Page 205 - Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf_Neat

‘Disorder’, political sociability and the urban public sphere 185

12 The Egyptian ‘connection’: Vice-President Anwar al-Sadat, a close
confidant of Nasser, delivering a speech in Manama for Bahrain’s radio
station, 1956

by the progressive cadres of al-Ha’yah. Triggered by the second Arab–
Israeli war and by the British occupation of the Suez Canal, unrest began
with the disruption of a peaceful demonstration organised in central
Manama. The parade, whose route had been agreed upon with the gov-
ernment and which gathered a majority of the followers of al-Bakir, was
disrupted by rioters, leading to widespread chaos. As unrest continued,
private property owned by foreigners, government buildings, British