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Bahrain: Ahmadinejad, For And Against

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Bahrain, Iran, Elections, Politics, Protest

Bahrain has many historical [1] and cultural links to Iran. A number of Bahrainis (both Shi'a [2] and Sunnis [3]) have Persian roots and speak Persian, and many of Bahrain's Shi'a community regularly travel to religious sites [4] in Iran. On Bahraini blogs and forums there has been a lot of support expressed for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [5], thanks in particular to his reputation as a clean politician and modest person, but he is not popular with everyone.

Rayyash [6] wanted Ahmadinejad to win:

لطالما تمنيت فوز أحمدي نجاد في الانتخابات الأخيرة وعزز هذا الشعور التغطية الاعلامية لمناصري حسين موسوي ، حيث إعتقد الكثيرين ان الصورة المنقولة هي من احدى دول الجوار وليست من إيران !!! لست من المحبين للاسلوب الايراني في الحياة الاجتماعية بل فاليعذرني البعض لشعوري بعدم اريحية تجاه الايرانيين في مجملهم . قد يكون السبب الرئيسي هو المناكفات والمكاشفات التي مررت بها مع بعض الاخوة من ذوات الاصول الايرانية. والتي كشفت لي بعض الصور السيئة لبعضهم وزيارتي لايران التي تركتها بعد خلافي مع أحد الباعة الذي إدعى بأن البحرين إحدى الجزر الايرانية !! وقد أكليت له ما يستحق من لعنات!!

وعودا الى نجاد المتواضع والنزيه والذي كشف عن ميزة جديدة وهي الشرس !! حيث كشر عن أنيابه في المناظرة التلفزيونية مع خصومة ولكنه لم ينجح لأنه ناقش في الخصوصيات والامور التي لاتمت للسياسة بصلة وهي ضربات تحت الحزام ما كان يتوقعها منافسوه!! ولعلها كشفت بكل جلاء أن في السياسية ترفع جميع الخطط الحمراء والشرعية !!!

I had been hoping for a while that Ahmadinejad would win in the recent elections, and this feeling was reinforced by the media coverage of Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s [7] supporters, as it seemed that the transmitted images were from one of the neighbouring countries and not from Iran! I am no great fan of the Iranian style of social life, and some may forgive me for not feeling comfortable with Iranians as a whole. Perhaps the main reason stems from the conflicts and situations I have been through with some people of Iranian origin, which gave me a bad impression of some of them. In addition a visit I made to Iran ended after a confrontation with a shopkeeper who claimed that Bahrain was an Iranian island! I hurled at him all the curses he deserved!

Returning to the modest and honest Ahmadinejad, we see that he has revealed a new quality, and that is his ferocity! He bared his fangs in the televised debates with his opponents, but he did not succeed as he discussed private matters and issues which had nothing to do with politics, and which were hits below the belt – that his opponents did not expect! This clearly shows that politics removes all boundaries and propriety!

On Bahrain Online, the most popular forum in Bahrain, Tammuz commented before the election results were announced [8]:

فوز نجاد لن في صالح إيران
A win by Ahmadinejad will not be in Iran's interest

On the same thread, Al Shafaq says [8]:

الحمد لله على فوز أحمدي نجاد
كم احب هذا الرجل المتواضع
اتمنى ان يعرف الإيرانيين قدر هذا الرجل
Thank God for Ahmadinejad's win. I really love this humble man. I hope that Iranians appreciate this man

On another thread, Athbat Al Oyoun says [9]:

أحمدي نجاد إنسان متواضع رغم إنه رئيس دوله / فهو يستحق كل الإحترام والتقدير في نظري
Ahmadinejad is a modest man, despite being president; in my opinion he deserves complete respect and appreciation

Ali Abdulemam is no fan of Ahmadinejad [10]:

I used to call Ahmedi Najad the crazy, even when i was in Iran talking with my cousins while we are talking about his politic, i used to call him crazy so i mean no harm to all of you.

honestly i was supporting mir hussain mosavi because i feel Iran will need a presedent like Khatami [11], more freedom, more respect, freedom of choices to be made…this is what i believe not in iran only but in every where in the world, but at the end, we are not iranian, we have to respect this crazy [man] when he come to the power and we have to deal with him for the next four years

I was following the election by persian blogs, thanks god i know persian so it was easy for me , the strange things i discovered is, Najad failed in economic area, and its reflecting the poor people which is the majority in Iran, but the poor majority didn't talk about economy as its one of their criterias , these were talking that Najad is clean, we need to vote for clean people