Uncertainty Reigns in Bahrain Amid Mix of Normalcy, State of Siege

REPORT AIR DATE: May 17, 2011
Uncertainty Reigns in Bahrain Amid Mix of Normalcy, State of Siege

Transcript

GWEN IFILL: Next tonight, the crushing of the Arab spring in the Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain.

Margaret Warner reports on how events there have widened the divide between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

MARGARET WARNER: Approaching downtown Manama, Bahrain doesn’t feel like a country in turmoil. Skyscrapers gleam in the sun of this tiny Persian Gulf financial hub ruled by a 200-year-old Sunni monarchy.

The stock market, though foreign investment has stalled, appears to be humming along. But all is not as it seems. Some shoppers have returned to the malls, but hotels and restaurants are hurting. Tourists are still staying away, a blow to the economy of this island kingdom. It touts itself as a tolerant playground for visitors from socially conservative Gulf neighbors and beyond.

That’s a hard sell with armed troops and riot police vehicles on the streets, enforcing a state of emergency in effect since March 15. Checkpoints dot the roadways between the capital and suburban villages, where many of the country’s Shia majority live.

LT. TAHER AL ALAWI, Bahrain federal police: We stop them and we check for their identification and ask of their purpose of coming into this village.
In Bahrain, a Mix of Normalcy and a State of Siege
In Bahrain, a Mix of Normalcy and a State of Siege

MARGARET WARNER: Lt. Taher Alawi says the checkpoints have made the villages safer. But residents say it feels like a state of siege.

WOMAN: When we tried to leave our village, they said, “No, you cannot leave it. You have to go back. We don’t care. Whatever reason you have for leaving, you will go back.”

MARGARET WARNER: The state of emergency came in response to month-long demonstrations inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. The protesters, mostly Shias, but Sunnis too, had occupied the city’s landmark Pearl Roundabout, calling for greater freedoms and opportunity.

After early clashes that killed some demonstrators, security forces let them stay, until they blocked the road to the city’s vital financial district. Fifteen hundred troops from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states came in to back up Bahraini forces as they imposed a violent crackdown.

Today, the financial district and Pearl Roundabout are free of protesters, though we weren’t permitted to film the roundabout to show you the military presence there.

But the country is polarized now by two opposing narratives. Most Sunnis think the crackdown is essential to restoring Bahrain’s order and prosperity. Most Shias think the crackdown is systematically targeting them and widening the sectarian divide.

In relatively poor Shia villages like Diraz, the signs of political resistance today are subtle, graffiti urging “Death to al-Khalifa.” That’s the royal family. Every week, worshipers from nearby villages flock to Diraz to hear the country’s leading Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim. Last Friday, he urged them to continue to fight for their rights, but by peaceful means.

After the service, the veiled woman identifying herself only as Zeinab described the night raids her relatives and friends have endured.

WOMAN: They will not knock first. They will just attack, break the door and enter. For me, I am very scared of being attacked at house and my children being, you know, terrorized. They are trying to crush our pride, crush our dignity. And we are trying to keep it peaceful. I don’t know how long…

MARGARET WARNER: These two young sisters, who also took pains to cover their faces, said the Shias feel powerless.

WOMAN: I can’t believe what’s happened here. We want you for help us. We are in a big problem here, and we don’t know what to do.

WOMAN: (OFF-MIKE)

MARGARET WARNER: What?

WOMAN: The police there.

MARGARET WARNER: OK. You go. Go. …more