After 7 years of incursion into Bahrain & 3 years war on Yemen

Next Lucture
Next Lucture

Open Discussions

in association with

Gulf Cultural Club

invites you to a Discussion titled:

After 7 years of incursion into Bahrain & 3 years war on Yemen

Saudi Arabia; the religious and political wars within

Speakers

*Sami Ramdani (Academic)

**Sam Walton (Quaker activist)

***Jawad Fairooz (Former Bahraini MP)

****Andrew Smith (Campaign Against Arms Trade, CAAT)

*****Lyndon Peters (Campaigner for rights in the UAE)

The Middle East is in turmoil, and has been in this state for decades. In addition to the Palestinian crisis, new fronts have contributed to the volatility of the region. ISIS has played a role, but state players have probably contributed more to the instability. The Arab Spring may be considered a turning point. Counter-Revolution forces entered the fray with vengeance. Led by Saudi Arabia, they have caused enormous mayhem in an already unstable environment. The Saudi and Emirati military incursion in Bahrain in mid-March 2011 marked a new era in Saudi pre-emptive policies against any democratic transformation. Three years ago the two countries waged relentless war on Yemen, causing death, spreading disease and causing “worst humanitarian crisis in modern times.”

 Where are the Saudis going? What are the plans of the “reformist” crown prince? And why have the US and UK adopted the Saudi war on Yemen?

 6.30pm, Tuesday, 13th March 2018

Venue: Abrar House, 45 Crawford Place, W1H 4LP

 

*Sami Ramadani  is a senior lecturer in Sociology. He worked at the London Metropolitan University and other institutions. Sami was born in Iraq and became an exile from Saddam Hussein’s regime in 1969. He is a contributor to “The Guardian” on Iraq and the Middle East. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the Stop the War Coalition. He opposed Saddam’s regime, but campaigned against the war of aggression on his country and opposed the sanctions imposed on the Iraqi people (1991-2003).

** Sam Walton is an activist within the Quakers Movement in UK. He is also active against the arms trade, wars and human rights violations. He took several personal initiatives to challenge war-mongers and arms trade.

***Jawad Fairooz  is chairman of Salam for Democracy and Human Rights. He is a former Member of Parliament in Bahrain and chairman of public utilities and the environment committee.  From 2002 to 2006 he was an elected councilor and vice-chairman of the Northern Municipality Council. Jawad was one of the founders of Al-Wefaq Society, a political opposition party and a board member from 2001 to 2012.  He is graduate with a degree from USA and he practiced his career as Electrical Engineer since 1986. He was detained in 2011 and severely tortured. He currently lives in exile in London since November 2012, and was one of the first batch of Bahrainis forcibly stripped of their nationality.

 

****Andrew Smith is a spokesperson for Campaign Against Arms Trade. He is a supporter of Bahraini human rights and democracy, and has worked for CAAT since 2014. Andrew has written for a range of publications, including the Independent, The Guardian and Huffington Post.

*****Lyndon Peters is a research intern at the International Campaign for Freedom in the UAE. He graduated with a BSc in International Politics from City University London in 2014, then he graduated with a Post Graduate Diploma in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at King’s College London in 2016. The main focus of his research is on the political, economic and military relationship between the UK and the UAE, and how this relationship has an adverse effect on human rights in the UAE and the wider Gulf region.

Admission is Free. Please register for catering purposes – email: d05sa@yahoo.co.uk or text 07795 660 438

 

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