Bahrain: “Free Earplugs for every Citizen”

Bahrain: “Free Earplugs for every Citizen”
22 January, 2012 – ahlamoun.com

Boarding any overnight plane, the crew out of courtesy usually distribute free earplugs in case you needed to block noises from nearby passengers, a service I bet someone somehow thought that its a genius idea, one must use it in the Arab Governments!

“Free Earplugs for every Citizen” is “apparently” the campaign being ran, an attempt to block all Arab voices supporting the Pro-Democracy movement in Bahrain.

I believe that no feeling mounts to the feeling that you are standing blindfolded with no one holding the ground beneath you, and as you shout for freedom, the person next to you whom you expect to unite his voice to yours, is in utter silence!!

And then comes the shocking discovery that there are many voices behind you but someone has planted earplugs to block those voices from charging your spirit!

Visiting Tunisia last month alerted many sensors I passed by to the earplugs planted, and here are the incidents I have encountered with Arab Activists and ordinary yet extraordinary Arab citizens I have talked with during my visit.

Before exploring the outcome of the visit, I’d like to briefly state my observation on the channels of Communication when it came to Arab Spring and Bahrain in particular.

There are many channels to communicate with people who are miles apart, to know their updates and share yours. For example, Newspapers, Television and Online Social Media. And as the 14Feb events clearly taught us that Arab Media Channels are gravely controlled by governments or certain groups with wicked agendas. Therefore we had one platform to share true narrative of events, which was Social Media, and we have massively succeeded on an international level with one fatal exception, the Arab’s region level!

Social Media phenomena like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube can only be effective if it is embedded in the culture that encourages it and if you have the proper Networks which are equip to handle the pressure.

And this is the case in Bahrain and most of the Gulf countries who even if they didn’t have the money to buy iPhones and Blackberries, company’s exploited the profit behind the Arab Spring social effect by providing many installment plans to encourage people to buy.

My best friend’s mother and my previous boss at work who never thought of using other than a phone which calls and sends/receives text messages, the first bought a BlackBerry and the other now has 2 iPhones! When I asked for the reason behind this technological transformation, the answer was “To be up-to-date and know what is happening in Bahrain”.

The use of social media was not limited to normal users in Bahrain, high ranking government officials like the Bahrain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs -”who is, by the way, not doing a good job, not even for the government loyalists followers” and many Political and Human Rights organizations used this platform to broadcast major announcements and interact with people locally and globally. You can sense this integration when you read the Headline of a Bahraini newspaper starting by “The Ministry of Interior on tweeted last night that …..”.

Jehad, a journalist and an activist from Lebanon gave a comment during a Social Media Forum saying “I have seen the extensive use of social media only in Gulf Countries like Bahrain and Kuwait with high ranking officials from government and opposition political parties”.

Another European journalist who came to to write a story about Bahrain, when I had plans to meet her, she clearly mentioned in her email :” Please don’t assume that I can access emails all the time, let’s plan one day before, because I have noticed that many people in Bahrain are using iPhones most of the time, even while being oppressed by the government in a protest”.

The downside of this, is that this culture is not as wide-spread in other Arab countries as it is in Bahrain, which has created a huge gab and helped block voices from reaching us and our voices from reaching them since tremendous focus is put on social networking- which I do not disagree with at all.

Therefore, field visits, conferences and forums are vital and important to spread the word and have a better understanding of how is our 14Feb Movement is perceived and to engage in conversations and small talks with people to sense the true vibe on the arab streets – and that was the plan I had in mind during my visit to Tunis.

On the 17th December 2011, the Tunisian Revolution Anniversary day, I wrapped around me the flag of Bahrain and took my camera (something I used to do back in the days) and marched on the streets of Tunis to bring more awareness about Bahrain and welcomed random questions from people in coffes-shops, pass-byers and shop owners asking about “Who’s Flag is this?” and “How is Bahrain?” – and I had the most interesting and enlightening conversations since March 2011 !

The Flag of Bahrain got mixed up a lot with a Tunisian sports club named “African Club” who had similar colors and stripes, one from far would think that I am a devoted African Club fan.

That mixed up helped provoke many conversations, people stopped and asked “Oh, African Club fan, huh?” .. and I wave the flag of Bahrain in the middle of the road asking them to not only recognize the Flag but to know the daily struggles of a revolution being wiped up by media.

As I was walking on Al Habeeb Burqeba Street, the Old Souq long streets and their outdoor and indoor bookshops, I have only sensed the genuine prayers and tremendous support. …source