I spoke with Monocle 24's The Globalist this morning about this weekend's Formula 1 Grand Prix, protests by some opposition groups, and the political future.
The take-away lines: 1) the regime, unless there is significant pressure, will not carry out reforms; 2) the opposition --- some of which are inside the National Dialogue, some of whom are outside --- are too fragmented to exert this pressure; and 3) the international community, notably the US, will also not be exerting any influence to push the regime beyond the appearance of the Dialogue.
Voting began on Wednesday for the "best video" section of the Bahrain International Circuit (IAA/BIC) F1 Social Media Contest, sponsored by the regime's Information Affairs Authority.
With the IAA proclaiming that the entries will promote "unity" as well as entertainment, this seems the ideal moment to highlight a set of videos that may not quite meet the approval of the judges.
A cartoon by Carlos Latuff is converted into a mural in Barbar village
With pressure mounting on Formula One to pull out of the forthcoming Bahrain Grand Prix, activists are beginning to target the organisations around the race. Earlier today, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and other Bahrain activists wrote a letter to the BBC and Sky --- who hold the broadcasting rights for the race --- calling on them not to broadcast the events on moral grounds. Speaking to the Guardian, Dr Ala'a Shehabi said of the campaign:
Formula One is all about advertising, marketing, it's more about the commercial side than the actual sport itself.
So we know that in broadcasting, you're encouraging all of the commercial interests in the sport which puts finance over human rights. That is what the major moral issue is here. If we can target the broadcasters, we can at least cut some of the possibility of profits made from advertising, at least.
The full text of the letter:
April 12 2012
Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC
Jeremy Darroch, Chief Executive, Sky
We are writing to ask you to consider canceling your planned televised coverage of the Formula One race in Bahrain on moral grounds and in consideration of the thousands of victims of state atrocities over the past year. On this small island, 85 people have been killed by security forces, and there are around 600 political prisoners. The majority of the people will not be watching or enjoying the race. In fact they will see it as a provocation.
In a phone call with Abu Haneen from the heart of Baba Amr, he informed us of the following:
Baba Amr has faced multiple attempts of being stormed by the Syrian National Army. Activists worked hard to save the neighborhood and protect the civilians. In the meanwhile, Baba Amr was still being shelled. Clashes continued until the evening. The Free Syrian Army succeeded in affecting loss in the Syrian National Army, both people & supplies. Some of the leaders of the Farooq Division left the site of the clashes to securely transport women and children to safer regions. Activists are still defending the neighborhood against the army that was essentially defeated at its attempts. The activists have seized control of Baba Amr and the Assad army is positioned at the outskirts of the region.
While we can't verify the specific details of the report, there are two key points that continue to be repeated by all the trusted sources EA has made contact with - the FSA has been clashing with Assad soldiers, especially in the northeast of Baba Amr, and the troops have not fully occupied the neighborhood...
Yet. The third detail that is in nearly every report - Assad's military is capable of taking Baba Amr. It is possible that they are holding out to lessen the media attention, or because they want to avoid heavy losses, but the entire city is surrounded by extremely large amounts of pro-Assad military forces, and tonight they are closer to Baba Arm than they have been since the siege started.
The CEO of Bell Pottinger PR with Bahrain's Minister of EnergyThe BBC World Service show "World Have Your Say" broadcast a show last week that concerned the media war in Bahrain. Among the topics discussed was the government PR machine, though unbeknownst to the BBC, one of the guests on the show is the managing director of a company who receives money from the government to do PR. Another guest on the show was also suggested to the BBC by a PR company connected to the royal family, though the BBC were quick to emphasise that she was not representing the royal family.
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The Bahrain International Circuit, a palm-lined, glitzy race track in the middle of the desert, is due to host Formula One in April. Behind the facade, however, lie tales of misery, blood and torture.
Last year, the head of security at the BIC raided its offices alongside plainclothed police with a list. The list contained the names of every Shia employee. One by one they were dragged from their desks and beaten in front of colleagues [see footnote]. In total, 27 were arrested, and many were left in jail for months. The BIC is responsible for purging its own people. It is hardly a place that deserves to host this race again.
The public relations campaign in Bahrain is a fierce and increasingly ugly one, which brings in a multitude of competing interests seeking to frame the situation for their own purposes. For regime supporters working to spread a certain message to the West, it is about obfuscating any apparent excesses by the monarchy and their forces and amplifying the alleged threat posed by the opposition, using sectarian rhetoric both for Bahrainis and expatriates.
What is particularly troubling about the regime's manipulation of the "black smoke" campaign is its possible links to more nefarious purposes, connecting propaganda, targeted at the Shia community, with violence.
Friday, April 19, 2013 at 9:26
I spoke with Monocle 24's The Globalist this morning about this weekend's Formula 1 Grand Prix, protests by some opposition groups, and the political future.
