Anger over Pakistani support-English
Pakistan has agreed to support the king against the protestors
ONE Middle Eastern intervention makes the headlines every day. The other barely rates a mention. The first is ostensibly aimed at...
Pakistan has agreed to support the king against the protestors
ONE Middle Eastern intervention makes the headlines every day. The other barely rates a mention. The first is ostensibly aimed at protecting civilians and at facilitating change, the second at safeguarding the status quo.
Libya’s Muammar Qadhafi has been told he must go. Bahrain’s ruling Al Khalifa family, on the other hand, must stay. Some Arabs, one could be forgiven for assuming, are worthier of democracy and civil rights than others.
Yet the degree of hypocrisy may not be as great as it seems. After all, while the future of Tunisia and Egypt remains unwritten, there can be little reason to doubt that the US and its allies would prefer to preserve the basic structures of the Ben Ali and Mubarak regimes, albeit with new figureheads and, if possible, less visible signs of oppression and the odd concession to pluralism.
From their point of view, the ideal outcome in Bahrain would be similar: a few nods in the direction of cosmetic reform to placate the restive segments of society, but not much more than that — and certainly nothing that could jeopardise Bahrain’s crucial strategic relationship with the US, especially its status as a home for the Fifth Fleet. The trouble, of course, is the impossibility of rearrangements that could be passed off as regime change.
At best the prime minister, in situ for four decades, could be replaced. But he is the king’s uncle, and even if he could be persuaded, without occasioning a family split, to step aside, his successor would inevitably be another Al Khalifa.
That US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton felt obliged earlier this month to mildly berate the regime in Manama for its transgressions against mostly peaceful protesters was obviously in large part a consequence of not wishing the contrast with western actions in Libya to seem too stark. It is highly unlikely that the decision by Saudi Arabia and the UAE to send in troops was taken without Washington’s imprimatur, given that both are effectively American satrapies in geo-strategic terms.
The foreign troops, which are officially supposed to guard strategic installations, rather than assist in ‘crowd control’, were evidently despatched under a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreement dating back to Saddam Hussein’s neighbour-threatening rhetoric in 1990, which preceded the invasion of Kuwait. (His stance was thoroughly embarrassing at the time for oil-rich states that had during the previous decade supported Iraq in its war against Iran.)
That was, however, a joint defence pact among the Gulf potentates, to the effect that the violation of any GCC state’s sovereignty would be construed as aggression against all. Internal unrest did not figure in their calculations. Bahrain does not face any external threat, although there can be little doubt its emissaries have, in private discussions, conjured up the bogey of a threat from Iran.
Tehran’s domestic and foreign policies are often indefensible, but cables from Bahrain-based US diplomats over recent years, released by WikiLeaks, suggest it hasn’t lately been going out of its way to interfere in Bahrain. The Gulf state’s majority Shia population resents the almost exclusively Sunni regime because of irrefutable instances of discrimination rather than because of imprecations from Iran.
Given that at least 70 per cent of Bahrainis are Shias, it is hardly surprising that the majority of those who are economically disadvantaged fall in the same category. But their exclusion from privilege is not just a matter of demographics.
For instance, in order to keep out Bahraini Shias from the security forces, the government regularly recruits troops from abroad — notably from Yemen and Pakistan. And whereas the value of public representation can be judged by the fact that a royally nominated senate can overrule the elected lower house, even so the constitutional arrangements sanctioning the latter preclude the possibility of a Shia majority.
It inevitably follows that the monarchy’s supporters are mostly Sunni and its opponents mostly Shia, and even though the protests launched last month weren’t, on the face of it, sectarian in nature, casting them in that light tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Bahrain does not differ from its Gulf neighbours only in a demographic sense: it’s also relatively less well endowed with natural resources, and therefore poorer in per capita terms. And it has been rocked by popular unrest more frequently.
Referring to an uprising in the mid-1950s, Prof Fred Halliday noted in Arabia Without Sultans: “The British realised that Bahrain had a more advanced and therefore dangerous political character than any other Gulf country. Because the oil revenue and level of production was so much lower than in Kuwait, they had been unable to turn the indigenous population into a parasitic class with an enslaved migrant proletariat underneath. Their response was intensified repression, and a tightening of control by the Al Khalifa family.”
Notwithstanding the differences, however, Bahrain’s neighbours realise that if the Al Khalifas are toppled the Al Sauds, Al Nahyans and Al Jabers could follow. The marriage of tribal feudalism and modern capitalism cannot forever endure, but efforts will no doubt be made to preserve it for as long as petroleum remains crucial to meeting western energy needs.
In terms of totalitarian tactics, the Al Sauds in particular are more than a match for Qadhafi and his sons. But don’t expect any push for democracy in Saudi Arabia. Pressure for often intangible and invariably more or less meaningless reforms is at far as it will go.
Bahrain falls in the same basket, essentially. Were the situation to become too fraught, the US would probably begin disentangling itself from its intricate defence links with the troubled kingdom. In the interests of advancing potentially democratic interests, it would make much more sense to do so right away. But don’t hold your breath.
The Yemeni regime, meanwhile, will also continue, for as long as it is feasible, to enjoy the benefit of the doubt. Syria, on the other hand, is a much more likely candidate for the Libyan treatment.
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Pakistan has agreed to support the king against the protestors
ONE Middle Eastern intervention makes the headlines every day. The other barely rates a mention. The first is ostensibly aimed at protecting civilians and at facilitating change, the second at safeguarding the status quo.
Libya’s Muammar Qadhafi has been told he must go. Bahrain’s ruling Al Khalifa family, on the other hand, must stay. Some Arabs, one could be forgiven for assuming, are worthier of democracy and civil rights than others.
Yet the degree of hypocrisy may not be as great as it seems. After all, while the future of Tunisia and Egypt remains unwritten, there can be little reason to doubt that the US and its allies would prefer to preserve the basic structures of the Ben Ali and Mubarak regimes, albeit with new figureheads and, if possible, less visible signs of oppression and the odd concession to pluralism.
From their point of view, the ideal outcome in Bahrain would be similar: a few nods in the direction of cosmetic reform to placate the restive segments of society, but not much more than that — and certainly nothing that could jeopardise Bahrain’s crucial strategic relationship with the US, especially its status as a home for the Fifth Fleet. The trouble, of course, is the impossibility of rearrangements that could be passed off as regime change.
At best the prime minister, in situ for four decades, could be replaced. But he is the king’s uncle, and even if he could be persuaded, without occasioning a family split, to step aside, his successor would inevitably be another Al Khalifa.
That US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton felt obliged earlier this month to mildly berate the regime in Manama for its transgressions against mostly peaceful protesters was obviously in large part a consequence of not wishing the contrast with western actions in Libya to seem too stark. It is highly unlikely that the decision by Saudi Arabia and the UAE to send in troops was taken without Washington’s imprimatur, given that both are effectively American satrapies in geo-strategic terms.
The foreign troops, which are officially supposed to guard strategic installations, rather than assist in ‘crowd control’, were evidently despatched under a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreement dating back to Saddam Hussein’s neighbour-threatening rhetoric in 1990, which preceded the invasion of Kuwait. (His stance was thoroughly embarrassing at the time for oil-rich states that had during the previous decade supported Iraq in its war against Iran.)
That was, however, a joint defence pact among the Gulf potentates, to the effect that the violation of any GCC state’s sovereignty would be construed as aggression against all. Internal unrest did not figure in their calculations. Bahrain does not face any external threat, although there can be little doubt its emissaries have, in private discussions, conjured up the bogey of a threat from Iran.
Tehran’s domestic and foreign policies are often indefensible, but cables from Bahrain-based US diplomats over recent years, released by WikiLeaks, suggest it hasn’t lately been going out of its way to interfere in Bahrain. The Gulf state’s majority Shia population resents the almost exclusively Sunni regime because of irrefutable instances of discrimination rather than because of imprecations from Iran.
Given that at least 70 per cent of Bahrainis are Shias, it is hardly surprising that the majority of those who are economically disadvantaged fall in the same category. But their exclusion from privilege is not just a matter of demographics.
For instance, in order to keep out Bahraini Shias from the security forces, the government regularly recruits troops from abroad — notably from Yemen and Pakistan. And whereas the value of public representation can be judged by the fact that a royally nominated senate can overrule the elected lower house, even so the constitutional arrangements sanctioning the latter preclude the possibility of a Shia majority.
It inevitably follows that the monarchy’s supporters are mostly Sunni and its opponents mostly Shia, and even though the protests launched last month weren’t, on the face of it, sectarian in nature, casting them in that light tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Bahrain does not differ from its Gulf neighbours only in a demographic sense: it’s also relatively less well endowed with natural resources, and therefore poorer in per capita terms. And it has been rocked by popular unrest more frequently.
Referring to an uprising in the mid-1950s, Prof Fred Halliday noted in Arabia Without Sultans: “The British realised that Bahrain had a more advanced and therefore dangerous political character than any other Gulf country. Because the oil revenue and level of production was so much lower than in Kuwait, they had been unable to turn the indigenous population into a parasitic class with an enslaved migrant proletariat underneath. Their response was intensified repression, and a tightening of control by the Al Khalifa family.”
Notwithstanding the differences, however, Bahrain’s neighbours realise that if the Al Khalifas are toppled the Al Sauds, Al Nahyans and Al Jabers could follow. The marriage of tribal feudalism and modern capitalism cannot forever endure, but efforts will no doubt be made to preserve it for as long as petroleum remains crucial to meeting western energy needs.
In terms of totalitarian tactics, the Al Sauds in particular are more than a match for Qadhafi and his sons. But don’t expect any push for democracy in Saudi Arabia. Pressure for often intangible and invariably more or less meaningless reforms is at far as it will go.
Bahrain falls in the same basket, essentially. Were the situation to become too fraught, the US would probably begin disentangling itself from its intricate defence links with the troubled kingdom. In the interests of advancing potentially democratic interests, it would make much more sense to do so right away. But don’t hold your breath.
The Yemeni regime, meanwhile, will also continue, for as long as it is feasible, to enjoy the benefit of the doubt. Syria, on the other hand, is a much more likely candidate for the Libyan treatment.
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[31 Oct 2013] Footage purportedly shows migrant worker being beaten in Saudi - English
Outrage is growing worldwide over a video showing a Saudi Arabian man beating his foreign employee. The Asian worker received the beating for allegedly speaking to his employer\'s wife. You may...
Outrage is growing worldwide over a video showing a Saudi Arabian man beating his foreign employee. The Asian worker received the beating for allegedly speaking to his employer\'s wife. You may find the following video disturbing. The Saudi man then starts to repeatedly whip the victim with his belt. The kingdom\'s Human Rights Commission has condemned the attack after receiving many complaints. The incident is not an isolated one. International rights groups have reported extensive abuse of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. According to rights groups there are over nine million migrant workers in the kingdom.
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Outrage is growing worldwide over a video showing a Saudi Arabian man beating his foreign employee. The Asian worker received the beating for allegedly speaking to his employer\'s wife. You may find the following video disturbing. The Saudi man then starts to repeatedly whip the victim with his belt. The kingdom\'s Human Rights Commission has condemned the attack after receiving many complaints. The incident is not an isolated one. International rights groups have reported extensive abuse of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. According to rights groups there are over nine million migrant workers in the kingdom.
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[17 Nov 2013] Amnesty Intl censures Qatar for conditions of workers - English
International human rights groups have censured Qatar and Saudi Arabia for their treatment of migrant workers.
Amnesty International has issued a report criticizing the conditions of workers...
International human rights groups have censured Qatar and Saudi Arabia for their treatment of migrant workers.
Amnesty International has issued a report criticizing the conditions of workers preparing venues for the 2022 World Cup. The report details non-payment of wages, harsh working conditions, and poor standards of accommodation. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has urged Persian Gulf monarchies to take additional steps to safeguard migrant workers. In a statement, HRW appealed to the Arab states to adopt the new codes of the International Labor Organization. Saudi Arabia is currently conducting a brutal crackdown on undocumented workers. Several people -- including three Ethiopians -- have been killed since the kingdom launched a visa crackdown two weeks ago.
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International human rights groups have censured Qatar and Saudi Arabia for their treatment of migrant workers.
Amnesty International has issued a report criticizing the conditions of workers preparing venues for the 2022 World Cup. The report details non-payment of wages, harsh working conditions, and poor standards of accommodation. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has urged Persian Gulf monarchies to take additional steps to safeguard migrant workers. In a statement, HRW appealed to the Arab states to adopt the new codes of the International Labor Organization. Saudi Arabia is currently conducting a brutal crackdown on undocumented workers. Several people -- including three Ethiopians -- have been killed since the kingdom launched a visa crackdown two weeks ago.
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[13 June 2012] Qatar lacks single shred of democracy - English
[13 June 2012] Qatar lacks single shred of democracy - English
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that Qatar's World Cup stadiums may be built using an exploited labor force of migrant...
[13 June 2012] Qatar lacks single shred of democracy - English
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that Qatar's World Cup stadiums may be built using an exploited labor force of migrant workers in Qatar and urged the country to reform its employment laws.
Interview with Ali al-Ahmed, director of the IGA
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[13 June 2012] Qatar lacks single shred of democracy - English
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that Qatar's World Cup stadiums may be built using an exploited labor force of migrant workers in Qatar and urged the country to reform its employment laws.
Interview with Ali al-Ahmed, director of the IGA
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[17 Nov 2013] Saudi Arabia self inflicted crisis - English
Saudi Arabia continues its brutal crackdown on undocumented migrant workers. The crackdown is seemingly aimed at eradicating the kingdom\'s high unemployment rate. Thousands of foreign workers are...
Saudi Arabia continues its brutal crackdown on undocumented migrant workers. The crackdown is seemingly aimed at eradicating the kingdom\'s high unemployment rate. Thousands of foreign workers are on the run as security agents of the world\'s top oil exporter begin to raid businesses, markets and residential areas in an effort to arrest migrants.
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Saudi Arabia continues its brutal crackdown on undocumented migrant workers. The crackdown is seemingly aimed at eradicating the kingdom\'s high unemployment rate. Thousands of foreign workers are on the run as security agents of the world\'s top oil exporter begin to raid businesses, markets and residential areas in an effort to arrest migrants.
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[17 Nov 2013] New videos emerge of Saudi Arabia crackdown on Ethiopian migrants - English
Saudi Arabia continues its brutal crackdown on undocumented migrant workers. The crackdown is seemingly aimed at eradicating the kingdom\'s high unemployment rate. Thousands of foreign workers are...
Saudi Arabia continues its brutal crackdown on undocumented migrant workers. The crackdown is seemingly aimed at eradicating the kingdom\'s high unemployment rate. Thousands of foreign workers are on the run as security agents of the world\'s top oil exporter begin to raid businesses, markets and residential areas in an effort to arrest migrants. Take a look at this story:
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Saudi Arabia continues its brutal crackdown on undocumented migrant workers. The crackdown is seemingly aimed at eradicating the kingdom\'s high unemployment rate. Thousands of foreign workers are on the run as security agents of the world\'s top oil exporter begin to raid businesses, markets and residential areas in an effort to arrest migrants. Take a look at this story:
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[15 August 2019] 13 U.S. states sue government for migrant visa denial - English
Watch Live: http://www.presstv.com/live.html
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PressTV
LiveLeak: http://www.liveleak.com/c/PressTV
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PRESSTV
Instagram:...
Watch Live: http://www.presstv.com/live.html
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PressTV
LiveLeak: http://www.liveleak.com/c/PressTV
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PRESSTV
Instagram: http://instagram.com/presstvchannel
#PressTV #Iran #News
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Watch Live: http://www.presstv.com/live.html
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PressTV
LiveLeak: http://www.liveleak.com/c/PressTV
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PRESSTV
Instagram: http://instagram.com/presstvchannel
#PressTV #Iran #News
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[18 Nov 2013] Rights groups urge boycott of Qatar World Cup over labor abuse - English
South Asian rights groups have called for a boycott of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar unless the Persian Gulf state improves conditions for migrant construction workers. Migrant workers, mostly from...
South Asian rights groups have called for a boycott of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar unless the Persian Gulf state improves conditions for migrant construction workers. Migrant workers, mostly from South or Southeast Asia, suffer alarming levels of exploitation. There are many reports of non-payment of wages and hazardous working conditions. Qatar is currently in the middle of a construction boom meant to prepare the gas-rich nation for the world\'s most popular sporting event. Amnesty International has also censured Qatar over its mistreatment of migrant construction workers, describing their conditions as deplorable.
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South Asian rights groups have called for a boycott of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar unless the Persian Gulf state improves conditions for migrant construction workers. Migrant workers, mostly from South or Southeast Asia, suffer alarming levels of exploitation. There are many reports of non-payment of wages and hazardous working conditions. Qatar is currently in the middle of a construction boom meant to prepare the gas-rich nation for the world\'s most popular sporting event. Amnesty International has also censured Qatar over its mistreatment of migrant construction workers, describing their conditions as deplorable.
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[01 Dec 2013] HRW urges Saudi Arabia to probe last month-s crackdown on migrants - English
A leading human rights group has called on Saudi Arabia to probe the recent violence during a regime crackdown on undocumented migrant workers.
Human Rights Watch has warned of a...
A leading human rights group has called on Saudi Arabia to probe the recent violence during a regime crackdown on undocumented migrant workers.
Human Rights Watch has warned of a \"humanitarian disaster\" if the workers remain held in Saudi deportation centers. The Arab kingdom in the Persian Gulf launched a clampdown on illegal migrant workers earlier last month.
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A leading human rights group has called on Saudi Arabia to probe the recent violence during a regime crackdown on undocumented migrant workers.
Human Rights Watch has warned of a \"humanitarian disaster\" if the workers remain held in Saudi deportation centers. The Arab kingdom in the Persian Gulf launched a clampdown on illegal migrant workers earlier last month.
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[21 Oct 2013] Amnesty Intl. criticizes Saudi Arabia for its dire human rights situation - English
An international rights group has criticized Saudi Arabia for failing to address the dire human rights situation in the kingdom.
Amnesty International says Riyadh has failed not only to...
An international rights group has criticized Saudi Arabia for failing to address the dire human rights situation in the kingdom.
Amnesty International says Riyadh has failed not only to implement any of recommendations by the UN Human Rights Council, but has increased the brutal repression of its own citizens. Amnesty International\'s regional director says a paper has been submitted to the UN rights body highlighting arbitrary arrests, detentions, unfair trials, torture and other ill-treatment in the oil-rich kingdom. Philip Luther has called on the international community to make the Saudi regime accountable for violating the rights of its minority Shia community and migrant workers. He says Shia Muslims are being targeted for participating in anti-government demonstrations and for views which are critical of the state. Amnesty has also condemned the systematic discrimination against women in the ultra-conservative kingdom-- including a ban on women driving.
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An international rights group has criticized Saudi Arabia for failing to address the dire human rights situation in the kingdom.
Amnesty International says Riyadh has failed not only to implement any of recommendations by the UN Human Rights Council, but has increased the brutal repression of its own citizens. Amnesty International\'s regional director says a paper has been submitted to the UN rights body highlighting arbitrary arrests, detentions, unfair trials, torture and other ill-treatment in the oil-rich kingdom. Philip Luther has called on the international community to make the Saudi regime accountable for violating the rights of its minority Shia community and migrant workers. He says Shia Muslims are being targeted for participating in anti-government demonstrations and for views which are critical of the state. Amnesty has also condemned the systematic discrimination against women in the ultra-conservative kingdom-- including a ban on women driving.
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[02 Dec 2013] Saudi Arabia abusing not just migrants: Al-Omari - English
Press TV has conducted an interview with Naseer al-Omari, a writer and political commentator, from New York, about Saudi Arabia\'s atrocities against migrant workers.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Naseer al-Omari, a writer and political commentator, from New York, about Saudi Arabia\'s atrocities against migrant workers.
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