Rebellion in Bahrain--it's a class thing

[eridani]

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/bahrain/2011/03/201131011545733408.html#

The claims of Iranian involvement bring to mind the warnings from Western analysts who think the revolts sweeping Arab countries will usher in Islamic theocracies. Both seize on a few pieces of scattered evidence - the occasional Khomeini sympathiser in Bahrain, for example, or the Muslim Brotherhood's limited role in post-Mubarak Egypt - to build a thin narrative.

That narrative helps to mask the real division between Bahrain's pro- and anti-government camps, which is economic, rather than sectarian.

Many of the government's supporters hail from more privileged economic backgrounds. They have professional jobs, whether in the private sector or in state-owned enterprises; they live in wealthier neighbourhoods in the capital or in places like Rifaa', a town in central Bahrain inhabited mostly by Sunnis, including the king and the prime minister. And they complain that weeks of protests have cost the country billions.

"Our economy is being affected. The Formula One race was canceled, our hotel bookings have become almost zero," said Rashid al-Dossary, a banker. "Children are out of school, and they are blocking the roads every day."

Even supporters of the government acknowledge the country's economic problems. Earlier this week, a Sunni man named Abdullah stood in the parking lot of Bahrain's Financial Harbour, watching the protesters on the street outside. He said the main problem was a lack of high-paying jobs for educated Bahrainis - whether Sunni or Shia.

[blindpig]

1. It generally is.

Scrap away the bullshit and there it is.