Must-see Documentary on Bahrain

Be sure to check out this outstanding Al Jazeera documentary that chronicles the peaceful movement for democratic reform in Bahrain and the brutal response from the Bahraini and Saudi governments.

The Bahraini government has essentially kept all international journalists critical of the regime out of the country for months.  Apparently one or two Al Jazeera reporters remained and filmed undercover, without using most of the interviews and footage until now, to avoid being expelled from the country.  The result is a riveting look at a tragedy mostly hidden from the world until now – the facts have been known, but this kind of firsthand video coverage of the faces and personalities in Bahrain that have been systematically and violently targeted for months has until now been unavailable.

Many have criticized Al Jazeera this spring for not giving the Bahraini uprising and the ruthless government response the same kind of coverage it gave Egypt or Libya, presumably because of the the Qatari government’s close ties to Saudi and Bahrain and its membership in the GCC.  Better late than never, though I hope that Al Jazeera-Arabic will soon give Bahrain the same kind of attention that its English counterpart has now done.