News / Interviews

Bahrain crackdown can’t stifle opposition: Analyst

Sunday, 14 February 2016 6:52 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 15 February 2016 12:07 PM ]

Bahraini protesters take part in a demonstration to mark the fifth anniversary of their uprising in Sitra, south of Manama, on February 12, 2015. ©AFP

Press TV has conducted an interview with Colin Cavell, former lecturer at the University of Bahrain from West Virginia, on the general strike in Bahrain ahead of the anniversary of a popular uprising in the Persian Gulf country.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: As Bahrainis take to the streets ahead of the anniversary of their uprising, no major mainstream news outlet is covering the plight of the Bahraini people and of course their call for democracy. How do you evaluate this hypocritical approach both by the media and the West?

Cavell: The Bahraini people, most of who are opposed to the dictatorial monarchy are very intelligent, very advanced culturally, intellectually and politically. And their protests have been peaceful since 2011.

This does not play into US media narratives of the angry Arab, the chaotic Arab, the idea that Arab culture is violent, the idea that the Arab culture is not peaceful, is not democratic and the Bahraini revolution has put a lie to all of the stereotypes.

The Bahraini people are resolute in their opposition to the Al Khalifa family dictatorship and they are very strong.

To give you an indication how strong they are, just last week the Bahraini [ambassador] to Britain suggested that Bahrain would send military forces to Syria and that was quickly counteracted by the Foreign Ministry and then the Bahraini ambassador in Britain had to deny his initial statement.

And why is that? Because they need all their mercenary troops, because there are no natives in the Bahraini Army and need mercenary troops to put down the people, to keep the people suppressed, to keep them away from any levels of power in Bahrain.

Press TV: During all these years since the beginning of the people’s revolution, more and more people have been arrested and tortured by the regime in a bid to cause it to die down. All in all, how much do you think the regime will succeed?

Cavell: You have all every opposition leader is in jail and yet the revolution continues, the protest continues, the opposition grows, international support for the Bahraini people grows.

So despite the Al Khalifa’s putting up these signs, saying that they’re ready for business and paying all public relations firms in the UK and in the United States to counter any negative publicity about Bahrain, everyone knows that Bahrain is a prison nation and that no one has any freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of belief, no political rights at all.

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