page_title: Bahraini uprising of 2011
section_title: Lead-up to the protests
hierarchical_section_title: Bahraini uprising of 2011 / Lead-up to the protests
caption_attribution_description: English: Protester in Bahrain in solidarity with the Egyptian uprising
context_page_description: The Bahraini uprising of 2011 was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the Shia-dominant and some Sunni minority Bahraini Opposition from 2011 until 2014. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and 2011–12 Iranian protests and escalated to daily clashes after the Bahraini government repressed the revolt with the support of Gulf Cooperation Council and Peninsula Shield Force. The Bahraini protests were a series of demonstrations, amounting to a sustained campaign of non-violent civil disobedience and later some violent resistance in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain. As part of the revolutionary wave of protests in the Middle East and North Africa following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, the Bahraini protests were initially aimed at achieving greater political freedom and equality for the majority Shia population, and expanded to a call to end the monarchy of Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa following a deadly night raid on 17 February 2011 against protesters at the Pearl Roundabout in Manama, known locally as Bloody Thursday.
context_section_description: Inspired by the successful uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, opposition activists starting from January 2011 filled the social media websites Facebook and Twitter as well as online forums, e-mails and text messages with calls to stage major pro-democracy protests. Bahraini youths described their plans as an appeal for Bahrainis "to take to the streets on Monday 14 February in a peaceful and orderly manner in order to rewrite the constitution and to establish a body with a full popular mandate".
  The day had a symbolic value as it was the tenth anniversary of a referendum in favor of the National Action Charter and the ninth anniversary of the Constitution of 2002. Unregistered opposition parties such as the Haq Movement and Bahrain Freedom Movement supported the plans, while the National Democratic Action Society only announced its support for "the principle of the right of the youth to demonstrate peacefully" one day before the protests. Other opposition groups including Al Wefaq, Bahrain's main opposition party, did not explicitly call for or support protests; however its leader Ali Salman demanded political reforms.
  A few weeks before the protests, the government made a number of concessions such as offering to free some of the children arrested in the August crackdown and increased social spending. On 4 February, several hundred Bahrainis gathered in front of the Egyptian embassy in Manama to express solidarity with anti-government protesters there. On 11 February, at the Khutbah preceding Friday prayer, Shiekh Isa Qassim said "the winds of change in the Arab world [are] unstoppable". He demanded to end torture and discrimination, release political activists and rewrite the constitution. Appearing on the state media, King Hamad announced that each family will be given 1,000 Bahraini dinars ($2,650) to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the National Action Charter referendum. Agence France-Presse linked payments to the 14 February demonstration plans.
  The next day, Bahrain Centre for Human Rights sent an open letter to the king urging him to avoid "worst-case scenario". On 13 February, authorities increased the presence of security forces in key locations such as shopping malls and set up a number of checkpoints. Al Jazeera interpreted the move as "a clear warning against holding Monday's [14 February] rally". At night, police attacked a small group of youth who organized a protest in Karzakan after a wedding ceremony. Small protests and clashes occurred in other locations as well, such as Sabah Al Salem, Sitra, Bani Jamra and Tashan leading to minor injuries to both sides.
caption: Bahrainis expressing solidarity with the 2011 Egyptian revolution on 4 February.
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