MANAMA, BAHRAIN— Opposition leaders in Bahrain said Sunday that they would not be mollified by offers of money and jobs, raising the prospect of a protracted standoff between protesters and the embattled government of this strategically important island nation.
“This is about dignity and freedom — it’s not about filling our stomachs,” said Ebrahim Sharif al-Sayed, a former banker who led a protest on Sunday at the gates of one of the royal family’s palaces.
The Bahraini Interior Ministry announced over the weekend that it was seeking to hire 20,000 people, a move it said would “benefit job seekers” and improve security in the country, which is home to a large U.S. Navy base.
The oil-rich countries of the Gulf led by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are also reportedly considering a plan to provide billions of dollars to Bahrain and Oman as part of an effort to address social problems and quell protests. The recent spike in oil prices have given Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, and its neighbors more scope for hand-outs and subsidies, part of longstanding policies to foster social harmony. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia last month announced $37 billion worth of pay raises, unemployment checks and other benefits.
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, the leader of a royal family that has ruled Bahrain for two centuries, in February offered 1,000 dinars, or about $2,600, for each family soon. The government of Kuwait in January announced that each citizen would receive the equivalent of $3,500. And last week, the sultan of Oman decreed that anyone without a job would be eligible for a stipend of $375 per month.
In Bahrain and Oman, monetary concessions have yet to assuage protesters. More than 100,000 people — about one in five Bahraini citizens — joined a protest in Manama, the capital, on Friday. Smaller protests have also continued in Sohar, a northern industrial city in Oman.
“Poor people took the money but are still insisting on getting political reform,” said Abdul Jalil Khalil Ebrahim, a senior member of Wefaq, the largest opposition party in Bahrain.
Mr. Ebrahim says he is skeptical that any future payments will reach the people who need them. In addition, the cash does not address the central demands of protesters: democracy.
“They are throwing slogans to absorb the anger of people,” Mr. Ebrahim said of the government, which is tightly controlled by Bahrain’s royal family. “But the core of this is political, not financial.”
The three weeks of pro-democracy protests in Bahrain have followed the pattern of those in Egypt and Tunisia, with cellphones and Facebook posts propelling the movement and a botched, deadly crackdown by security forces two weeks ago that served to embolden the demonstrators.
Yet those who lead and take part in the nearly daily demonstrations here say they fear at least one key difference: The United States may not be fully on their side.
“The U.S. is not acting like they did in other countries,” said Ali Najaf, who marched on Friday. “We thought they would support the people.”
In contrast with the case of Egypt, where President Barack Obama promised to “stand up for democracy” and called for a change of power “now,” Washington has backed the royal family in Bahrain with statements supporting the country’s still-undefined proposal for dialogue with the opposition.
Obama administration officials say they believe that the royal family has earned the right to try to navigate this period after heeding the United States’ plea to call off the security forces who shot at the protesters, killing seven of them.
Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, has conferred with the country’s crown prince, Sheik Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, whom an administration official described as sensible.
Mr. Obama said he welcomed a “commitment to reform” by the king. But opposition parties say they do not believe there is enough pressure to produce genuine change.
Opposition parties are demanding the dissolution of the government and a true constitutional monarchy to replace King Hamad’s near-absolute powers.
In a region of countries ruled by sultans and kings, the prospect of a democratic uprising in Bahrain has been deeply unsettling to the United States’ oil-producing allies in the Gulf, especially because the majority of Bahrain’s citizens are Shiites. The king, like most royalty on the western rim of the Gulf, is Sunni.
Protesters here say their dreams of democracy are being thwarted by the U.S. desire to protect a large naval base in Bahrain, by the perception that Shiites reflexively side with Iran, and by the influence of Bahrain’s neighbor Saudi Arabia, which analysts say would probably not accept a Shiite-led Bahrain.
Justin Gengler, a former Fulbright scholar in Bahrain, said he did not expect the United States to abandon its support for the Khalifa family.
“As soon as it looks like the U.S. is not supporting royal families in the Gulf region, it starts to raise eyebrows everywhere — in Qatar, in Saudi Arabia, in Kuwait, in Oman,” Mr. Gengler said. “The U.S. can’t turn its back on the Bahraini royal family without implicitly abandoning the idea of monarchies in the Gulf.”
Opposition politicians here are seeking to convince Washington that a constitutional monarchy in Bahrain would not be a threat to regional stability. An elected government would be inherently more stable, said Matar Ebrahim Ali Matar, a Shiite member of Parliament who resigned after the government crackdown.
“The United States should support this wave of democracy — it’s coming,” Mr. Matar said. “If it doesn’t happen this year, it will come in the coming years.”
“This is about dignity and freedom — it’s not about filling our stomachs,” said Ebrahim Sharif al-Sayed, a former banker who led a protest on Sunday at the gates of one of the royal family’s palaces.
The Bahraini Interior Ministry announced over the weekend that it was seeking to hire 20,000 people, a move it said would “benefit job seekers” and improve security in the country, which is home to a large U.S. Navy base.
The oil-rich countries of the Gulf led by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are also reportedly considering a plan to provide billions of dollars to Bahrain and Oman as part of an effort to address social problems and quell protests. The recent spike in oil prices have given Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, and its neighbors more scope for hand-outs and subsidies, part of longstanding policies to foster social harmony. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia last month announced $37 billion worth of pay raises, unemployment checks and other benefits.
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, the leader of a royal family that has ruled Bahrain for two centuries, in February offered 1,000 dinars, or about $2,600, for each family soon. The government of Kuwait in January announced that each citizen would receive the equivalent of $3,500. And last week, the sultan of Oman decreed that anyone without a job would be eligible for a stipend of $375 per month.
In Bahrain and Oman, monetary concessions have yet to assuage protesters. More than 100,000 people — about one in five Bahraini citizens — joined a protest in Manama, the capital, on Friday. Smaller protests have also continued in Sohar, a northern industrial city in Oman.
“Poor people took the money but are still insisting on getting political reform,” said Abdul Jalil Khalil Ebrahim, a senior member of Wefaq, the largest opposition party in Bahrain.
Mr. Ebrahim says he is skeptical that any future payments will reach the people who need them. In addition, the cash does not address the central demands of protesters: democracy.
“They are throwing slogans to absorb the anger of people,” Mr. Ebrahim said of the government, which is tightly controlled by Bahrain’s royal family. “But the core of this is political, not financial.”
The three weeks of pro-democracy protests in Bahrain have followed the pattern of those in Egypt and Tunisia, with cellphones and Facebook posts propelling the movement and a botched, deadly crackdown by security forces two weeks ago that served to embolden the demonstrators.
Yet those who lead and take part in the nearly daily demonstrations here say they fear at least one key difference: The United States may not be fully on their side.
“The U.S. is not acting like they did in other countries,” said Ali Najaf, who marched on Friday. “We thought they would support the people.”
In contrast with the case of Egypt, where President Barack Obama promised to “stand up for democracy” and called for a change of power “now,” Washington has backed the royal family in Bahrain with statements supporting the country’s still-undefined proposal for dialogue with the opposition.
Obama administration officials say they believe that the royal family has earned the right to try to navigate this period after heeding the United States’ plea to call off the security forces who shot at the protesters, killing seven of them.
Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, has conferred with the country’s crown prince, Sheik Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, whom an administration official described as sensible.
Mr. Obama said he welcomed a “commitment to reform” by the king. But opposition parties say they do not believe there is enough pressure to produce genuine change.
Opposition parties are demanding the dissolution of the government and a true constitutional monarchy to replace King Hamad’s near-absolute powers.
In a region of countries ruled by sultans and kings, the prospect of a democratic uprising in Bahrain has been deeply unsettling to the United States’ oil-producing allies in the Gulf, especially because the majority of Bahrain’s citizens are Shiites. The king, like most royalty on the western rim of the Gulf, is Sunni.
Protesters here say their dreams of democracy are being thwarted by the U.S. desire to protect a large naval base in Bahrain, by the perception that Shiites reflexively side with Iran, and by the influence of Bahrain’s neighbor Saudi Arabia, which analysts say would probably not accept a Shiite-led Bahrain.
Justin Gengler, a former Fulbright scholar in Bahrain, said he did not expect the United States to abandon its support for the Khalifa family.
“As soon as it looks like the U.S. is not supporting royal families in the Gulf region, it starts to raise eyebrows everywhere — in Qatar, in Saudi Arabia, in Kuwait, in Oman,” Mr. Gengler said. “The U.S. can’t turn its back on the Bahraini royal family without implicitly abandoning the idea of monarchies in the Gulf.”
Opposition politicians here are seeking to convince Washington that a constitutional monarchy in Bahrain would not be a threat to regional stability. An elected government would be inherently more stable, said Matar Ebrahim Ali Matar, a Shiite member of Parliament who resigned after the government crackdown.
“The United States should support this wave of democracy — it’s coming,” Mr. Matar said. “If it doesn’t happen this year, it will come in the coming years.”
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