Page 206 - Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf_Neat

186 Histories of City and State in the Persian Gulf

enterprises and the Catholic Church in Manama were burnt or severely
damaged. British and European residents were evacuated from the market
area, while petrol stations were targeted and menacing crowds marched in
front of the British political residency and of Belgrave’soffice shouting
anti-British slogans. 94
By the end of 1956 mob violence and sectarian resurgence had become
enmeshed with the potent nationalist and anti-imperialist rhetoric of
al-Ha’yah. In this respect, the organisation was fairly effective as a broad-
based movement of urban political protest. Yet the front of popular mobi-
lisation was clearly divided and violence had become an essential tool for
political protest. These divisions limited the effectiveness of al-Ha’yah as a
modern political organisation and contributed to seal its fate in November
1956.

The limits of national space
In the tense climate which characterised British imperial politics in the
Arab Middle East during the Suez crisis, the riots of 1956 precipitated
British military intervention in Bahrain and the disbanding of al-Ha’yah,
only a few months after the organisation had received official recognition
from the government. Members and followers of al-Ha’yah still attribute
the collapse of national ‘resistance’ to the evils of military intervention as
British troops entered Manama in November 1956. British intervention
gave further credit to a long-standing tradition in Manama’s political
culture, that of blaming ‘foreigners’ for the evils which befell the town.
It is true that in the following decades British support allowed the govern-
ment to create a ‘national security’ sphere which posed severe constraints
95
on the activities of clubs and political associations. Yet the nationalist
and anti-imperialist lore which surrounds the turbulent popular politics of
1954–6 has tended to underplay the shortcomings of Arabism and Pan-
Arabism as ideologies of popular mobilisation able to appeal to the cos-
mopolitan and communitarian tradition of Manama.
The archetypal nationalist logic of the ideologues of al-Ha’yah, partic-
ularly that of al-Bakir, shows the limits posed by Arabism in transforming
Manama into a cohesive national space. While claiming to champion the
interests of Bahraini nationals (al-wataniyyun), the political community
94
Political Resident Bahrain to Foreign Office, 4 March 1956, FO 371/120544 PRO; al
Bakir, Min al-Bahrayn, pp. 105, 116; Belgrave Diaries, 2 March and 1–3 November 1956,
AWDU; Khuri, Tribe and State in Bahrain, p. 104.
95
al-Bakir, Min al-Bahrayn, pp. 112, 189–90 and 125–50; Khuri, Tribe and State in
Bahrain, p. 104; Interview with Murad Jasim, Manama, 18 April 2004; Rumaihi,
Bahrain, pp. 220–29.