25 March 2011 By Dr. Hamad Al-Majid Well then Hassan, you said in your fiery speech
last Saturday that those who criticised the Shia
Bahraini opposition, and their protests in Manama's
Pearl Square, were applying double standards with
regard to their views of the Arab revolutions in
Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. According to you, there is
no difference between the Gaddafi family and the
al-Khalifa family. Let us now return to this
comparison in order to examine the situation in Syria,
which has become the latest country to tremble because
of the Arab domino effect, as demonstrations sparked
and the Syrian security forces killed a number of
citizens in violent clashes. Why didn't we hear any
support from Hassan Nasrallah, a man who shows such
contempt for double standards, for the first
indications of a popular revolution in Syria? The
Syrian demonstrations had the same elements to inspire
the Arab masses in the manner of the Tunisian and
Egyptian revolutions, and were completely void of the
sectarian elements. Furthermore, what is the noble
Hassan Nasrallah's view of the despotism and tyranny
of the Iranian government, not only against the
oppressed Sunni minority, who are deprived of the most
basic religious and political rights, but also against
the reformists, the majority of whom were disciples of
the Khomeini revolution who have now dispensed of
their robes? The eternal problem for Hezbollah in Lebanon, and
its supporters in some Gulf States, is that they want
immunity for their actions, statements, positions and
manoeuvres. They do not want to be questioned about
what they are doing. In Lebanon, the argument of the
never-ending conflict with the Zionist enemy made it
incumbent upon the Arab masses to support Hezbollah in
its battles against Israel. However, when Hezbollah
aimed its guns inwards towards Lebanon itself, and
towards Sunni districts in West Beirut in particular,
and when its fighters devastated those areas, it was
then incumbent for strong criticism to be directed
towards the party, even from those who openly
supported its war with Israel. Hezbollah then raised
the sectarian card against such critics. The same thing is happening today in Bahrain,
particularly with the Bahraini Shia opposition.
Several calm and rational voices have emerged and
tried to make the Shia opposition in Bahrain
understand that their revolution – by virtue of the
facts and numbers – is completely different to the
Arab revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, and even Libya
and Yemen, because the revolutions and demonstrations
in those countries were not tinged with sectarianism,
and this is agreed upon by neutral observers. Yet
although these voices were simply trying to spare the
region the ordeals of sectarian conflict, they have
been accused of sectarianism by some, for example by
Hassan Nasrallah in his latest speech. However the
facts on the ground confirm that the Bahraini Shia
opposition are primarily responsible for inciting
sectarian tensions in the region, through their close
communication with Iran. They initially proposed
somewhat unrealistic demands, and then moved the
goalposts altogether by changing their slogan from
"the people want reform", which was a rational claim,
to "the people want the regime to fall". This is in
reference to a regime that, despite its flaws, has
granted the Shia in Bahrain what the Sunnis in
Tunisia, Egypt and Libya combined have not achieved.
The opposition in Bahrain occupy around half the seats
in parliament, hold senior government positions, and
practice their religious rites freely. Yet we must
either support their demands to bring down the
government, or be ready to face the accusation of
sectarianism. Therefore Hassan Nasrallah was not wise when he
said there was no difference between the Gaddafi
family and the al-Khalifa family, as there is a
massive difference between the two. Now he must answer
us regarding the difference between the families of
Gaddafi, al-Assad, and Ahmadinejad
Dr. Hamad Al-Majid is a journalist and former member of the official Saudi
National Organization for Human Rights. Al-Majid is a graduate of Imam Muhammad
Bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh and holds an M.A. from California and a
Doctorate from the University of Hull in the United Kingdom.
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