the Hajj

A Muslim is called to make the hajj (pilgrimage) at least once in his life to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It's a pretty big deal. It's held annually, and will fall in early November this year.


Hajj.. A journey of purity | الحج .. رحلة نقاء from KDMart on Vimeo.

slow days

Pre-February 14, things had begun to pick up. I was teaching English, going to Arabic class, and had plenty of activities. Since then, our lives have slowed considerably because everyone is at the Pearl. The rest of the island has continued normally, but people are really only doing the basics. This past Friday night a friend of mine was supposed to have her wedding, but it was canceled. All of my language classes have been canceled so I'm left with a pretty open day. I am in the process of finding things to be doing, but please pray that opportunities arise in spite of this strange time of limbo.

I just sent my next newsletter to my mailing service, so it should be coming soon. The email version will arrive to those of you on my e-mail list around the same time. If you're not on either list, let me know and I'd love to add you. 

Aftermath & Recent Days

photo courtesy my teammate, Will
the women's side of camp, why all the people are wearing black

Since protesters regained occupation of the Pearl Roundabout, things have been calm. The area is filled with over 50,000 people (by some estimates) and few, if any police officers. I have been going over there with a friend to hear the speakers, watch the crowds, and experience this monumental time in Bahrain's history. There are many people camping and many others giving out food. It feels more like a festive rally than a protest. Yesterday afternoon over 100,000 people marched to the Pearl down a main highway, which is a lot considering the population of the entire country is around 900,000. video of the march

photo courtesy Twitter: Maryamalkhawaja
no beginning or end in sight

courtesy Twitter: emoodz

At the foot of the huge Pearl is an elevated stage where people speak for a few minutes at a time. Some speeches are sad, some are motivating, and others are humorous. The people watch intently, cheering, waving flags, singing, and chanting on occasion. Other than the fact that they are protesting their government, it feels like a music festival in the States.

I took this picture from the back of a truck after I was interviewed for 4 minutes by a guy doing a live news feed. Afterwards, he asked me to teach English to his daughter. 

"Bloody Friday"

What they are now calling "Bloody Friday" began yesterday as a Holy Day (Friday is the main day of worship in Islam) filled with mourning. The funerals for those who died the day before would be held, accompanied by more protests that would ultimately end violently.

Not just moments after two of my teammates left Salmaniya Hospital (to see what needs they have we can help fill), the military (not the police) opened fire on the mourners and protesters at the Pearl, and this time with more than rubber bullets, but live ammo.

From Al Jazeera English:
A doctor at Salmaniya hospital told Al Jazeera that the hospital is full of severely injured people after the latest shootings.
"We need help! Our staff is entirely overwhelmed. They are shooting at people's heads. Not at the legs. People are having their brains blown out,"  a distraught Dr Ghassan said, describing the chaos at the hospital as something close to a war zone.

He said the hospital was running short of blood and appealed for help to get more supplies. Police had no immediate comment.

As of 2pm today, this is what Al Jazeera reports on their live blog:

February 19, 2011

1:09pm Our correspondent in Manama reports that there appear to be plans for marches to begin in three separate locations in about two hours time (at 3:00pm local time), with all of them destined for Pearl roundabout. Given the security presence there, he says it is unlikely that they will reach their destination. The real question is whether or not the military and police will use the same level of force (i.e. lethal) as they did on Friday.

1:15pm  Our correspondent also reported that there currently appear to be no indications that the government is prepared to soften its stance in any way in order to promote dialogue with the opposition. Protesters and the opposition have said that there can be no dialogue as long as the military remains deployed and the government does not allow protests.

1:22pm A witness has told Reuters that the Bahraini army has "completed [its] withdrawal" from Manama's Pearl roundabout.

1:38pm Police have used tear gas against protesters attempting to return to Pearl roundabout.

1:47pm The Crown Prince has ordered all troops to leave the streets, and says that police will enforce order, according to the Bahrain News Agency.

Hopefully, the talks rumored to take place actually will. 

CNN re: the Protests

The International Media has been good to cover this. Local media is denying, ignoring, and censoring coverage of the events.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/17/bahrain.protests/index.html?hpt=T1

Pearl Roundabout Raid

"We were sitting there.. peacefully sitting in the square, most of us sleeping.. suddenly the police came surrounding us from everywhere, thousands, shooting us with tear gas, and rubber guns" 
from Al Jazeera Live-Blog Bahrain, via Twitter

This morning around 3 am, riot police raided the Pearl Roundabout where protesters lay sleeping after a day of rallying for governmental reforms. They attacked the area with tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and beat people with batons. As of now, reports say that about six have died, but the injured aren't being treated. I hear rumors that the Minister of Health may have resigned in light of his denying ambulances and treatment to those who need it. Protests continue at Salmaniya Hospital.

Listening to Speeches the Night Before the Raid, 7pm 2/16

Tanks and police have cleared the Pearl Roundabout where thousands gathered in the past two days. Helicopters have been circling overhead for the past few days, but I hear more of them today.

Women Holding Signs, 8pm 2/16

Last night I donned an abaya and ventured over to the protests to talk to people and see it for myself. At that point, the police had been nowhere around for over a day, so the protest was more like a rally. There was a loud-speaker where different leaders would give brief speeches and people would chant and cheer. The crowd was filled with banners, flags, posters, and fliers. People handed out water, tea, and food; many protesters set up tent camps and had blankets sprawled out to gather on.

I feel a mix of sadness and anger for what has happened. Please pray for these people, that the Jesus will reveal Himself to them in light of what is happening, and that the Lord will show my team and I what we are supposed to do.


For news reports with more information:
a Timeline of Updates
NYTimes slideshow
report from this morning

Police Action

Just to be clear, I am not involved in any of this and the places where the protests aren't are extremely safe.

today's happenings

The local (government-run) news here is pretty mute on what happened today. Surprisingly, American (or non-local) news paints a better picture.

The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
Al Jazeera Photos
The National

Dubai Pictures

Some (phone) pictures from our trip to Dubai (we go to Qatar next!):

the Burj Khalifa, World's Tallest Building

a public square and water-front restaurant area 

the Gold Souq

a Mosque in the Deira Souq

Souq Entrance

the Creek Waterfront with dhow taxis

Protests

In light of Mubarak's resignation last night and in preparation for Monday, the Sunni-ruled Bahrain government is doing what it can to quash Shi'a protesting efforts. Following Kuwait's lead, the government is giving each of it's Bahraini citizens 1000 BDs ($2650). Click here for the Al Jazeera article about it.

We have no idea what this could really mean for Bahrain. Rumors are flying, but until Monday, it's all conjecture. One local Bahraini said that the protests will aim to free political prisoners, oust the Sunni leaders, and gain Shi'a representation is government. However, she said she won't be attending because she has to go to work. Since most of Bahrain is fairly wealthy, and the economic issues that plagued Egyptians aren't as pressing here, it is my opinion that most Bahrainis will skip the protests and stay at work. Only time will tell. At worse, our internet and wireless lines could be shut down, so if I am out of communication for a day or two, there is no need to worry.

Last night, I was able to watch the celebration/euphoria outside the Egyptian embassy from a nearby rooftop. It was relatively orderly, but people were driving around with flashing lights and blaring horns, waving Egyptian and Bahraini flags. It reminded me of the way college towns are after a big football win.

Please pray that the Lord will use the events here for His glory and to draw people to Christ, and that my team and I can be instrumental in doing so.

Egypt

In case you were wondering, things are fine in Bahrain regarding political turmoil. The Egyptian embassy has 24-hour armed guard watch, and a few groups got permission from the government here to protest outside it. Other than that, I haven't heard much. There are roomers, however, that some sort of protesting will make its way here, eventually, in which case, I'll let you know.

recent news on Egypt

a family dinner

Thursday night my friend A invited Lucy and I over for dinner at her sister's home. Here is the email account I sent shortly afterwards:


So tonight A's sister, I*n, had Lucy and I over for dinner. It was us two, A, A's mother, M*a, A*i, and I*n's husband. Their family is so wonderful - so funny and enjoyable. And like any good Arabs, very hospitable.

We arrive and meet everyone, are seating in the living room and given tea. They tell us about the Iranian way to drink tea, where you hold the sugar cube under your tongue while you drink. I tried it after dinner.

Their housemaid was putting the dinner out on the table, and it was served family style. The dishes were mostly Arab, but maybe some Asian thrown in there. I*n's husband didn't eat with us, but was in the tv room with their sons. During the meal we all talked and laughed and ate, and A*i told a story about when Michael Jackson was here.

After dinner, I*n gave us a tour of their elaborately decorated house, which she said is filled with things they went to China to pick out and ship back. But funnily enough, they put some of furniture together themselves. The master bedroom has a "prayer room" in it, which it yet to be decorated.  During the tour, I*n noticed we weren't wearing socks and gave us some house slippers - which she insisted we keep when we left!

After the tour, we sat in the living room again for tea, coffee, and cinnabons that M*a made, which were delicious. I*n's husband joined us and per the usual, the conversation veered towards Jesus and other things. We talked about a variety of issues that I can't entirely remember - but I did get to talk about Jesus' death, resurrection, commission to His disciples to tell others about Him, His ascension, and the first three thousand followers. They told stories about the Israelites, about Moses, Mary, Ishmael and Isaac. They also explained the evil eye to us ("hot eyes"), when they 'knock on wood', and other things I can't remember - there is just so much! I really enjoy A's mother, and communicate with her through broken Arabic (neither of us are very good, she speaks mostly Farsi) and A's translating. They all kept insisting that Lucy come back with Jack and Emet, and invited us several times for lunch (which they do really big). A*i seems to think he will be able get us into Saudi, but knows it will be hard as he's heard me explain the difficulty on a few occasions. He said that he and M*a are visiting Mecca after their three-week honeymoon to Malaysia.

Upon announcing our departure, they of course insisted that we stay, but it was nearly midnight so we left. A*i offered to drive us out to the main road, but drove us all the way back to Manama!