DEARBORN — Of all the peaceful Arab World revolutions, the one that first began in Bahrain in February of this year has been met with perhaps the most brutal resistance from government forces, with media attention and justice neither anywhere to be found.

Dr. Yathreb Alaali of Bahrain

Bahraini Americans, their many supporters, and human rights organizations have not forgotten, however, as evidenced by this past weekend’s Bahrain Support Conference and exhibit. 

On Saturday, November 19 at the Islamic Institute of Knowledge, a few hundred attendees came for a thorough briefing on the grim situation past and present on the Middle Eastern island nation while also learning about how they can help raise awareness of the cause. 

“Anyone who has humanity and a mind and a heart can not stay silent with what’s going on,” said organizer Dr. Osama Alaradi, a senior staff gastroenterologist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and director of the gastroenterology fellowship training program. 

“We’ve been hearing feedback from people, many said they don’t know what’s going on, there’s been a total media blackout and we wanted to educate people about what’s going on.” 

Dozens of people have been killed in the latest crackdowns against peaceful protesters this week in addition to the scores killed during protests that began on February.

It’s the latest in struggle against government tyranny that has lasted more than a century in Bahrain, as Dr. Hatham Yousif, a Bahraini pediatric intensivist, pointed out at the conference through slides of the country’s history. 

Yousif detailed a history starting with forced labor in the early 20th century to the rule of Emir Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa in 1961 followed by his successor and son, current King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

Protests against injustice of the ruling Sunni Islam majority from both Shi’a and Sunni protesters have long been a part of Bahrain’s struggle for human rights and a better life through more wealth sharing. 

“The demands did not just begin yesterday, they have been there for over a century, but the demands are always answered with the same response…crackdowns,” Yousif said. 

The brutality of pictures emerging from present-day Bahrain floored millions of people worldwide, including those who lived it like Dr. Yathreb Alaali, a medical resident who was in the country when the attacks started. Dr. Alaali gave a presentation detailing experiences of her countrymen and women in the Pearl Roundabout area where protests took place.

“We all shared the same dreams and were all united in the same cause, freedom, people of different backgrounds, sleeping peacefully dreaming of a better tomorrow,” she said.

She recalled that soldiers attacked the peaceful protesters in the middle of the night including kids and the elderly, showing graphic pictures to the audience after warning them. Other similar pictures were displayed on the concourse at the IIK to drive home just how inhumane the deadly crackdowns have been in Bahrain. 

Dr. Alaali also noted that many of the security forces were from other countries such as Pakistan, India and other countries, not speaking the language so that they would have less sympathy for protesters. 

Attacks against doctors attempting to treat wounded protesters have also been strongly condemned by international human rights groups. Others also have been jailed for long sentences for offering such treatments, ambulances have been blocked from reaching the wounded, and others have been sent to prison simply for knocking a picture of King Hamad off of the wall in a hospital. The sixth floor of a prominent hospital was also turned into a “torture chamber.” 

Others have been targets as well. Almost 4,000 journalists have been detained along with tens of thousands of protesters in a nation with a population of around 550,000, including doctors and nurses, who have been hauled off to prison and tortured. 

Similar problems foreshadowing the crackdown have been around for many months according to Joshua Colangelo Bryan of the Human Rights Watch organization, who flew in from New York for the conference. 

He and others had been investigating military court abuses including torture allegations that seemed to be backed by strong evidence going back to summer 2010. 

He said military courts set up by King Hamad’s regime have denied scores of people accused of crimes such as “possessing political paraphernalia” or “chanting political slogans” have denied the existence of the international right to free speech.

Bryan was denied his visa in April of this year, putting a halt to his investigation in the country. 

Women have also played an important role in the uprising according to speaker Mariam Alkhawaja, the president of the Foreign Affair in Bahrain Center for Human Rights. 

She said one woman wrote in graffiti on a wall that “after the men have gone home, the women will continue the revolution.” 

But about a month after the mass demonstrations began, Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates troops also helped to crush protesters before imposing martial law. 

Between the latest setbacks and Bahrain’s long, brutal history of crackdowns, there is a strong temptation for many to express hopelessness with the situation. 

But the demonstrators have continued to press on, emboldened by those who came before them in their home country as well as fellow protesters from across the Arab World.

Hussain Abdulla, the President for the Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain organization who was jailed during the 1990s in Bahrain, told attendees that they could help by spreading awareness to local politicians, especially Congresspeople as well as everyday citizens.

The introduction of H.J. Resolution 80 in the U.S. House last month was in large part due to U.S. activists spreading the truth about Bahrain, Abdulla said. 

The resolution calls for the “limiting the issuance of a letter of offer with respect to a certain proposed sale of defense articles and defense services to the Kingdom of Bahrain,” and was originally introduced by Rep. James McGovern (D-MA). 

The cosponsors included Michigan Democrat John Conyers (D-MI) along with Michael Honda (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).

It limits a proposed $53 million arms sale that has been delayed while the U.S. waits for a report on the revolution, requiring the Secretary of State to “certify to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives” that the Government of Bahrain “is conducting good faith investigations and prosecutions of alleged perpetrators responsible for the killing, torture, arbitrary detention, and other human rights violations committed since February 2011,” among other measures ensuring the Government of Bahrain’s compliance with international human rights standards.

Alaradi has also joined mass protests including a successful one in March in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington, D.C. that drew 4-5,000 supporters. 

He plans to continue to exercise his right to free speech that the long-suffering Bahrainis are not afforded. 

“Through educating Americans I think that change is possible, most people do not know what is going on in Bahrain…it really does make a difference so we hope that more influence will take place with having more people showing support and talking to Senators and Congresspeople,” he said.