Bahrain Special: Candles, Balloons, and Molotov Cocktails
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 7:43
James Miller in Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, Bahrain, EA Middle East and Turkey, Fire Balloons, Middle East and Iran, Zainab Alkhawaja

The candle-lit vigil for Mohammed Ebrahim Yaghoob, the latest teenager killed in the uprising, held Monday night in Mehaza village


An EA correspondent reported from Bahrain last night, "On my way to attend a candle-light march in Sitra, Sefala village. We are planning to fly 63 light balloons, the same as the number of martyrs."

Later, the correspondent reported that the march had been disrupted by police:

We got attacked with teargas and stun grenades before we started in Sefala village.

So we have regrouped in Mehaza village now. The march just started with protesters chanting, "down, down, Hamad."

The young organizers came holding....candles and started distributing the candles to protesters before we started marching. While others look for police in case they decide to attack, we are marching inside the village roads. The march is very peaceful and protesters are saying sad slogans in the memory of the martyrs. While we walk and chant, I see a small group of kids writing "DOWN WITH HAMAD" using the candles. [Protesters chanted] "Oh world, hear us, we will not bow."

The march completed peacefully, then we lit the balloons --- 63 balloons representing the martyrs.

An opposition Facebook page posted photos of one of the balloons.

Video of the march through Mehaza village:

According to activist Zainab Alkhawaja, activists gathered earlier outside Jaw prison, where her father Abdulhadi Alkhawaja and other political prisoners are held, in Abu Saiba. Riot police were quickly dispatched to the area, and tear gas was fired. Zainab Alkhawaja claimed that some of the gas was shot inside the prison, where up to 250 prisoners have gone on hunger strike. She said that some prisoners were beaten, and others were moved to solitary confinement.

At this time, it is not possible to confirm these reports.

While demonstrators claim to have remained peaceful, others seem to have retaliated. This video was reportedly taken in Sitra. Activists claim that athe protest was attacked by police, and the youth responded by attacking. At least one youth was injured; there is no word on police casulaties:

Article originally appeared on EA WorldView (http://www.enduringamerica.com/).
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