The Deception of the Arab Spring

By Amjad Taha

The Middle East is rapidly changing. Revolutionary change can only be rewarding in times of peace, otherwise becomes a tool in the wrong hands and turns hopes of positive social progression into living nightmares—a valuable lesson learnt from the Arab Spring.

Geopolitical issues are escalating at a rapid pace; every delay in countering Iran via legal international confrontation rather than toothless local condemnations is deemed a lethal failure. As long as the eastern neighbor is on the move, so should we be for when we stop, we fall.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Apr 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524631147

Amjad Taha

Mr Taha, the British Arab journalist, gained his Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies Degree, BA (Hons) from Middlesex University, London, UK. He’s achieved his Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration. Apart from being a multi- lingual journalist who writes, informative and interesting stories that give all involved parties an opportunity to have their say. He’s also had frequent appearances on pan-Arab media news channels, countering the narrative of extremists and their online recruitment, and advocating for stronger laws, policies and regulations, he also worked as consultant & Strategy Analyst for various world Institutions and leaders. In his early years as an NGO reporter and writer with expertise on Middle East Affairs, Amjad has succeeded to work as radio presenter and reporter for UK based Birmingham radio station, UNITY FM where he used to enlighten the British society with Arab affairs; he was the bridge where the west and the east encountered. In his defense of Human rights in the world, Mr Taha came forward as an Interpreter/translator for the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, were he interpreted the pain of all ex-prisoners in Ahwaz to the world. He also was the Head of the London office at IA-IGO –International Association-International Gulf Organization from 2012 till 2013. Amjad worked with Al Arabiya news Channel – PR & social media Executive (SEO Digital Marketing) and investigated documentaries and News in Bahrain from 2012 till 2014. He undertook various world leaders’ interviews for Albayan UAE leading Newspaper and provided France24 with leaked information from Ahwaz prison. Amjad Taha writes for various webpages such as ALARABIYA.NET and has had multiple interviews with all the Arab newspapers and foreign outlets as far as JAPAN TIMES and CNN.

Book preview

2016 Amjad Taha. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/10/2020

ISBN: 978-1-5246-3102-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-3103-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-3114-7 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Dedication

Chapter One: How it all began…

Chapter Two: My first time at Bahrain…

Chapter Three: It all made sense…

Chapter Four: The Arab Spring

Chapter Five: A very different Bahrain…

Chapter Six: Post-Bahrain activism…

Chapter Seven: What comes after spring, is not always summer…

About the Author

Dedication

to you…

אין קיצורי דרך לשום מקום שכדאי להגיע אליו.

There are no short cuts to any place worth going.

image001.png

Chapter One

How it all began…

Amjad make sure you don’t accidentally speak Arabic in school, take care! she told me everyday as I kissed her goodbye. My mother is not an odd woman, nor is she ashamed of our beautiful language, she simply did not want to see her older son arrested and taken away for the horrible crime of being an Arab in a now-Persian occupied land. I did not even know it was a weird advice to tell your child until my teenage years. I had always thought all mothers everywhere asked the same of their children. I had also thought it was normal to have two names or even three in my case.

According to the Iranian regime, It’s a crime to name your child most Arabic names in Ahwaz, especially Islamic ones that did not belong to people inside the prophet’s household and of course it was punishable by death to be named after one of the prophet’s friends like Omar, Abu Baker or Khalid whom as a Sunni Muslim I praised as I grew up hearing their stories of courage and morals. If it wasn’t for the law, I’d be Nedhal today; a name that literally translates to struggle, which best described our lives back in Ahwaz.

It seemed rather schizophrenic to be one person at a place and an entirely different person at another, but for what we knew, it had to be this way. I am being precise when I say I was an entirely different person at school and not exaggerating for the sake of narration by the way. Indeed, I was forced to say I was Persian when I am a descendent of an Arab tribe; forced to say I loved Khamanei when I truly hated the sound of his name; forced to say I was a Shiite when I am a Sunni Muslim. Perhaps I was a child, but like all other Ahwazi children I was rational enough to submit to a fake identity to keep my head attached to my body. Lying for my life was not the hard part for me, perfecting these forced lies by speaking a foreign language I am not familiar with was. Since birth and until my first day in school I knew no language but Arabic, how was I supposed to convince my teachers I was Persian like them? I had to learn how the hard way eventually, with kicks and whips.

I remember the school principle once announced in the morning line that anyone who had a poem was free to step forward and say it aloud. An excited 10-year-old boy I was, I did not miss out that chance to recite my favorite poem. I raised my hand thoughtlessly and breathlessly and soon my teacher asked of me to hold the microphone.

"Mother once said:

Oh children I have a puzzle, who of you can solve it for me?

A coffin coated with candy and crusted with wood.

My sister said: ‘a date!’

Mother hugged her laughingly,

But I choked in my own words and told her ‘No, it is my country’"

I recited it in Arabic filled with passion, completely forgetting everything my mother had reminded me every morning.

I always thought Poet Ahmad Matar well deserved being nicknamed the Arab Nation Conscious, at least the Ahwazi nation. Oh dear Ahwaz you are that candy-coated coffin Matar wrote about, you must to be! Everyone feeds off your oil yet your people are dying of hunger, I told myself. Not all my schoolmates understood the poem, yet they all cheered and shouted Allah Akbar! excitedly because they