Bahraini opposition groups said on Friday that the Manama regime has arrested 50 activists overnight.
Rodney Shakespeare, Chairman of the Committee against Torture in Bahrain, from London, commented on the current developments across the Persian Gulf Island. The following is a transcript of his interview with Press TV.
Press TV: There are reports that Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa has said that “Bahrain is not part of the democratic domino effect that is sweeping the Middle East. Our challenges are different.” Do you agree with his remarks?
Shakespeare: Well, that is a lot of baloney. I would like to comment on the Khalifa family. They are not true kings. They are maniac killers. And they will go down in history as scum. Think of it what a true king is: it is someone who stands for all their people against foreign invaders. In the UK, we think of Alfred the Great who was called “Great” at the time and history has given him the title of “the Great”. But who are these Khalifa family and their foreign minister? The Khalifa family and the foreign minister, in particular, are small people with small minds, and they are vicious with it. They are factional and petty and, in particular, they do dishonor to Sunni Islam.
Press TV: The Foreign Minister, in a sense, has admitted to the Saudi role in all that is happening in Bahrain, saying that “Every country has its own timetable. Nobody can stop change, but the people should themselves be ready for the change. The Saudis saw a real threat. What they saw is possible upheaval to come. What do you think is meant by this upheaval at this point?
Shakespeare: Let us take a little example. There was an archeological site which was associated with (Prophet) Mohammed. They destroyed that site, and put a public lavatory on top. That narrow mind is totally barren. Mindset is now explaining their behavior in Bahrain, where they are destroying monuments and tombs. The problem with the Saudis is that they are totally barren. They are narrow-minded, and they have a fascist mentality. They have no concept of democracy. They have no concept of cultural difference. They are dishonor to the Sunni Islam in exactly the same way that the Americans are dishonoring democracy, because the Americans ordered the crackdown in Bahrain. I want to say to the Americans that it is all coming to them. When [Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton said that Bahrain has a right to invite foreign troops in, the meaning is any country, including America, can invite foreign troops in to kill his own citizens, and the meaning of that is the American government has got the right to kill Americans. So let the message go out. We are now seeing a change in the situation, and the American government is saying not only can they do it in Bahrain, but they can do it to their own citizens.
Press TV: The Christian Science Monitor has spoken about the hypocrisy of the West getting involved in Libya, and not in Bahrain for example. It has spoken about how the people in countries like United Arab Emirates have not yet suffered large uprisings. Do you not think that is because the people in such countries enjoy high standards of living, making them happy with their lives?
Shakespeare: What we have here, regarding such countries, is a generation which is on the Internet. It is also democratic and demographic, because in the population of these countries you have a great number of young people who are educated, and who want their critical rights. So none of this is going away and we have to point out to the wider world -- to the Sunni world in particular which is being dishonored, and just letting this go without protest -- and to the non-Islamic world that this is ultimately about democracy. They are going to have to stand up and have the guts to fight their own governments and that includes my own government (UK), which is behaving quite disgracefully. We salute the Bahraini ambassador who organized the torture in Bahrain! That is the UK for you!
Press TV: In the West, it was understood that these revolutions within the region began because of the economics. Can it be argued that, at least, the revolutions and uprisings in the Persian Gulf nations were not economic even to begin with, but they were political?
Shakespeare: That is perfectly right. People in these ghastly autocratic torturing regimes have been suppressed for decades. And there has been a deal between the West and these regimes. It is how Britain used to run its empire. Basically, you make a deal with a local autocracy which is insecure and you back the autocracy and, in exchange, they do things for you.
And in this case, the autocratic regimes must give support, openly or secretly, to whatever Israel does. That is essentially what it is all about. But now the world is changing. The West opposition is racist, because it actually says you cannot trust the people of the Middle East with democracy.
Well, you can trust them but if you suppress them! Look at Saudi Arabia; culturally barren, but it has actually created one thing. It actually created al-Qaeda and that is what happens when you subject the people over a long time to vicious suppression. In the 19th century anarchism, the Russian state used to hang people and destroy them, and it created the vicious opposition. You have to have democracy, and in due cost, the Arabs will behave in exactly the same way as non-Arabs, and Muslims will behave in exactly the same way as non-Muslims.
Press TV: The Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has reportedly put forth a series of mega government-funded development projects to bring some normality to the country and to help the economy. Bahrain has always been known by the motto of “Business-friendly Bahrain.” Will this help normalize the situation in Bahrain?
Shakespeare: The Bahraini economy will go down the tubes in a matter of weeks. Any import of money will make no difference. Nobody, in their right mind, will want to do business in Bahrain. The reality is that it would simply be too risky. It would be too risky critically, and it would be too risky physically.
The people of Bahrain are peaceful. But when you have got police on the street, who would want to go there and do business? Who would want to go there for a holiday or for a weekend of relaxation? The only way to help the economy of Bahrain is that, in fact, you are going to have to have a democracy. Without that, the economy is down the tubes forever.
Press TV: Are we to understand that, within these nations, money does not buy loyalty for the government anymore?
Shakespeare: You can always buy people for a long time. But in this modern world, what sticks in the craw with people is when you are treated as a non-human because that is effectively what has happened, and that is the point at which people just say no. And that is now what is happening in the Persian Gulf. The Arab ..., I am afraid, is developing sectarianism. But the people are aspiring with dignity, and dignity means that you have a say and you are not treated and bullied by somebody else.
It means you have a say in your own future. Nothing will stop that. There may be victory for the forces of fascism in this period or in that period, but in the long run, it is the movement of history that America and my own country have got to come to terms with, because if they do not, they will lose totally. It is in their long-term interest to address the movement of history which is happening now.
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