- Title: BAHRAIN: Residents speak of community divisions
- Date: 29th March 2011
- Summary: MANAMA, BAHRAIN (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ROAD DIVIDING ARAD VILLAGE; MOSTLY SUNNIS LIVING ON THE RIGHT AND MOSTLY SHI'ITES LIVING ON THE LEFT SIDE CLOSE OF SHOP ON THE ROAD VARIOUS OF ALLEYWAY ON SUNNI SIDE SHOP SIGNS CLOSE OF PEOPLE LEAVING HOME MEN FROM SHI'ITE PART OF THE VILLAGE SITTING IN A MAKE-SHIFT METAL SHACK MEN ENTERING SHACK VILLAGE RESIDENT MOHAMMED AL-ARADI READING NEWSPAPER POTS OF TEA / MEN SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) VILLAGE RESIDENT MOHAMMED AL-ARADI, SAYING: "The issue (of Sunni/Shi'ite friction) will eventually disappear. The young generation might be affected because of their relatively new experience, but we have confidence that once they go back to school, mix with others at school, on the street and in daily life, they will be able to overcome this hurdle, although what has happened leaves a bit of sorrow inside and it leaves a bitter feeling, for some." GRAFFITI ON WALL IN SHI'ITE PART READING (Arabic): "February 14th is the day when the oppressed rise above the oppressor." CLOSE OF WALL WALL GRAPHITE READING (Arabic): "Khalifa (the prime minister), we will not forget our martyrs." MOSQUE MINARET / STREET BELOW SHI'ITE RELIGIOUS EVENTS STALL WHERE WATER IS HANDED OUT TO PEOPLE AT ASHORA CLOSE OF WALL, PAINT RIPPED OFF AND GRAFFITI ON IT READING (Arabic): "Khalifa step down." MANAMA, BAHRAIN (MARCH 24, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VILLAS AND ROADS AT SUNNI-PART OF THE VILLAGE CLOSE OF FLOWERS AT ONE OF THE GARDENS MANAMA, BAHRAIN (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SUNNI COMMUNITY MEMBERS SITTING DOWN TALKING AT THE VILLAGE'S MAJLIS (COMMUNITY CENTRE) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) VILLAGE RESIDENT, MUBARAK IBRAHIM, SAYING: "When we realised that the operation is being steered by Iran or that it might become like what happened in Iraq, in terms of sectarianism, things changed after that, tensions increased and meetings were held about this. We became aware of it more." CLOSE OF HAND MOVING ROSARY VARIOUS OF MEN SITTING DOWN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COMMUNITY MEMBER, SAYING: "They have raised the ceiling of demands to very high, you either take our demands or we won't accept (they say). I mean I don't know what would happen if the demands weren't met, surely there would be civil war, which we fully reject." CLOSE OF MAN'S EYES MEN DISCUSSING VARIOUS OF ORNAMENTS IN THE ROOM
- Embargoed: 13th April 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Bahrain
- Country: Bahrain
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA75MJ75AZWGIP97SCFRHWKCV6K
- Story Text: In the wake of Bahrain forces' fierce crackdown on a month of protests, the main street parting Manama's quiet Arad suburb has suddenly become a great divide.
One elderly Shi'ite man who didn't want to be named or filmed said the road was once an ordinary street with Sunnis on one side and Shi'ites on the other, but now everyone is nervous.
Bahrain's U.S.-backed ruling Al Khalifa family, part of the Sunni minority, is eager to declare an end to the unrest.
State television shows people relaxing in cafes, saying they feel safe in the streets, now guarded by tanks and masked soldiers.
But to many in the tiny island kingdom, eyed closely by Sunni-ruled oil exporter Saudi Arabia and non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran, Bahrain has stepped back from the brink of chaos to find the delicate fabric that held society together has unravelled.
"The issue (of Sunni/Shi'ite friction) will eventually disappear. The young generation might be affected because of their relatively new experience, but we have confidence that once they go back to school, mix with others at school, on the street and in daily life, they will be able to overcome this hurdle, although what has happened leaves a bit of sorrow inside and it leaves a bitter feeling, for some," said Mohammed al-Aradi, a Shi'ite, sitting on a tattered chair in a makeshift metal shack where he and his friends while away the afternoon.
Seizing the momentum of uprisings that have swept the Middle East, mostly Shi'ite demonstrators took to the streets on Feb.14 and camped out in the main Pearl roundabout for weeks, sparking the worst unrest since the Shi'ite protests of the 1990s.
Bahrain forces razed the area last week, after stamping out protests and sporadic clashes that have killed around 20 people.
On the side of Arad that houses Sunnis and some wealthy Shi'ites, homes are freshly painted and the streets are tidy. On the Shi'ite side, many alleys are crumbling, and faded buildings are blotched with white paint covering anti-government graffiti.
Shi'ites make up about 60 percent of Bahrain's population, but Sunnis are over represented in key political positions, and Shi'ites say they get preference for jobs and services.
As the country became an important financial hub, their exasperation grew as many Sunnis and foreigners, who make up over half of Bahrain's 1.2 million people, grew wealthier.
Sitting around a living room in white robes sipping coffee, Sunni men in Arad say they are sympathetic to their Shi'ite neighbours, but calls for a constitutional monarchy makes them uneasy. They said democracy in sectarian Arab states had failed and that they worried about foreign intervention and Bahrain turning into Iraq.
"When we realised that the operation is being steered by Iran or that it might become like what happened in Iraq, in terms of sectarianism, things changed after that, tensions increased and meetings were held about this. We became aware of it more," said Mubarak Ibrahim
"They have raised the ceiling of demands to very high, you either take our demands or we won't accept (speaking about protesters). I mean I don't know what would happen if the demands weren't met, surely there would be civil war, which we fully reject," added another resident of the village.
Some analysts say the government may have created its own sectarian nightmare. In recent days, Bahrain said its forces, backed by the entrance of troops from Gulf Sunni neighbours, foiled a "subversive foreign plot" aimed at overturning the state. Many read that to mean Iran, just across Gulf waters.
Shi'ites are quick to downplay outside loyalties. They say pictures of Iraqi Shi'ite religious leaders or of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's Iran-backed Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, are just about religious association. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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