SALON

Friday, Jun 15, 2012 6:00 PM UTC

Battle to rebuild razed Shiite mosques in Bahrain

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Battle to rebuild razed Shiite mosques in BahrainA Shiite mosque under construction is seen Friday, June 15, 2012, in A'ali, Bahrain, going up on the site of a centuries-old mosque that was torn down with several other Shiite religious sites last year during the government crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising. Graffiti on the cement reads, "long live the king," and was sprayed after a banner reading "You fight God?" was removed. Day by day, the new mosque is slowly rising from the wreckage of its centuries-old predecessor. Volunteers pour concrete and lay cinder blocks while others keep watch for the security forces that drove bulldozers through the walls of the Imam Hadi Mosque last year. In Bahrain's fractured society, even repairing a toppled mosque can be viewed as a politically charged act. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)(Credit: AP)

NUWAIDRAT, Bahrain (AP) — Volunteers slowly rebuilding a new mosque from the wreckage of its 950-year-old predecessor in Bahrain have two tasks: One group works while others watch for a return of security forces who drove bulldozers through its walls last year.

In Bahrain’s fractured society — with 16 months of nonstop clashes and tensions between the Sunni monarchy and protesters from the kingdom’s Shiite majority — even relaying bricks from a toppled mosque wall can be viewed as a politically charged act.

“I was born here and will die on this land,” said Mohammed Jaffer, a 17-year-old student who was among the ad hoc crews this week working at the Imam Hadi Mosque in the central Bahraini town of Nuwaidrat. “We deserve to fight for our dignity and not live as a slave in a feudal state.”

The demolition of dozens of Shiite mosques and other religious gathering places remains one of the most sensitive issues amid an array of grievances by Bahrain’s Shiites, who claim they are relegated to second-class status by the Western-backed Sunni dynasty. Their current uprising, which began in February 2011 and was inspired by the Arab Spring, has hardened into a showdown over the legitimacy of the ruling system that has left the island nation deeply divided.

The latest blow came Thursday with a court sentencing nine doctors and nurses to prison for up to five years after being convicted in a retrial of aiding the protests. Fifteen-year sentences also were upheld on two doctors who fled Bahrain.

Michael Posner, assistant U.S. secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, told reporters in Bahrain’s capital Manama that Washington was “deeply disappointed” by the convictions and urged all sides to find ways to open dialogue or risk even more unrest in the strategic nation, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

“Dialogue has never been more urgent, as polarization in Bahrain society increases and the social fabric becomes more frayed,” he said.

On Friday, Bahrain’s police chief, Maj. Gen. Tariq al-Hassan, said “highly explosive” bomb-making material was uncovered in raids on several locations. Several bombings in the past month have injured security forces.

Bahrain’s leaders have offered a range of concessions, including giving more powers to the elected parliament, but Shiite groups say it falls short of demands for the monarchy to give up its near total control of government power and appointments.

The ruined Shiite mosques across Bahrain also symbolize some of the core perceptions that make Bahrain one of the most diplomatically complex Middle East flashpoints for the West.

Bahrain’s leadership claims that Shiite power Iran is encouraging the challenges to its authority. Also on Bahrain’s side are all the Gulf Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, which sent in troops to aid the Bahraini monarchy last year and now backs a proposals for even closer union.

Although there is no direct evidence of Iranian involvement in Bahrain, it’s a potential threat that resonates deeply with the West. The U.S. and allies also are cautious not to unsettle their critical relations in the Gulf by pushing too hard over Bahrain, where more than 50 people have died in the unrest.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s Shiites — accounting for about 70 percent of the more than half-million citizens — are increasingly critical of the U.S. for what they see as abandoning their cause to preserve important ties with Gulf rulers. The razed mosques have become a political backdrop with groups sometimes holding Friday prayers in the rubble.

Shiite clerics claim at least 38 mosques and affiliated sites, such as charity offices, have been destroyed as part of crackdowns by the government. Officials say the mosques lacked proper permits. Some activists place the number of destroyed mosques at 55 or higher.

Bahrain has pledged to rebuild as least 12 Shiite mosques, but widespread work has not yet begun.

Instead, volunteer groups have started their own reconstruction in defiance of the government selections on which mosques can be restored.

In Niwidrat, about 10 kilometers (six miles) south of Manama, work has begun on some of 10 mosques and Shiite religious sites leveled in a “matter of hours” on April, 10, 2011, according to an independent report on Bahrain’s upheavals issued in November. It noted that the destructions gave “the impression of collective punishment.”

Bahraini activist raised the question of destroyed mosques last month in Geneva at a review of the country the U.N. Human Rights Council.

“It was a sinful thing,” said Ali Abdul Khaliq, 38, as he toted bricks at the Imam Hadi site. “It was against human values of freedom and faith.”

Nearly 30 people — ranging from a 10-year-old boy to a 70-year old grandfather — joined the work that evening in the one-time agricultural lands dotted by date palms. When water supplied dried up in the 1930s, most people migrated to nearby areas but left a cluster of ancient mosques that visited for Friday prayers and religious ceremonies.

One of the mosques has been fully repaired, but authorities have refused to reconnect it to the electricity grid and local residents have hooked it to a generator.

They also claim that they have the indirect support of some Sunnis — countering government assertions that Shiites who support the protests are trying to widen the sectarian rifts.

Ali Hussain, a 69-year-old retired Shiite teacher, said Sunnis have donated cash for the mosque rebuilding as well as furniture and Qurans. “It is a completely united effort and a message not to harm the houses of God,” he said.

A 10-year boy in a wheelchair because of a car accident distributed water. “This is for the sake of God,” he said.

Last week, some of the volunteers received police notices to stop the work, they said. Also last week a firebomb was thrown into a Shiite mosque outside Manama, causing minor damage to a carpet. But in March, vandals ransacked a historic Shiite mosque in a predominantly Sunni area about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of Manama.

At a 450-year-old Shiite mosque on land now owned by Bahrain’s ruling family, police removed banners with the mosque’s name, Amir Barbaghi. Someone later spray-painted graffiti on its wall: Long live the king.

Government officials did not immediately respond to requests for details about the purported police warnings.

“We are sending a message,” said retired teacher Ali Ibrahim, 67. “That message is that we won’t stop rebuilding our destroyed mosques no matter what.”

___

Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Brian Murphy

More Brian Murphy.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments are not enabled for this story.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations