violations to their rights including right to education and freedom of expression.

Education is a right that has been reserved, protected and promoted by the United Nations. The Universal Declaration for Human Rights states, “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace” – Article 26 (B).

However, as we write this letter, students in Bahrain are being deprived of this universal right. University students are being subjected to arrests and expulsions for merely expressing their political opinions. As you may know, on February 14, Bahraini youth started a peaceful uprising calling for political reforms, freedom of speech and expression and the right to decide their own future. …more

When the chickens come home to roost
by Paris Ayiomamitis 5 Jun 2011

A DEFINING graffiti slogan of the May 1968 protests in France was “Let’s not change bosses, let’s change life”, signalling that change will only come when people change their attitudes.

The demonstrations of the indignant at Syntagma Square since May 25 could be a watershed in the country’s political history. A party- and union-dominated society has decided to break the shackles imposed by a corrupt system. This may not lead to a dramatic change in the short term. But, as with May 1968 in France – seen by many as a political failure but a social triumph – it could sow the seeds of real change at the grassroots level. Change, for the first time in Greece’s post-dictatorship period, may come, not from above, but from below.

A frequent criticism levelled against Greece in the past has been its lack of civil society. As long as a problem wasn’t in one’s own backyard, it ceased to be a real problem. Greeks protest all the time – but under union or political banners, and motivated by “selfish” criteria instead of the wider interests of society. It was never about a sense of community but the komma (political party).

People have always bemoaned corruption and the lack of meritocracy, but only over a cup of coffee rather than on the streets and at the polls. It was fashionable to mock northern Europeans as dry workaholics, contrasting them to the leisure-loving Greeks, “who know how to live life to the fullest”.

And as people were mesmerised by a false sense of prosperity – due in large part to borrowed money and a system that rewards cronyism – it is no coincidence that the same politicians get elected over and over again. As it is also no coincidence that politics in this country over the past sixty years have been dominated by three clans – the Karamanlis, Papandreou and Mitsotakis families.

The Greek comedian Harry Klynn hit the nail on the head when, back in the 1980s, he said that “Greece is a poor country with rich residents”. But now that the lenders have come knocking on the door of these “wealthy residents” – in large part due to the colossal mismanagement of the politicians they elected – Greeks have at long last decided to mobilise against the establishment that puts its own “interests” above the well-being of the electorate. And the proof of this is in the pudding. Health and education – fundamental indicators of a society’s health – are in a shambles and have been for decades, with no solution in sight.

The situation created in Greece after the fall of the military dictatorship was one in which the moral high ground went – and deservedly so – to those politicised intellectuals who fought the colonels.

But the system they created in the post-dictatorship era (Metapolitefsi) is now practically bankrupt and with it is going the romanticism surrounding the politicians involved, directly or indirectly, with the student uprising against the military junta in 1973.
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Wikileaks’ Julian Assange wades into superinjunctions
And accuses FBI of bribery

Julian Assange has decided to cause more waves.

The Wikileaks founder, who is currently fighting extradition to Sweden, where he has faced allegations of sexual assault, has decided to ruffle feathers by claiming that the FBI tried to bribe the organisation’s staff. That’s according to the Daily Telegraph.

He’s also waded into the controversial superinjunction world, claiming that he was prepared to reveal the names of individuals covered by these if he got hold of who was hiding behind these legal barriers.

Speaking at the Telegraph Hay Festival Mr Assange told delegates that the internet did not give people “free speech.” He said those who practised this and revealed secrets online were “hounded from one end of the earth to the other”.

He said that his much famed whistle blowing organisation had been at the forefront of a range of challenges including ones from the FBI, which had moved in to tempt his staff to talk with a range of bribes. …more

Israel fires on pro-Palestinian protesters; 20 reported killed
Hundreds of demonstrators marking the anniversary of Israel’s seizure of the Golan Heights in 1967 rush over Syria’s border. Scores remain camped out in the mine-laden buffer zone, refusing to leave.
Golan Heights

June 6, 2011
Reporting from Jerusalem—

Israeli security forces opened fire Sunday on throngs of pro-Palestinian protesters who were attempting to breach the border by crossing from Syria into the Golan Heights, the second such deadly incident in less than a month.

As many as 20 protesters were killed and 270 others were wounded, according to Syria’s state-run news agency. Israeli officials said they could not confirm the casualty figures. The toll could not be independently verified.

The violence, which came during protests to mark the 44th anniversary of Israel’s capture of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Middle East War, was the latest sign that regional unrest in the Arab world is beginning to affect Israel.

Similar protests last month left 12 people dead after Israeli and Lebanese forces fired on crowds that stormed the borders from Syria and Lebanon.

Israeli officials said Sunday that they first fired warning shots at several hundred protesters who rushed over the Syrian border and ran into a mine-laden buffer zone that separates the Golan Heights.

By Sunday night, scores of protesters remained camped along the Syrian border, refusing to leave despite tear gas volleys and periodic warning shots fired by Israeli soldiers. Many lighted bonfires and appeared to be preparing to spend the night outside. …more