“It is always the same: once you are liberated, you are forced to ask who you are.” Jean Buardrillard. Jean Baudrillard in 2006, a year before his death aged 77 The “Arab Spring” that never happened? Bahrain’s “revolution of dignity”, March 2012: youths revel in the fresh air of liberation, the question of identity is … Continue reading
Miranda writes about our exile from Bahrain a year ago to the day on 21st March.
Regarding my recent piece “The Rape of Bahrain Polytechnic”, two interesting responses were posted by “Nick A. Harr” and “Virtual Hub”. As a proponent of openness, I do not usually respond in-depth to individuals who use pseudonyms rather than give their real names when they are in no apparent danger. However, since these two responses … Continue reading
Monday 19th March 2012 sees the resumption of the retrial of the University of Bahrain students sentenced to prison terms of up to 15 years for alleged crimes in relation to the 13th March 2011 incident. These young men must be freed if meaningful higher education has a future in Bahrain. This post suggests a … Continue reading
الدكتور مايك ديبول على مدى الأيام الثلاثة الماضية، قرأ 6,500 بحريني الرسالةَ المفتوحة التي كتبتُها إلى رئيس جامعة البحرين إبراهيم رسالتي المؤرخة في مارس/آذار 2012 هي: سيدي، إنني أكتب إليكم في الذكرى السنوية الأولى لأحداث العنف التي وقعت يوم 13 مارس/آذار 2011 في الحرم الجامعي بالصخير التابع لجامعة البحرين. وقد لجأت للكتابة إليكم علنا عبر … Continue reading
In a gesture of insult to the international higher education community, the Bahrain regime has chosen the anniversary of the University of Bahrain violence to complete its violation of Bahrain Polytechnic, established in 2008 when the Bahrain 2030 Vision still meant something to supply the kind of quality higher education that the criminally incompetent University … Continue reading
A vital aspect of the uprisings in the Arabic-speaking world is the GENERATIONAL aspect, the fact that the globally connected younger generation want and deserve so much better than the mediocrity of the corrupt and incompetent gerontocracy that’s typified by Bahrain’s current Prime Minister, 41 years continuously in unelected office since Britain allowed Bahrain to … Continue reading
Today has proved to be this blog’s most successful day yet in terms of hits, it’s 19.30 GMT here in Sussex, and so far 2,000 people have looked at my blog. Today is the first anniversary of the violent incident on-campus at the University of Bahrain which took place on 13th March 2011, and proved … Continue reading
Over the past week over 8,000 Bahrainis have read my open letter to Ebrahim al Janahi, President of the University of Bahrain. An Arabic version is also posted on this blog. My letter of Tuesday 13th March 2012 is as follows: Sir, I write to you on the first anniversary of the violent incident that took … Continue reading
With all it implies for access to accurate information, are we seeing a new Cold War, with on one side the (English-speaking) West and their proxies in the Middle East, Asia, and elsewhere, on the other side Russia, China, and the other emerging powers of Asia, Africa and Latin America? Just as the Western media … Continue reading
