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182 Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

the new egalitarian, participatory and cross-confessional character of the

movement. Ordinary people from all walks of life from the villages and

towns of Bahrain addressed crowds in the mosques and ma’tams of

Manama on matters of national concern. 85

The autonomy of civil society was further underscored by the creation

of popular arenas where al-Hay’ah influenced public opinion. The leaflets

and bulletins circulated by the organisation affected the life of ordinary

Manamis to an unprecedented extent. Bulletins became part of public

policy, distributed simultaneously to the population and to the govern-

ment. Announcements by the central committee were drafted, circulated

and read aloud in the streets by al-kashshafah (boy scouts), which func-

tioned as the right arm of the movement. Manama’s boy scouts became

instrumental in the organisation of strikes by canvassing popular support

house to house and by inciting shopkeepers to close their business in the

markets. Their white uniforms became the symbol of the peaceful cre-

dentials of the nationalist cause until they were constituted as a para-

military organisation in June 1956. 86

After the Egyptian revolution of 1952, radio became another form of

egalitarian political acculturation. The broadcasts of Sawt al-‘Arab from

Cairo propagated the anti-imperialist message of Nasser, the iconic Pan-

Arab leader who also started to target Belgrave and British imperialism in

Bahrain directly. Regardless of status and education, Nasserist propa-

ganda entered the heart and minds of Arab residents. Manama’s coffee
shops gathered large crowds of listeners, and in poor Sunni neighbour-
hoods with no public facilities radio broadcasts increasingly shaped the

activities of the majlises of influential members of the community. In al-

Hurah, one of the new popular quarters of Manama, personal consulta-
tion and collective gatherings in affluent houses started to be defined by
the times of broadcasts as radio sets made their appearance in both out-
87
door and indoor reception areas (see Figure 11).
With organised protests, political rallies and labour boycotts, a new
culture of urban violence emerged, particularly among Shi‘i youths. This
culture expressed the social alienation and economic dislocation of a
poorly paid or unemployed workforce. It is worth noting that until
the 1960s the modern educational system offered inadequate technical
85
al-Bakir, Min al-Bahrayn, pp. 62–3; Khuri, Tribe and State in Bahrain, pp. 201–2.
86
Interviews with Muhammad Ja‘far Muhsin al-‘Arab and Khalifah Ahmad Sulaybikh,
Manama, 10 and 17 April 2004; interview with Rashid al-‘Urayfi, Muharraq, 12 April
2004; Belgrave Diaries, 15 August and 8 November 1956, AWDU.
87
Interview with Khalifah Ahmad Sulaybikh, Manama, 17 April 2004; interview with
Rashid al-‘Urayfi, Muharraq, 12 April 2004.