The Revolutionary African/Middle Eastern World
What has been happening in Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt and now Libya has been coming for over a decade. In 1995-1996 I taught in a private K-12 school in Bahrain, with some of my responsibilities taking me into "The Kingdom" (Saudi Arabia) on many occasions. It was clear then that the Sunni minority, along with some very wealthy Shi'ite business people, were the powerful in Manama and other parts of Bahrain and the Gulf Arab States. While Bahrain is considered one of the more liberal Gulf States (you can buy pork products in Bahrain, for example), the Amir at the time was struggling with what to do with the Shi'ite majority that would protest by blowing up store fronts and other structures using makeshift bombs that relied upon LPG tanks as the explosive base.
But the public schools in Bahrain are not very good. The Labor Ministry does not protect workers. The parochial school in the outskirts of Manama was the only decent school in the country. The private school I worked at was run by a family concerned only with the cashflow the school generated, not service to the community, education for its students, or improving the lot of Bahraini citizens.
What we are seeing now in Bahrain has often been blamed on rabble-rousing by sources in Iran, which is PARTLY true, but not the entirety of the situation nor the entirety of the truth. The real truth of the matter is that the vast majority of Bahraini citizens do not have an adequate education, lack working skills, are paid benefits by the state/royal family, and most of the workers in the tiny island nation come from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Philipines or other nations where expatriot workers can be had for cheap money and can be exploited as slave labor.
At the school I worked at we had about 8 Sri Lankan workers that worked six days a week, often 14-16 hours per day, and were physically and psychologically abused by the owners of the school for less than $120 US per month. I suppose we should be grateful we live and work in the US, but we are seeing the mighty, the powerful and wealthy attack the hard workers of our nation with greater hostility, aggression and arguments that don't hold up under genuine scrutiny.
What is happening in Libya is related to the insanity--as illustrated by Qaddhafi's rambling, nonsensical news conferences where he blames Arab youths taking "hallucinogenic pills"--that Col. Qaddhafi and his family has imposed upon the Libyan people since the middle of the 1960s.
What we saw in Egypt is no less surprising. That similar stirrings are happening in Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Iran and other fascist-controlled African and Middle Eastern nations is no surprise either.
But while our collective eyes are facing East into the Mahgreb (North Africa) and the Muslim parts of the Middle East, we should be mindful of the fascism, industrialism and ultra-conservativism that is threatening the progressive policies that made the US what is has been in its heyday.
But the public schools in Bahrain are not very good. The Labor Ministry does not protect workers. The parochial school in the outskirts of Manama was the only decent school in the country. The private school I worked at was run by a family concerned only with the cashflow the school generated, not service to the community, education for its students, or improving the lot of Bahraini citizens.
What we are seeing now in Bahrain has often been blamed on rabble-rousing by sources in Iran, which is PARTLY true, but not the entirety of the situation nor the entirety of the truth. The real truth of the matter is that the vast majority of Bahraini citizens do not have an adequate education, lack working skills, are paid benefits by the state/royal family, and most of the workers in the tiny island nation come from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Philipines or other nations where expatriot workers can be had for cheap money and can be exploited as slave labor.
At the school I worked at we had about 8 Sri Lankan workers that worked six days a week, often 14-16 hours per day, and were physically and psychologically abused by the owners of the school for less than $120 US per month. I suppose we should be grateful we live and work in the US, but we are seeing the mighty, the powerful and wealthy attack the hard workers of our nation with greater hostility, aggression and arguments that don't hold up under genuine scrutiny.
What is happening in Libya is related to the insanity--as illustrated by Qaddhafi's rambling, nonsensical news conferences where he blames Arab youths taking "hallucinogenic pills"--that Col. Qaddhafi and his family has imposed upon the Libyan people since the middle of the 1960s.
What we saw in Egypt is no less surprising. That similar stirrings are happening in Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Iran and other fascist-controlled African and Middle Eastern nations is no surprise either.
But while our collective eyes are facing East into the Mahgreb (North Africa) and the Muslim parts of the Middle East, we should be mindful of the fascism, industrialism and ultra-conservativism that is threatening the progressive policies that made the US what is has been in its heyday.
posted by Jim Downey at 4:42 PM
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