Monday, February 21, 2011

Bahrain: Je t'aime (moi non plus)

Are they nuts? Or just plain insensitive?... The French Week 2011 in Bahrain is going to take place starting February 23rd. The ads have been all over the television... Its logo? Bahrain Je t'aime (Bahrain I love you) as shown above. But whereas it is known that such events take weeks, if not months to prepare, the media glitz was prepared in advance - but considering the major political events that are happening in Bahrain (such as the call for a constitutional monarchy, the call for democratic rights and so forth) all of which are values so dear to the French... Wasn't it more judicious to actually postpone the whole thing? I don't think playing petanque or preparing boeuf bourgignon is quite suitable while people are claiming "liberte, egalite, fraternite" values which supposedly are dear to the French... Or perhaps off to the guillotine with all those silly Bahrainis at Dawar Al Lulua (which features prominently in the tv ad by the way) because "Carrefour hypermarket and others such as Al Jazira will highlight a fantastic range of traditional French products as well as conducting special promotions and raffles throughout the period." And get this - forget democracy - a "Peugeot 308CC to be won." Who would want things such as transparency, accountability, when you can cruise in a Peugeot 308CC".... So Birkin and Gainsbourg were right "Je t'aime, moi non plus"...

4 comments:

Danielle said...

I love reading your commentary Tarek..I really do! Bahrain: Je t'aime!

Diane said...

A few years ago, the Francophonie Summit or something similar had been indeed re-scheduled in Beirut. So ce n'est pas impossible.
At least one typical French food item will probably not be promoted: saucisson!

Anonymous said...

Dear Blogger,
As one of the people who helped birth the idea and create the event I feel that I need to clear some falsities up.
We are not nuts or insensitive, neither are we psychic. Not us nor the world predicted the events that transpired starting February 14th, and therefore as 'judicious as it would be to postpone the media glitz'...it was out of our hands, ads were up around Bahrain, and already televised around the Middle East.

There were more important matters for people to be concerned about, such as the safety and well-being of both themselves and their families, one might not have trivial matters on their minds such as the removal of an ad that might have offended such a blogger as yourself.
If you had read more about the matter you should be aware that OBVIOUSLY all events were not only postponed but cancelled.
Under normal circumstances, an event such as French Week which you seem to mock (activities such as petanque, prizes such as a Peugeot 308) are a much-welcomed time; they gather the community to celebrate different cultures, different people. One might not think this to be a bad thing in Bahrain, no?

Next time, sir, before you sit on your computer, and blurb insensitive comments about the mental state of the well-meaning event planners, participants and Bahraini people who are loyal to Bahrain and pray for it's peace, you might want to cut the sarcasm because THAT VERY saying during THAT VERY time was exactly what people needed to see and hear on the streets....then and now 'BAHREIN JE T'AIME'...

Tarek Chemaly said...

First, if you are so proud of your opinions, how come you decided to remain "anonymous"? Besides, I was not mocking French week per se, I was mocking the fact that ads were airing on channels like TV5 Monde (je suis francophone a propos!) while three minutes later the Bahrain headlines were in the news. Come to think about it, how about organizing a French week in France? It seems that specific nation needs such an even to "gather the community to celebrate different cultures, different people"... Think about it!