Ayat al-Ghormezi’s poem Khalifa

This video is called BBC: Bahraini blogger Ali Abdulemam ‘tortured’ in jail with Shia opposition.

13 June 2011.

From the PEN International site:

Ayat al-Ghormezi‘s poem: Khalifa

meaning the prime minister of Bahrain, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa

Hear me:
You, the elder,
the “good man”, who “safeguards justice”
(so you have always declared),

if I were to make excuses for you,
I, for you,
for the things you have done,
I would only look the fool,
for you would continue in your ways,
and murder us as “traitors”.

Hear me:
Hear us all, for we all demand likewise –
both sects, all Bahrainis:

You must go.
Take His Majesty with you,
and leave your deeds behind.

You, oppressor,
from where do you derive your power,
the power to keep your people down? –
all your people,
even women
even children
even men.
Yet you call for “dialogue”,
even in the midst of your brutality?

No! … No! …
One word: No!
One demand:
Give us back our Bahrain.
Return this country to its people;
to us, its people.

Our Bahrain is ours.
________________________________________

Translated from the Arabic by Ghias Aljundi with Mitchell Albert

See also here.

Bahrain: Mohammed Al-Tajir is brought before a military court following 5 weeks of incommunicado detention: here.

A Twitter comment on this video from Bahrain:

Riot police prevented a protest in Ma’meer. Freedom of Assembly?

Education in Bahrain has become, not a universal right, but a reward for people who swear allegiance to the tribe: here.

Medical staff and their children are suffering in Bahrain , false confessions, torture and forced to eat excrement: here.

Robert Fisk on madness of the trials against doctors in Bahrain: here. Take action here.