The minority Sunni control the government in Bahrain and the majority Shia are angry. You would think that after 1400 years of fighting among each other they would get the message that Islam is a "religion of peace" and their squabbles were getting in the way of unifying Muslims under the caliphate umbrella. But no, it is always the majority Sunni (85% of Muslims are Sunni) who want to have the loins share of the Islamic pie, and Shia have no place in their world.
Sunni or Shia, when referring to who leads is moot. Either one follows the Qur'an and hadiths, so either one will be as close to a pure and strict form of Islam as Muhammad could ask for. Neither is less vicious towards non-Muslim and neither is more tolerant of Jews than the other. It does not matter which is in charge, the dance remains the same.
From Atlanta Journal Constitution March 18 by Barbara Surk
Sunni or Shia, when referring to who leads is moot. Either one follows the Qur'an and hadiths, so either one will be as close to a pure and strict form of Islam as Muhammad could ask for. Neither is less vicious towards non-Muslim and neither is more tolerant of Jews than the other. It does not matter which is in charge, the dance remains the same.
From Atlanta Journal Constitution March 18 by Barbara Surk
Bahrain army demolishes monument at Pearl Square
MANAMA, Bahrain — Bahrain on Friday tore down the 300-foot (90-meter) monument at the heart of a square purged of Shiite protesters this week, erasing a symbol of an uprising that's inflaming sectarian tensions across the region.
The monument — six white curved beams topped with a huge cement pearl — was built in Pearl Square as a tribute to the Sunni-ruled kingdom's history as a pearl-diving center. It became the backdrop to the Shiite majority's uprising after protesters set up a month-long camp at Pearl Square in the capital, Manama.
Security forces overran the camp on Wednesday, setting off clashes that killed at least five people, including two policemen. At least 12 people have been killed in the month-long revolt.
Bahrain's foreign minister, Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, told reporters in Manama that the army brought down the monument because "it was a bad memory."
"We are not waging war, we are restoring law and order," Khalid said at a press conference in Manama.
Shiite anger rose sharply around the Mideast on Friday as large crowds in Iran and Iraq cursed Bahrain's Sunni monarchy and its Saudi backers over the violent crackdown on protesters demanding more rights.
No doubt the rights that come with democracy.
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