Global Voices » Mona Kareem

Targeted by Kuwaiti Police, Stateless Video Blogger Calls it Quits

Mona Kareem — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 17:35:24 +0000

A video blogger known for documenting violence against stateless protesters in Kuwait has quit, writing on Twitter that authorities beat and coerced him to do so.

Under the nickname “حمقان البدون” meaning the “Angry Bedoon“, (Arabic for stateless), the blogger made a name for himself in his community for using footage of violence by riot police against stateless protesters to make videos on YouTube subtitled in English. Many of his videos were used by TV channels, being the only footage available documenting violence against stateless protesters.

His story was first reported by Alaan online newspaper with the title “The Bedoon's Minister of Information Resigns.” The move comes nearly three months after the arrest of activist Abdulhakim al-Fadhli, who is currently on hunger strike. Al-Fadli has been sentenced to two years in jail for using Twitter to organize and mobilize protests.

7mgan wrote the following tweets on February 11, 2013, biding farewell to cyber-activism:

لا أود الإسهاب بذكر ما حدث وحصل لي من قمع وضرب بسبب إحدى الجهات الحُكومية وتوقيعي على تعهدات وتبصيمي بعدم تصميم أي فيديو

@7MGAN: I do not want to elaborate in narrating what happened to me because of of repression and beating by one of the government bodies. They made me sign pledges to not make any more videos.

ويعلم الله بأني غيرت الأرقام السرية لقناة اليوتيوب منذ أسابيع وأنا مُغمض العينين لتبقى شاهدةٌ على ما حل بنا من ظُلم وقمع

@7MGAN: God is my witness to this: I changed the passwords to my YouTube channel with blind eyes weeks ago so it would stay an evidence to the injustice and oppression against us.

سامحوني يا بدون الكويت ! ويعلم الله أن الضغط فوق طاقتي فلقد وُضعت بزاوية ضيقة جداً وحمقان عاشق المظلومين لن ينساكم أبداً

@7MGAN: I hope the stateless of Kuwait would forgive me. This is out of my hand. I was put in a sensitive position but “the angry Bedoon, lover of the oppressed” will never forget you.

Kuwait: Stateless Activist Goes on Hunger Strike

Mona Kareem — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:17:04 +0000

On January 16, stateless activist Abdulhakim AlFadhli entered hunger strike in prison right after getting a two-year jail sentence. The court charged the activist with attacking a policeman in a protest last March. The activist stated that this charge, among others, is fabricated against him because of his political activism in demanding the rights of Kuwait's stateless community. AlFadhli was arrested earlier last month with his brother Abdulnasser AlFadhli, who was acquitted in the same case and released. Here is a translated excerpt of his statement, as published by Jadaliyya:

At 7p.m. on 16 January 2013, I officially announce from this freedom cell in Kuwait's Central Jail that I will go on an indefinite hunger strike in protest of the injustice and the cases fabricated unfairly against me by the security system. They are trying to destroy my life, reputation, future, and freedom. They are torturing me to force me to stop my activism for the cause of the stateless of Kuwait. I will not stop my hunger strike until: 1) I am released;
2) Cases fabricated against me are dropped; 3) The formation of a national nonpartisan committee to investigate cases of kidnapping, arrests, torture, and fabrications against activists, including my own case.
Most probably, this will be my last message to you for the time being as I am sure there will be repercussions after this message is released to the media and the public. I know I will be put into solitary confinement, away from the light of the sun and people, to punish me for exercising my right to defend my freedom through a hunger strike.

Right after his statement, the community protested in Taimaa area against the jail sentence. Here are some photographs from the protest shared on Twitter:

(Posted by @HumanRightsKW)

(Posted by @a_miyah)

A protester wearing a T-shirt with the activist's picture and his famous line “Do not give up your right” (posted by @robn_hod)

Twitter users in Kuwait have been posting messages of solidarity with AlFadhli. An account dedicated to human rights in Kuwait posted the following video in which AlFadhli was interviewed:

لهذا سجن عبدالحكيم الفضلي سنتين… تقرير عن قمع الكويتيين البدون وحديث لعبدالحكيم…

@rightskw: This video is why AlFadhli got two years in jail. It is a report about repression of Bedoon [stateless] in which Abdulhakim was interviewed

Stateless activist Ahmed AlAounan wrote:

يدخل معتقلنا البطل عبدالحكيم الفضلي يومه السادس من إضرابه عن الطعام وسط تردي وضعه الصحي وصمت مؤسسات المجتمع المدني صمود ياحر

@ahmedal3onan: Our detainee the hero Abdulhakim AlFadhli is entering his sixth day in hunger strike as his health condition gets worse and NGOs keep silent. Solidarity with this free man.

Another activist reported AlFadhli's health condition:

للتو تأكدت أن عبدالحكيم الفضلي سقط مغشياً عليه داخل الزنزانة وقام المساجين بطلب الامن وتم اسعافه الى عيادة السجن لاضرابة لليوم الخامس

@alnssar1: I just got confirmed news that AlFadhli fainted in his cell, other prisoners called the security, and he was taken to the prison clinic after 5 days of hunger strike.

وهو يعاني من آلام بسبب الاضراب الحاد وتحديداً في الكلى اليسرى وهو الان في عيادة السجن

@alnssar1: He suffers because of his hunger strike especially in his left kidney. He is still in the prison clinic.

Several others, reacting to the activist's health condition, called on him to stop his strike:

أنا فلاح الثويني .. أناشد عبدالحكيم الفضلي أن يتوقف عن الإضراب عن الطعام

@althuwaini: I am Falah AlThuwaini. I call on Abdulhakim AlFadhli to stop his hunger strike.

أناشد عبدالحكيم الفضلي أن يتوقف عن الإضراب عن الطعام نحتاج لأمثالك للدفاع عن القضية الانسانية الاولى

@Fatma_alhayyan: I call on Abdulhakim AlFadhli to stop his hunger strike. We need people like you to defend the no. 1 human rights cause here.

Another Twitter user wrote in solidarity:

كم موجع هذا الصمت ياشعب الكويت ! كم موجع هذا الصمت يامن تقرأ هذه التغريدة ! #عبدالحكيم_الفضلي في السجن ويؤلمه هذا الصمت وهو مضرب عن الطعام

@Nietzsche69k: How painful this silence is, Kuwaiti people! How painful this silence, you who read this tweet! Abdulhakim AlFadhli is in jail and is suffering in pain because of this silence as he hunger strikes.

After a few days, a Twitter user named “Anonymous Stateless” started a hashtag for AlFadhli's case:

@AnonStateless: #Kuwait #stateless activist @Hakeemq80 lost consciousness after 5 days of hunger strike. spread hashtag #SaveHakeem

Bahrain Police Attack on Woman Stirs Anger

Mona Kareem — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 14:18:54 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011/2013.

As Bahrain was pretending to be secure enough to hold a regional sports event, its security men were attacking a woman protester in the middle of Manama, the capital. Last July, Zahra Al-Shaikh was released from prison after being detained and tortured. She stated, in an interview with Bahraini journalist in exile Lamees Dhaif, that the police wanted to force her to work for them. This time, Zahra was arrested in a protest during the football tournament for Gulf countries, which was won by the UAE team. News, pictures, and videos of her arrest were circulated online on the day of the final game, on January 18.

Mohammed, a Bahraini Twitter user, tweeted what he witnessed:

@ba7rainiDXB: A woman is being beaten right in the middle of the capital #Manama by #Bahrain gov merc[enarie]s. Youth and men confronting them.

Online, many refer to the Bahrain police forces as mercenaries – in reference to the foreign security forces and riot police from other countries brought in to crush the unrest in the country.

Later on, the video of her arrest was posted showing a big number of riot police men surrounding her and dragging her as she screams and cries bleeding from her mouth (video posted by Duraz14):

Another video from a different angle tried to show how police men stripped her off her hijab. Men around were trying to stop the riot police. At the end of the video, a man confronts the police about the Hijab and the police man replies that it was her fault (posted by Mr14change)

Many pictures of Zahra were posted on Twitter but within hours, users deleted her pictures – which showed her without the hijab, out of respect. Instead, pictures with her hair blackened out were posted:

“@SafaMohammed: woman being arrested in #Manama #bahrain her head cover was taken off and her mouth bleeding!!”

On Twitter, Zahra's sister tweeted her news:

تم توقيف #زهرة_الشيخ وستعرض غدا على النيابة بعد إتهامها باﻹعتداء على رجال أمن وقذف رموزهم والخروج في مسيرة غير مرخصة

@ZAlshaikh_BH: Zahra AlShaikh was arrested and will see the public prosecution tomorrow facing charges of attacking police men and insulting their symbols and protesting illegally.

AlShaikh was not the only woman arrested. The names of other women arrested were later posted online [ar]:

النساء المعتقلات: #حليمة_الصباغ #زهرة_الشيخ، #حرائر_السيتي: زينب دهيم. خديجة عبد الناصر. فاطمة الجشي.عقيلة المقابي. فاطمة عبدالجليل

@iProtestor: Women arrested are Halima AlSabagh, Zahra AlShaikh, Zainab Dhaim, Khadija Abdulnasser, Fatma Aljishi, Aqila AlMiqabi, and Fatma Abduljalil.

Poet Aayat Alqormozi, who was previously arrested for reciting an anti-government poem at a protest, tweeted:

اعتقال #زهرة_الشيخ بتلك الوحشية أوجع قلوبنا .. مؤلم أن تكون في بلد يتبجح بحقوق المرأة وفي الوقت ذاته يطأ كرامتها برجله #Bahrain

@AayatAlqormozi: The arrest of Zahra Al Shaikh in such a brutal manner breaks the heart. It us painful to live in a country which shows off about women's rights when at the same time it crushes the dignity of women

In reaction, protesters in Nuwaidrat village threw molotov cocktails and blocked the road against riot police to protest the arrest and attack on AlShaikh (video posted by Nuwaidrat Feb):

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011/2013.

Kuwaiti Twitter User Jailed for Two Years for Insulting Emir

Mona Kareem — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:38:52 +0000

Seven months after the sentencing a Twitter user to five years in jail for defaming the Emir of Kuwait, another Twitter user Ayyad Al-Harbi was sentenced this Monday to two years in jail for the same charge. Al-Harbi wrote several tweets critical of the Emir and the oppression practiced against protesters. According to the court order (published by Sabr online), the tweets Ayyad was prosecuted for contain the following lines:

- Damn any ruler who jails his people. Damn any ruler that has more opposition than supporters.
- Your highness, the best unity between Kuwaitis happened in Erada square and you targeted it.
- What is left? no revolution, no development, no freedom, no dignity, no parliament, no voting, no protests, no objection, for God's sake, what are you doing to us?
- So I should either insult and accuse people of things with no proof and say it is freedom or I should say my account is hacked and get released?
- If you are not Kuwaiti, then you are from the Gulf. You will face the oppression and tyranny and arrests with a bit of oil.
- The tyrant and oppressor should not be apologized to, he should fall down and be on trial and jailed and killed.
- Curse the state that does not stop its dogs from eating the dignity of its people just because they are opposing.

Al-Harbi was also charged for retweeting a poem by Iraqi poet Ahmed Matar critical of dictators. The tweep also wrote a tweet when the Emir left to Jordan saying:

Since he left to Amman for fishing, the children sang for rain after the adults were singing “beating the people has become a norm.”

Right after his sentence was announced, Al-Harbi tweeted his last tweet:

أحبّــــّــّــك .. يا وطن !

@ayyadQ8Q8: I love you, my country!

Al-Harbi posted on the 6th of January that he is facing three charges:

غداً صباحاً النطق بمحاكمتي على تهم أمن الدولة ( الطعن بالذات الأميرية / نشر أخبار كاذبة بالخارج / إساءة إستخدام هاتف ) لا تحرمونا من دعائكم

@ayyadQ8Q8: Tomorrow morning, the court verdict on my case will be made regarding charges made by the state security: defaming the Emir, spreading false news abroad, and misusing a cellphone. Your prayers matter.

Twitter users from Kuwait and other countries wrote critically of having such a sentence that violates one's right to free speech. Ayyad's friend Hussain Al-Shammari posted Ayyad's picture with a comment:

قبل يومين أخرج لي عياد الحربي السلاح الخاص الذي حُكم عليه بالسجن بسببه ، كان عبارة عن 140 حرف وأحلام ممتدة للسماء !
“@Havana_H : Two days ago, Ayyad Al-Harbi showed me his special weapon which got him two years in jail.. it was 140 letters and dreams that reach the sky.”

Sabr online newspaper posted a picture of Ayyad's Kuwaiti passport in reaction to those accusing him of being Saudi citizen:

Egyptian activist Gamal Eid commented in solidarity:

صديقنا وزميلنا عياد الحربي من الكويت ، حتى أمس كان يغرد معنا ، والان اضيف لقائمة سجناء الرأي رقم جديد !!

@gamaleid: Our friend and colleague Ayyad al-Harbi from Kuwait was with us tweeting until yesterday and has become now a new number in the list of prisoners of conscience.

Monther alhabeeb, from Kuwait, who was arrested before in a protest, wrote a tweet after Ayyad's sentence and about the other detainees in Kuwait Rashed Al-Enizi and Salam Al-Rujaib, who were arrested in the latest opposition rally, and Bedoon [stateless] activist Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli:

كل دقيقة لكم في الزنازين تستنشقون بها حريتكم، هي تمر علينا كالساعات نتجرع بها الإنكسار. الحربي العنزي الرجيب الفضلي

@Montheralhabeeb: In every minute passing while you're in jail, you breathe your freedom. Those minutes pass like hours for us as we taste grief.

Jailed Kuwait Stateless Activist Tweets Torture Ordeal

Mona Kareem — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 19:35:51 +0000

Over the past two years, people outside the Gulf, have been exposed to the issue of statelessness in the region as the Bedoon (which translates to without in Arabic) communities protest for their rights to education, health, employment, and most importantly, their right to citizenship. The Bedoon of Kuwait have been the most outspoken in the Gulf, protesting in their areas to raise awareness for their plight. More than 230 of them have been arrested and charged with illegal protesting since the Arab Spring started.

Last October, Kuwait witnessed one of the biggest Bedoon protests on the international day of non-violence. In that protest, in Taimaa area, a protester named Abdullatif Ajil Al-Shammari was shot in the eye and is trying right now raising money for a surgery that might save his eye in France. The same protest was mainly organized by prominent Bedoon activist Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli, who is now in Kuwait's Central jail.

Picture of activist Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli in court (posted by @7raak)

According to Bedoon Rights, the activist was arrested after his brother Abdulnasser was taken. The website published this picture of a protest in Taimaa on the 12th of December that called for the release of the Al-Fadhli brothers.

Bedoon protesting for the freedom of the two activists – Bedoon Rights

Jail and Deportation!
According to their lawyer, Bedoon Rights reports that the brothers were taken after a court verdict of “two years in jail and a deportation order” was issued against them. The verdict was made in absentia for case number 357/2012, which accused them of attacking a policeman in a protest last March. The policeman has actually cancelled the case against the two activists but authorities pushed the case to punish the two activists for their leading role in organizing protests in the past two years.

Tweeting about Torture
On December the 13th, Abdulhakim Al-Fadhli's account on Twitter had new updates about the way he and his brother were arrested. Al-Fadhli spoke also of the way they were arrested. It seems that Al_Fadhli is tweeting his ordeal and that of his brother's – from jail.

Here are the tweets:

‏عاجل عاجل/من داخل السجن المركزي صباح الخير بعد قليل سأقوم بكتابة تفاصيل ماحدث معي انا وأخي عبدالناصر وكيفية اعتقالنا وماتعرضنا له من تعذيب!

@Hakeemq80: Urgent from the Central jail: Good morning, in a bit, I will write to you the details of what happened to me and my brother Abdulnasser and how we were arrested and tortured.

اولا سأحكي تفاصيل اختطاف أخي تم اختطاف عبدالناصر في يوم الأحد مساءا واعترضته سيارات المباحث في صباح السالم وكان عددهم أكثر من ٨ أشخاص

@Hakeemq80: First I will write how my brother was kidnapped on Sunday evening (9th of December) and was blocked by state police cars in Sabah AlSalem area. The police men were more than eight.

وقاموا شبيحة الحمود بأنزال أخي من مركبتة وقيدوه بالكلبشات واقتادوه الى مخفر الصليبية وهناك قاموا بتعذيبة وضربة لرفضه اعطاهم معلومات عني

@Hakeemq80: The thugs of [interior minister] Al-Humood got my brother out of his car, handcuffed him and took him to Sulaibiya police station and tortured him there and beat him to give them information about me.

ومارسو معه جميع ادوات التعذيب من (شواية وفلقه) وشددو بضربهم على اماكن حساسه بجسمه لمدة ٢٤ ساعة ومنعوا عنه الاكل والشراب

@Hakeemq80: They tortured him with different methods such as burning and falaqa. They also focused on beating him in sensitive parts of his body for 24 hours and did not allow him to eat or drink.

وبعد ما اسأت حالة أخي عبدالناصر الصحية من قبل شبيحة احمد الحمود لتعذيبهم له قاموا بتحويله الى مباحث الجنائية وهناك اتضح أن عليه حكم سنتان

@Hakeemq80: When my brother Abdulnasser's health deteriorated because of all the torture, AlHumood's thugs took him to the criminal investigations where he was told that he has a two years jail sentence.

قاموا بتحويله الى السجن المركزي وهو الان بجانبي حالته الصحية سيئة من شدة الضرب والتشوهات الكثيره في جسمه من كثرة التعذيب الذي مارسوها معه

@Hakeemq80: He was sent to the Central Jail and now he is next to me in a bad shape because of the beating and has different deformed areas in his body because of the torture.

والأن سأحكي لكم تفاصيل اختطافي تمت مراقبتنا منذ خروجنا من الاعتصام الذي كان في تيماء يوم الثلاثاء لحين وصولنا الى النفق اللي بصليبية

@Hakeemq80: Now I will write details of how I got kidnapped. I was tracked since I left the protest in Taimaa on Tuesday until we got to the tunnel in Sulaibiya area.

وبعدها دخلنا النفق وقاموا بتسكير النفق علينا من امامنا وخلفنا بمركباتهم ونزلوا علينا حاملين أسلحتهم وقاموا بأنزالنا من مركبتنا

@Hakeemq80: We got into the tunnel and they closed the tunnel from the front and back with their cars. They came to us with their guns and took us from our car.

واسقطونا ارضاً ووضعوا أسلحتهم على رؤوسنا وقاموا بتكبيلنا وربطوا عيوننا “بالشماغ” ومن ثم توجهوا بنا الى مخفر الصليبية وهناك مارسو معي الضرب

@Hakeemq80: They put us on the ground, pointed their guns to our heads, handcuffed us and blindfolded us, and took us to Sulaibiya police station and beat me there.

والتعذيب لعدم تسليم نفسي والتحريض المتكرر للاعتصاماتنا وقالوا لي حرفياً ( راح نوديك ورا الشمس ) !! ولكن اراهن عليكم

@Hakeemq80: They tortured me for not turning myself in and for calling for protests. They told me “we will send you behind the sun” [a police expression in Arabic for threatening extreme punishment]. But I count on you.

ولكن اراهن عليكم يا أخوتي وعزوتي “البدون” بأنكم ماراح تخلون حقكم وأستمروا بحراكم السلمي ولا توقفكم تهديدات الاجهزة القمعية وترهيبهم لكم

@Hakeemq80: I count on you my Bedoon brothers. I bet you will not let go of your right and that you will keep your peaceful struggle. Do not let police oppression scare you.

The activists are set to meet a judge on the 26th of December for an appeal.

Bahrain: Mahazza Village Still Under Siege

Mona Kareem — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 06:45:47 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011/2012.

For almost a month in Bahrain, the village of Mahazza in Sitra has been under a security siege by the country's Interior Ministry. With the absence of free media in the country, citizen journalism, once again, was the only means of getting reports on what was happening on the ground. Through Facebook and Twitter, Bahrainis have posted their rallies in support of Mahazza and shared information about raids on houses and many arrests. In an event in solidarity with Mahazza, Al-Wefaq opposition bloc stated on December 2, 2012, that there have been more than 90 arrests and around 330 house raids until that date. The numbers have gone up since then.

Protesting the Siege
After a series of raids on houses and illegal arrests, the residents of Mahazza decided to be in an open protest as their village fights the security siege. On November 29, this video shows an attack with tear gas by the riot police against the residents of the village (posted by RevolutionBahrain):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5mfuzmsrUk

In return, villages around Bahrain held their protests in solidarity with Mahazza. This video was posted by nabihsalehmedia on YouTube showing the residents of Nabih Saleh protesting and chanting “Down with Hamad” – Hamad being the name of the king of Bahrain. The video also shows riot police throwing tear gas on protesters:

This picture shows women in Mahazza protesting the siege:

Posted by “Mahazza village Network” on Facebook

Another protest took place in Bilad Al-Qadeem

Posted by @BiladAlQadeem

In Sanad, protesters burned tires and blocked Istiqlal street in protest of the siege on Mahazza and against the trial of opposition figures:

Posted by @taha9988

Solidarity on Twitter
Through Twitter, a “media campaign” was launched to generate attention to what is happening in Mahazza. This poster circulated online declared a week of solidarity with the Bahraini village starting on December 2.

(Posted by @ModmorSupport)

The following pictures were posted to give information about the situation in Mahazza:

Posted by @AlModmor

The picture states that posters have been posted on walls in Bahrain regarding the media solidarity week with Mahazza:

Posted by @Tailos0

Cartoonist Ali AlBazaz posted this work on Twitter mocking the Bahraini regime and its way of applying international recommendations to respect human rights:

Posted by @bazzaz32

Continuous Arrests
Since early November, Bahrainis have been sharing the pictures of the first detainees of Mahazza who have been arrested weeks ago and there is still no official information is given about them. To emphasize the illegality of arrests, the detainees are considered to be “kidnapped” since they have been taken with no legal orders and their families are still hoping for news. Here's the most shared picture of the first five detainees:

Posted by @Feb14Media

Another shared picture was of this young girl who is the daughter of Talib Ali, one of the five detainees. Her sign says “Where is my dad?” and the writing on her cake reads “Will I celebrate my birthday without you dad?”

Posted by @a7rar_sitra

After the recent visit of the United Nations Human Rights Council to Bahrain, activist Said Yousef Almuhafda from Bahrain Center from Human Rights, wrote on Twitter:

و نطالب وفد المفوضية بالضغط على النظام من اجل الكشف عن المختطفين من قرية مهزة و السماح للمعتقلين المرضى المحرومين من العلاج بحقهم في العلاج

‏

@SAIDYOUSIF: We demand the UNHRC to pressure the regime to unveil information about those kidnapped from Mahazzaa village and to allow the injured detainees to get their right to medication.

With no political solution on the table, protests and security crackdowns continue.

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011/2012.

Anonymous Twitter Account Leads Major Protests in Kuwait

Mona Kareem — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 08:52:21 +0000

After witnessing its biggest protest, the anonymous organizers of the “Dignity March” called for another one. Tens of thousands showed up in the areas of Mishref and Sabah Al-Salem protesting the Kuwaiti ruler's amendment of the voting law, which now allows a citizen to vote for one candidate instead of four. Protesters did not find the Amir's decree constitutional and believe the new law is made to play with the coming elections in December and to weaken the opposition that won most of the parliament's seats earlier this year. Like the previous march, Sunday's [Nov. 4, 2012] protest witnessed smoke and tear gas bombs and several arrests of protesters, who were later released.

Who is leading the protests?
In the past few years, protests were criticized because they were led by opposition MPs. Lately, the youth tried to be the leaders of those protests. This shift got bigger numbers to show up for those dignity marches. What is interesting though is that an anonymous Twitter account is the one deciding dates of both marches and the meeting points.
The account @KarametWatan [Arabic for Dignity of a Nation] tweeted a message on the 24th of October to Twitter not to revel their identity to the Kuwaiti authorities:

We the people of Kuwait ask you to protect the privacy of our account details of @karametwatan from all/any officials seeking the information of the owners and/or IP addresses of the persons using and posting from the mentioned account. We are responsible for the organization of a march called “Dignity of a Nation” in Kuwait, the largest ever march in the history of Kuwait calling for democracy, human rights, and fight against corruption. The turn-out reached over 150,000 (around 11.5% of citizens of Kuwait) that stunned the government. In return the government ordered their forces to attack the peaceful demonstration in a brutal manner that was never been seen before for no reason. Over 100 people were injured and over 50 were detained in an unlawful manner. We do not feel safe and your protection of our privacy is pivotal.

In a comment on having a Twitter account organizing those major marches, Hamad Al-Sabah wrote:

@hmalsabah: Am I the only one that is uneasy about the fact that thousands of people in #Kuwait are obeying the commands of some anonymous Twitter acct?

Should Bahrainis support Kuwaitis?
Considering the sectarian remarks and support of Kuwaiti opposition figures for the Bahraini regime against the February 14th revolution, the Shia of Kuwait do not want to protest next to the opposition. This, in result, influenced the Shia of Bahrain and started a discussion on whether Bahrainis should or should not support Kuwaiti marches. In comment on this topic, Bahraini Human Rights Defender Maryam AlKhawaja wrote:

@MARYAMALKHAWAJA: yes, i support anyone with righteous demands regardless of whether they support mine or not.

@MARYAMALKHAWAJA: there r many of whom supported the bahrain protests who r taking part in the kuwaiti protests as well. but thats not the point

Another Bahraini activist, Ahmed Al-haddad, from the European-Bahraini Organization for Human Rights wrote [ar]:

اذ كنت تعتقد بأن لك الحق بتصوير الحراك الكويتي على أنه أخونجي وطائفي اذا يحق لغيرك تصوير حراكك بالشيعي الطائفي

@DiabloHaddad: If you think you have the right to consider the Kuwaiti struggle as of Muslim Brotherhood and sectarian, then others have the right to consider yours [Bahraini struggle] as Shia and sectarian too.

Other objections
Aside from the sectarian conflict, there were others who showed objection to the current protests. Hamad Al-Sabah, who thinks the coming parliament can solve this crisis instead of protests, tweeted:

@hmalsabah: Let me reiterate that I believe that the protesters have a just cause, but I don't support their methods. It can easily be solved peacefully

In reply, Fawaz Al-Matroud wrote:

@FawazAM: people often mistake mob rule and political freedom. Just because lots of people break the law together, doesn't make them right.

As for blogger “His & Hers”, he tweeted:

@HisHersQ8: The Amir has a point when it came to illegal protests. Democracies all around the world stops any illegal protests

Liberal tweep Khaled AJaser tweeted:

@k_jaser: i hope the stockpile of tear gas & sound bombs are limitless here in #Kuwait for there is no other way of dealing with this lawlessness.

Pictures and videos of the protest

Crowds getting tear gassed (posted on Twitter by @Fajoor)

Picture of security vehicles heading towards protesting points (posted by blogger alziadiq8)

One of the protesters with her sign (posted by blogger alziadiq8)

And this photograph, which was shared far and wide, showing a protester, helping a security personnel, who was effected by the tear-gas:

Picture of a protester helping a security man who was effected by tear gas (posted by @AboShla5Libraly)

Footage of the protest in Mishref area (posted by saad971)

Another footage showing bombs, injuries, and marches (posted by 7eyad)

Video of the protest in Sabah Al-Salem area (posted by KharjAlsrb)

Did Jordanians crackdown on Kuwaitis?
Weeks ago, an anonymous Twitter user named Mujtahidd tweeted about Jordan sending troops to repress Kuwaiti protesters. The popular and controversial Twitter user got Salafi MP Walid AlTabtabai to tweet the news. Yesterday, in the protest, former MP and opposition frontman Musalam Al-Barrak gave a controversial speech. The MP was jailed last week for defaming the Amir but got released in two days due to the big protests that took place in his support.

In this video, Al-Barrak says: “Security men are our brothers. If they beat you, do not react. But if they are Jordanian or Palestinian security men, then we will step on them.”

In reaction, Jordan's foreign ministry made a statement denying the accusations.

The Amir's reply
Due to the major protests, people were expecting the Amir to take back his decree that stirred all those marches. However, the Amir made a speech on Monday stating that he will not take his decision back and that he leaves it for the coming parliament to amend the voting law. He also added that he has the support of GCC countries in keeping the security of his country. Here's the video of his speech (posted by blogger AlZiadiq8)

Kuwait: The Country's Biggest Protest?

Mona Kareem — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 08:05:48 +0000

Tear gas and stun grenades were used to disperse a protest in Kuwait against changes to the electoral law. The call for the Karamat Watan (A Nation's Dignity) march, which took place on Sunday, was made on Twitter, and attracted about 150,000 out of the country's population of 3 million. Media outlets considered this number to be the biggest in the small Gulf emirate's history.

The protest came in reaction to the Amir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah decree to change the electoral law, making a citizen vote for one candidate instead of four, as it used to be in the elections of Kuwaiti parliament. The protest was not only an objection for making such a change but more importantly to protest the change of a law without the parliament or the people having their say in it. Since last June, Kuwaiti parliament has been frozen by the Amir and then dissolved by the constitutional court for ‘wrong procedures’ in dissolving the parliament before it.

The opposition has been protesting since but was never able to gather such a huge crowd; even the liberal “Tahalof” and Pan-Arabist “Manbar” took part in Sunday's demonstration despite their disagreement with the Islamist-Conservative opposition.

In a unique step, this demonstration was organized through Twitter. The account @KarametWatan [ar] (which translates to A Nation's Dignity) was started to call for the protest. It suggested an orange avatar (in reference to the 2006 youth movement that changed the electoral law from 25 districts to 5), and organized the meeting points with the following map:

The protest route shared by @KarametWatan on Twitter

As usual, Kuwaitis used Twitter to post pictures and videos of the protest. Here are some of the pictures:

On Twitter, @NforNaser says the police asked him to drop this sign or else they would beat him up. The sign reads: Believe in the people; disbelieve in the system.

Picture of the crowds marching posted by @nourah_ibrahim

A protester with a head injury (photo posted by @BuNaWaFF)

Another injured protester with his feet cuffed (posted by @3asalaswad)

Protesters running away from tear gas bombs (posted by @JanarlySpeaking)

To show the numbers, crowds, and chants, this video was posted on YouTube by Q8jo7a:

Here is another video of the crowds marching, from a distance, posted by jozifanto:

Blogger Alziadi posted this video showing protesters running from the tear gas bombs:

On Monday [Oct 22], Sabr Online Newspaper reported that all detained protesters have been released:

@Sabrnews: عاجل/ إطلاق سراح جميع معتقلي مسيرة “كرامة وطن

Urgent: All those arrested in the Nation's Dignity march have been released

Kuwait: Shotgun Used Against Stateless Protesters

Mona Kareem — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 06:49:22 +0000

On the International Day of Non-Violence (2 October, 2012), the stateless community of Kuwait decided to protest to demand their right to citizenship. The community has been protesting, on and off, since February 2011. Over the past two years, the self-acclaimed ‘Gulf democracy’ has arrested more than 200 protesters, put them on trial, fabricated charges against them, and then acquitted them.

This Tuesday, the protest was different as it attracted more than 3,000 protesters, foreign media, and several NGOs.

In the past weeks, the protesters were way smaller, comparatively, of a community estimated to be about 120,000 of Kuwait's 3 million population. Bedoon translates to without, and in this case refers to Kuwaitis with no official documents like passports and ID cards.

According to Bedoon Rights, the security forces used rubber bullets, smoke bombs, tear gas, sound bombs, and for the first time shotguns. Confirmed news say Abdulatif Al-Nabhan was shot in his eye and has a little chance to rescue it right now. Here are different pictures posted by Bedoon and Kuwaiti netizens online:

Picture of a security man pointing his shotgun towards protesters

One of the Bedoon protesters getting arrested (posted by @Mohd_AlSalem)

Different pictures of injuries caused by rubber bullets (posted by @YaqoobAbdualla)

One of the signs held in the protest (posted by @Mohd_AlSalem)

Gas canisters and rubber bullets (posted by @HAlshammri)

Bedoon protester head-injured (posted by @FawazFarhan)

Picture of the weapon used to fire teargas against protesters (posted by @Montheralhabeeb)

Pro-bedoon Kuwaiti activist Hussain Al-Khaldi getting arrested (posted by @faisalalmana)

Rubber bullets used against protesters (posted by @AleradaNews)

This video (posted by 7MGAN) puts together a 15 minute footage of the Bedoon protest:

In response to criticism, the Interior Ministry issued a statement on Tuesday night accusing the Bedoon of the following:

1- Distracting the work of the Central Agency through social media and making false accusations against this governmental body 2- Causing problems in the country in abuse of the crisis that the country is going through 3- Rioting, violence, and calling for an illegal protest 4- Vandalism, blocking traffic, and starting fires in public and private properties 5- Risking the lives of citizens 6- Attacking security men and 7- Vandalizing ambulances and throwing stones on them and on security men.

Bahrain: ‘Boycott the Olympics’

Mona Kareem — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:29:03 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics and Bahrain Protests 2011/12.

The son of the King of Bahrain, Prince Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa is the front man of Bahrain's sports; not democratically chosen but appointed like the rest of his family, who are in power.

The young man gained fame after the February 14 uprising last year, when he allegedly personally tortured many Bahraini athletes, who joined the ranks of protesters at massive demonstrations, demanding political change in the country.

Nasser used Twitter during the uprising, tweeting under his real name, threatening to extract revenge from those who are anti-regime. When campaigns started to call for his elimination from the London Olympics, he deleted his tweets.

66,254 followers and zero tweets. All tweets deleted last month when the prince was afraid to be banned from London for torture allegations.

Last November, ESPN created a big fuss by revisiting the issue of Bahrain's detained and tortured athletes. In the video, the athletes speak of losing their spots in their teams, being detained, severely humiliated as traitors, having their Shia beliefs insulted, and personally tortured by the Prince.

Arrest the torturer

At the opening ceremony of the Olympics, an activist [note: identity anonymous for safety reasons] tweeted this picture of Nasser Bin Hamad with the Foreign minister of Bahrain:

Anonymous: The guy front right with the red tie. VIP at the #Olympics. He's a torturer. Of athletes. Prince Nasser of #Bahrain.

Bahrainu Citizen commented:

@Bahrainycitizen: Nasser Bin Hamad was personally involved in torture of detainees and today is allowed to attend the opening ceremony #Olympics

Tweep Kenneth Lipp noted:

@kennethlipp: I hear the Bahrain royal family is attendant at the Olympics. Any civilized nation would have them immediately arrested.

Iraqi activist Khalid Ibrahim tweeted:

@khalidibrahim12: No doubt to invite a torturer fr #Bahrain by the gov of #Uk is against all the ethics and principles on which the #Olympics has been set up.

In return, Bahraini human rights activist Maryam Alkhawaja (daughter of imprisoned opposition figure Abdulhadi Alkhawaja) called for boycotting the Olympics:

@MARYAMALKHAWAJA: RT if u agree: I'm boycotting #olympics2012 bcz despite being given evidence, #UK n #Olympics allowed alleged torturer of #Bahrain to attend

The athletes don't represent us

Only three of Bahrain Olympic athletes are born to Bahraini parents. Image by @Ali_Milanello on Twitter.

Another reason for calls to boycott the Olympics are the number of naturalized athletes in the squad. During the opening ceremony, many Bahrainis tweeted those athletes have been naturalized and have no relationship to Bahrain whatsoever except holding the nationality to represent the country in games and get paid for it.

This issue is controversial in Bahrain considering how those athletes come to replace “unwanted” Bahraini athletes and because of ‘political naturalization’ that has been long practiced by the government to expand its base of supporters and to employ them in security forces.

In a comment, Bahraini Ala'a Al Shehabi tweeted:

@alaashehabi: No joy as we watch the #Bahrain #Olympics team with one token Bahraini (rest naturalized)-our heart sinks for over 20 imprisoned athletes

With sarcasm, Bahraini blogger Amira Al-Hussaini wrote:

@JustAmira: Almost all our #Bahrain #Olympics team was born in Ethiopia and Kenya. Didn't realise we had such a large Bahraini community there!

She also added:

@JustAmira: Would be great for #Bahrain if there was a competition in #teargassing at the #Olympics

Similarly, pro-regime Twitter user @ATEEKSTER [ar] wrote to criticize anti-regime protesters:

حسافة والله الأولمبياد ماعندهم لعبة “رمي المولوتوف” جان عن خاطرنا ضمنا الميداليه الذهبيه

@ATEEKSTER: Too the bad Olympics doesn't have a sport for “Molotov throwing”, we could have won the golden medal in that.

Tala responded to him saying:

@Taltool11: what about the game of using live bullets to see if you die when I shoot you

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics and Bahrain Protests 2011/12.

Kuwait: Stateless Community Continues Protesting

Mona Kareem — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 11:07:50 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Refugees.

The stateless community in Kuwait (Bedoon) has been protesting for their rights to documents and citizenship since February 2011. The community has been denied, for more than two decades, their rights to health care, education, employment, and all legal documents.

Regularly, the community protests in their isolated areas in Taimaa and Sulaibiya, resulting in countless arrests despite the fact that Kuwait's courts have been acquitting protesters constantly. This Friday, the Bedoon protested again as riot police arrested 12 of them; an action that made the community to continue to protest on Saturday and Sunday too.

Friday protest

Like many other protesters in the Arab World, Bedoon use Twitter to inform the world of the oppression practiced against them. Some Kuwaiti monitors and activists were at the protests too, using Twitter as the only medium to report violations. On Friday afternoon, Kuwaiti human rights monitor Maryam Shah posted this picture before the start of the protest showing riot police vehicles approaching Taimaa area.

The account of “Human Rights News” tweeted this low quality picture of Bedoon journalist Abdullah Mayah getting arrested:

Kuwaiti monitor Hanan tweeted the following updates from the protest:

@Hananesque: Sound and gas grenades were thrown at the stateless protestors in Taima in order to disperse them.

@Hananesque: Security forces randomly arrested three men that were standing in front of Burger King at Taima. ‪

The Bedoon Rights group was also tweeting updates live from the protest. Here are some of the tweets:

@BedoonRights: Taimaa police station is not taking any cases against police men who attacked protesters, says lawyer Mohammed AlOtaibi

@BedoonRights: You can clearly see that authorities gave clear orders to the mercenaries of media to work their propaganda against Bedoon today

Bedoon journalist @AhmedBinsalem posted this TV screenshot of a Bedoon woman getting water cannoned by riot police:

YouTube user ALZIADIQ8 posted this TV report showing Kuwaiti woman activist Fatma Al-Mattar telling her story of how a riot policeman attacked her during the protest as she was trying to stop him from beating a young Bedoon protester:

In reaction, Bahraini prominent activist and head of Gulf Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab tweeted [ar]:

اعتقالات نشطاء فئة البدون في الكويت‬ الشقيقة واقتحام منازلهم هو عمل غير انساني لن ينهي ازمتهم التي تحتاج لتصحيح وليس لتصعيب وتعقيد ‎‪

@NABEELRAJAB: Arrests of Bedoon activists in Kuwait and breaking in their houses are inhuman acts that won't solve their crisis which needs reform and not complication.

The deputy director of Gulf Center for Human Rights @khalidibrahim12 also tweeted in reaction:

@khalidibrahim12: No nationality no future no jobs no basic rights. That is the exact situation of the Bedoon in ‪#Kuwait‬ so they have every right to protest.

Bedoon Activist Ahmed AlFadhli (‏@ahmad_xavi) tweeted this picture of Ahmed Najm, one of the Bedoon detainees who was beaten when he gave himself in to policemen:

Bedoon vlogger 7MGAN posted 15 minutes footage of the Friday protest on YouTube:

On Saturday, as “Bedoon Rights” reported, police cars ran over two protesters, one of whom was 16 years old:

It was shocking for protesters to see riot police chasing them with their cars and actually run over two protesters. 16 year old Khaled Obaid Fadhel Al-Enizi was ran over by police and was taken to Jahraa hospital immediately. The state security police interrogated the bedoon teenager and his brother saying “who made you protest? why did you protest with those Shia?”. On Sunday, Al-Enizi was released when his family decided not to submit a complaint. As for the other protester who was run over by a police car, he immediately escaped without reporting the incident in fear of getting arrested.

This post is part of our special coverage Refugees.

Oman: Arrests of Rights Activists Continue

Mona Kareem — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 08:05:45 +0000

Oman is one of the countries that international media and organizations pay little attention to. Since the start of the so-called Arab Spring at the beginning of 2011, Oman witnessed several protests calling for reforms in salaries, the judiciary, and political representation.

Last week a Twitter hashtag showed up with the name of three detainees #اسماعيل_حبيبة_يعقوب. They are the former Oman volleyball player Habiba Al Hinai and activists Esmail Al Muqbali and Yaqoub Al Kharusi. The activists were arrested following their visit to Fahoud oil fields last Thursday to show solidarity with the striking Omani workers from contracting companies, who were commissioned to complete a project for two oil companies in the country. According to Gulf News, the strike has been termed illegal and workers have been asked to report back by around nine contracting companies. The workers have been warned they could risk losing their jobs if they continued the strike, in which they were demanding better wages, risk allowance and provision of pensions.

The three detained activist: Habiba, Esmail, and Yaqoob (posted by detained blogger Nabhan Al-Hinshi)

Two Released, Bloggers Arrested
Six days ago, Al Hinai and Al Kharusi were released without activist Esmail Al Muqbali. Those arrests are not the only ones and they follow other arrests of the Omani human rights activists such as Khalfan Al-badawawi, who was one of the organizers of Sahar March 2011 protests, and blogger Ishaq Al-aghbari, who was arrested for criticizing authorities. Both detainees were not allowed access to their lawyers or family visits and their charges are not known yet, according to Watan online newspaper.

Mainstream media is not covering those arrests and social networks come as the only source to keep track of the arrests. According to the Gulf Discussion Forum page on Facebook, six more arrests took place this Friday. Those arrested are blogger Hassan Al-Raqishi, writer Humood Al-Rashdi, blogger Nabhan Al-Hinshi, poet Hamad Al-Khrousi, Ali Al-Saadi, and Ali Al-Haji.

Following is one of the videos circulating online is of protesters and activists who have been detained since the protests first started last year (uploaded by user newoman2011):

Hunger Strike
One of the detainees, Hilal Al-Alawi, was sentenced to two years in jail for possessing a gun and for calling for protests. He went on hunger strike with other political prisoners two weeks ago and he stitched his mouth in protest. The stitches have since been removed and Al Alawi ended his hunger strike on Friday, according to the same Facebook page.

Detained activist Hilal Al-Alawi

What's next?
One of the Facebook pages active in following the news of detainees posted the following photograph of a protester carrying a sign which reads: “Will the public prosecution put all of Oman's youth on trial?”:

Only time will answer this question.

Saudi Arabia: Protests to Free Detainees Held Without Trial

Mona Kareem — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 20:59:18 +0000

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is believed to have thousands of detainees who were not allowed access to trials and many of them do not even know their charges. The families of detainees have been working the past months through social media to spread the word and have finally decided to take their cause to the street. @e3teqal, an account on Twitter, published information about the protest right before it started to avoid a heavy security turnout.

Days before the protests, the account posted this invitation which showed drawings of detainees the way the Palestinian prisoners were symbolized in a late social media campaign:

The account also posted a photograph confirming the participation of the detainees’ children in the protest:

The protest happened in Sahara Mall in the capital Riyadh and another took place in Al-Qasim region. Those are few pictures of the Riyadh protest posted by the same Twitter account mentioned above:

This picture from Al-Qasim protest was posted by @e3teqal too:

Sign reads: Haila Al-Qasir was sentenced to 15 years in jail for calling for justice, is that fair? We stand in solidarity with our brothers in Riyadh; we could not come because our male guardians are in jail.

A few videos of the protests were posted on YouTube by user islamicps07. Here are two of them:

News of arrests was published online soon after the protests.

Also read:

Saudi Arabia: “Release Our Detainees or Put Them on Trial!”

Bahrain: Where is Abdulhadi Alkhawaja?

Mona Kareem — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 10:34:24 +0000

For some days there has been no news of imprisoned Bahraini human rights activist and opposition leader Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, who has been on hunger strike since February 8. It is feared that Alkhawaja, who was sentenced last year to life imprisonment and has reportedly been subjected to physical and sexual torture in detention, is now either being force-fed or is in a critical state.

Hunger Strike
On February 8, Alkhawaja started a hunger strike and made it clear that he would not stop until he was released. According to his family, he has been preparing them to accept his death. Since April 23 Alkhawaja's family have had no news about him, and requests for visits have been denied by the authorities. Concern is growing, and thousands have been tweeting on the hashtag #WhereIsAlKhawaja, demanding an immediate answer from the government. Human rights organisations around the world, including Front Line Defenders, have joined the calls for information about Alkhawaja.

Khadija's tweets of love

Abdulhadi Alkhawaja and his wife Khadija Almousawi. Twitter avatar of Khadija Almousawi (@tublani2010).

Khadija Almousawi, Alkhawaja's wife, has been using her Twitter account (@tublani2010) to send messages addressed to her husband. In one tweet she mentioned her daughter Zainab, who tweets as @angryarabiya and is currently in detention after a one-woman demonstration for her father:

@tublani2010: Dear Hadi, Today we did not need to expand our dinning table. the family has shrunk. Zainab is in jail. Ur absent and missing too.

In other tweets she said:

@tublani2010: Dear Hadi, I hear officials telling me that u r ok. But i need to hear it from u. U never lie. They always do. Why cant u call me?

@tublani2010: Dear Husband: U continue ur fight for freedom from ur bed in where ever u r. If ur still here.

@tublani2010: Dear Hadi, I stand by u 100% and I will keep supporting u 100%, I just miss u. Miss ur smile, Miss ur kindness

Bahraini solidarity
Many Bahrainis have expressed their fears about the status of Alkhawaja, even those such as blogger Suhail Algosaibi who has previously debated Zainab Alkhawaja:

@SuhailAlgosaibi: If Abdulhadi passes away it will be a disaster in #bahrain. #WhereIsAlKhawaja

Bahraini cartoonist Ali Al Bazzaz has created a number of works about Alkhawaja and the one below, showing Alkhawaja with Gandhi and Mandela, has been retweeted widely.

Alkhawaja with Gandhi and Mandela. Image by @bazzaz32

Force-fed?
Maryam Alkhawaja, another of Abdulhadi's daughters who is living in exile, has expressed her fear that her father is either in a critical state or is being force-fed. She said, “I know that my father is not going to willingly drink or eat anything so if they are giving him anything it is by force.”

The debate over Alkhawaja's situation has been fueled by a recent interview with Bahrain's prime minister. He called the protesters in Bahrain terrorists, asserted that he would not tolerate Western interference in Bahrain's affairs, and said that Alkhawaja is fine and taking liquids.

Bahrain: Police Help Thugs Vandalize Shiite-Owned Shop

Mona Kareem — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 18:45:17 +0000

The owners of the Jawad Business Group, a Shiite-owned company, have released a video of one of their shops being stormed, robbed, and vandalized by a group of thugs on April 10, 2012, as policemen watched and even helped.

Businesses owned by Jawad have been a target over the last year as it has been claimed that the company provided food to the protestors at the Pearl Roundabout.

Blogger Marc Owen Jones wrote on April 13:

Profile picture of a Facebook page calling for the boycott of Jawad shops: "A boycott campaign against the Jawad Group that betrayed our country."

Yesterday I wrote a post about how the Ministry of the Interior [the police] treat Bahrainis differently depending on whether they are pro-government or anti-government. This was after their tame dispersal of a large group of regime supporters who, after gathering at the Alba roundabout, wrecked two cars and then vandalised a nearby supermarket. The reason the market was attacked is because it was owned by Jawad Group, which is maligned by many loyalists for apparently serving food to protesters at the Pearl Roundabout last year. Of course there are numerous examples of the police turning a blind eye to violence perpetrated by pro-regime supporters. There’s also a lot of evidence to show plain clothes thugs operating alongside the police. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether the thugs are civilians, or just security officers in mufti [civilian clothes]. Today however, this CCTV footage from the attack on the 24 SuperMarket emerged. Not only does it show thugs breaking into and looting the shop, but it also shows police standing idly by as this happens. That’s not all, at 5.15 one of the security officers wearing a fluorescent bib smashes one of the windows. At 4.50 another officer helps himself to a bottle of water. Clearly ignoring crime is thirsty work.

The following six-minute video shows the attack:

Amir Jawad, a board member of the Jawad Business Group, has described the events of April 10 as being part of a systematic series of attacks; he reported that crowds also roamed outside the company's headquarters.

Policeman involved in the attack. Images posted by Twitter user @lord20003.

According to Al Wasat newspaper [ar], Jawad shops have been attacked 54 times. A Twitter account called @Jawad_storm has been started to document all the attacks against Jawad businesses. Here are some of the tweets:

رسمت معانات مجموعة جواد بعد ضربة الدوار الأولى مباشرة، من حيث التكسير والتخريب والتهديد والمقاطعة وغيرها الكثير

@Jawad_storm: The attacks on Jawad shops started after the first attack on Pearl Roundabout. Shops got vandalized, demolished, and the company was threatened and boycotted etc.

تعرضت الشركة لشتى أنواع الإستهداف ومن ضمنها التخريب لبعض المحلات والهجوم عليها بالرصاص الحي

@Jawad_storm: The company has been targeted and some of the shops were attacked by live ammunition.

More tweets relating to the attack can be found on the hashtag #غزوة_جواد (“the invasion of Jawad”).

This graffiti is evidence of the campaign against Jawad businesses:

Graffiti in Sakhir area: Shame on every Sunni traitor who buys from the "24 hours" shops. Image posted by Twitter user @jawad_storm.

A supporter of Jawad is shown with a sign:

A Bahraini holds a sign in solidarity with Jawad company in front of one of the shops. Image posted by Twitter user @Sadad_9mooD.

Others have treated the incident with humour in order to mock the regime. In this video, a group of young Bahrainis who call themselves Baharna Drama stage another attack: