Reblogged from Dr Mike Diboll:

Below is a doctor’s report on my mental health condition last year. If I suffered this through what I experienced, what must the mental health of the rest of Bahrain be like, those who have suffered worse for longer? Yesterday I posted the University of Bahrain’s 22nd June 2011 letter to me, rejecting my resignation letter of the previous May, arguing that I was in breech of contract due to my allegedly “political” and “sectarian” Internet activity, and unauthorized absence. The letter upbraided me for …

A very honest and brave post by my husband

Reblogged from Dr Mike Diboll:

Today I begin publishing correspondence relating to the dispute between myself and my former employers, the University of Bahrain. The rationale for this is: The correspondence shows the UoB to be in gross violation of international norms of academic freedom and best practice Exposing the UoB’s dealings with me might help others in Bahrain who have been victimized by the UoB but cannot speak out Exposing the UoB’s dealings with me should stand as a warning to any individual or Higher Education …

Reblogged from Dr Mike Diboll:

Here’s my contribution to Lord Avebury’s fact-finding session on Bahrain at the House of Lords seminar rooms on 14th February 2012. Lord Avebury is Vice Chairman of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group. The volume is a bit low as this was recorded on my wife’s IPhone:

Sorry for the poor sound, my phone did its best!

Reblogged from Dr Mike Diboll:

Below is “Travel Tickets”, by Palestinian poet Samih Qasim, “The day I am killed, my killer. . .will find travel tickets, one to peace. . .the other to the conscience of mankind”, so very apt to the situation in Bahrain, where millions of dinar are being spent on PR to ensure that the conscience of mankind the world over remains ignorant of the crimes of the Khalifa regime in Bahrain. How sad then, to see Samih Qasim, heir to the tradition of Mahmood Darwish, is scheduled to recite his poetry at …

Hypocrisy can be found in the most unlikely and disappointing of places:

He’s apparently the world’s best selling tenor and is loved all over the world. Even my dad loves him. Yes, its Andrea Bocelli. Then there’s Julio Inglesias, another housewife’s favourite who my dad also loves. I bet my dad wishes he was in Bahrain next month…or maybe not. He’s still hopping mad at the Al Khalifas.

Next month is the seventh Bahrain ‘Spring of Culture’ festival that is held in the preceding month before the F1. A smart move, to kick start Bahrain’s tourist season before it gets too hot. I have to admit, pre- uprising, I enjoyed some events at Arad Fort in 2008. Mind you, I wasn’t aware that there were people languishing in Jaw Prison at the time with electrodes attached to sensitive places. If I had been, it might have taken the sheen off the event a little.

This year promises to be bigger and better. The list of performers is huge and below our headliners Julio Inglesias on the 3rd of March and Andrea Bocelli on the 8th, we have poets such as Samih Al Qassim, from Palestine. His Wikipedia reveals a man who knows well about protest poetry and subsequent imprisonment. There’s also a video installation dedicated to Marmoud Darwish. Maybe Samih should have a chat with Ayat Al Qormozi, the 20 year old student and poet who was arrested for reading a revolutionary poem at Pearl Roundbout last year. Now she is free, I’m sure a discussion featuring  Samih and herself would be entertaining…

Then there are the events that are actually about the ‘Arab Spring’. It looks like the Economic Development Board did not want an elephant in the room, so we have ‘The Pros and Cons of the Arabic Spring’  a lecture by Egyptian Academic Dr Mustafi Al Fiqi. Then, please I can’t stop laughing at this one, ‘Is Arabic Media Capable of Achieving of Building the Truth?’ Fair enough, but coming from a country that spends vast amounts of money on PR to clean up its reputation in the media. Should be an interesting lecture, that one.

Then there’s music, lots of it. Don’t go to expect any ‘Down Down Hamad’, you can get that for free from the people that can’t afford the 40-60BD price tag for the big names. I don’t expect Fadheela Al Mubarak will be there either, I don’t see much revolutionary music on the agenda. Or this guy on stage.

However, there are some artists that have performed at previous ‘Springs’ who won’t be there. Marcel Khalife, the Lebanese oud player and composer has this statement on this website.

Some people have said that  Bocelli’s performance will be much needed in a depressed and troubled Bahrain. I wish it was that simple, but while the crisis continues his role is merely a pawn in the regime’s PR game while they take no serious steps toward reform.

Reblogged from MarcOwenJones:

3 weeks ago, a British PR and Strategic Communication firm called Dragon Associates forced the Guardian to take down an article from their Comment is Free section. Today the Guardian have put it back up. The article in question stated that the head of security at the BIC (Bahrain International Circuit) had been involved in torturing employees on the racetrack premises. Dragon Associates claimed that the article contained ‘considerable inaccuracies’. Despite this, the article has gone back up exactly the …

Brilliant post on the the Bahrain regimes PR strategies. Thanks Marc!

I remember going to bed with the happy memories of that day ringing around in my head, Pearl Roundabout had become a place of freedom and unity, all generations of Bahrainis had gathered there and many were sleeping overnight. I awoke in the morning to the sound of the azzan from the mosque nearby. Not unusual, but the timing was not quite right, the sun was already up and the call sounded distressed. I checked my phone and there were messages from friends to say that the roundabout had been violently attacked at dawn. I turned on the TV and saw the horror. Not long after, my housemaid arrived at her usual time and seemed her usual cheery self. A Sunni Sri Lankan, she never had much sympathy for the Shia Bahrainis after a teenage boy had yelled abuse at her a few years back. I tried to express my utter disgust at the actions of the Bahrain government but she had no sympathy. Already I could see the fault lines of sectarianism right there in my front room.

That morning was to be the presentation ceremony of the PCAP certificates at the University, of which Mike was a recipient. Unsure if it was still going ahead, we drove down to the campus. The highway was lined with police cars and checkpoints but we made it.

What really upset me was the ‘business as usual’ attitude at the university. The government had gone in and violently attacked its own people, leaving some dead and many injured yet nobody seemed to care.

A life changing moment for me for sure, Bloody Thursday, 17th February, will always be a day I’ll never forget.

Reblogged from Dr Mike Diboll:

“Tin Tin Tyntin” is a short toot on a car or air horn, or knock on the door or beat of a drum to the rhythm of “yasqat Hamad” (“Down, down Hamad), that signifies opposition to the regime. Such tooting is a crime there. Enjoy…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5Mnm6Ncwkg

A brilliant short film- I hope the producer enters it into some competitions.

Reblogged from Dr Mike Diboll:

Index on Censorship’s “Spotlight on 14th February” http://www.indexoncensorship.org/bahrainfeb14/ Here’s my contribution: THE DOWNSIDE TO INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS I worked in higher education in Bahrain at the College of Arts, University of Bahrain from 2007-2008, and at Bahrain Teachers College, University of Bahrain — founded in 2008 as a key part of the Crown Prince’s “Bahrain 2030 Vision” from 2008-2011 — where I was Academic Head of Continuing Professional Development, and was …