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Who Shot Ahmed? A Mystery Unravels in Bahrain's Botched Arab Spring
Who Shot Ahmed? recounts the murder of a 22-year-old videographer, killed in cold blood in the dead of night at the height of Bahrain’s Arab Spring revolution. On a small island Kingdom swirling with political, economic, and sectarian tensions, Ahmed’s murder epitomized everything that had gone wrong since 2011, when pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in droves. Drawing on dozens of testimonies, journalist Elizabeth Dickinson traces the tale of Ahmed’s death and his family’s fearless quest for justice. Darting between narratives and delving into characters, it is a tale of a life lost and the great powers—from Washington to London, and Riyadh to Manama—that did nothing to stop the crisis. Dickinson has a deep knowledge of the region, but she brings a story from a foreign land straight back home: Ahmed could be any of our sons.
Elizabeth Dickinson is an American journalist based in Abu Dhabi. Reporting from five continents, she has served as assistant managing editor at Foreign Policy magazine, Nigeria correspondent for The Economist, as well as contributing Editor at World Affairs and correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor. Her work has additionally appeared in The National, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, and The New Republic. This work is based on her independent investigation and does not represent the views of her employers.
Elizabeth Dickinson is an American journalist based in Abu Dhabi. Reporting from five continents, she has served as assistant managing editor at Foreign Policy magazine, Nigeria correspondent for The Economist, as well as contributing Editor at World Affairs and correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor. Her work has additionally appeared in The National, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, and The New Republic. This work is based on her independent investigation and does not represent the views of her employers.
51 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2013
1 person is currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Dickinson
8 books3 followersElizabeth Dickinson is Gulf Correspondent for The National newspaper, covering the countries of the Arabian Peninsula from her base in Abu Dhabi.
In her previous positions, she has served as assistant managing editor at Foreign Policy magazine and Nigeria correspondent for The Economist. She was contributing Editor at World Affairs and author of the blog UnderReported, as well as correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor prior to joining The National.
Elizabeth is author of Who Shot Ahmed, an ebook chronicling the murder of a 22-year-old videographer, killed in cold blood in the dead of night at the height of Bahrain’s Arab Spring. She is co-editor of the recent book The Southern Tiger, Palgrave MacMillan 2012. Her work has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and the Mail and Guardian, among others.
Elizabeth graduated Cum Laude from Yale University, with a degree in African and International Studies. She has reported from five continents and speaks fluent French, Spanish, and Krio, as well as basic Yoruba and Arabic. You're most likely to find her at the airport -- or on Twitter: @DickinsonBeth
In her previous positions, she has served as assistant managing editor at Foreign Policy magazine and Nigeria correspondent for The Economist. She was contributing Editor at World Affairs and author of the blog UnderReported, as well as correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor prior to joining The National.
Elizabeth is author of Who Shot Ahmed, an ebook chronicling the murder of a 22-year-old videographer, killed in cold blood in the dead of night at the height of Bahrain’s Arab Spring. She is co-editor of the recent book The Southern Tiger, Palgrave MacMillan 2012. Her work has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and the Mail and Guardian, among others.
Elizabeth graduated Cum Laude from Yale University, with a degree in African and International Studies. She has reported from five continents and speaks fluent French, Spanish, and Krio, as well as basic Yoruba and Arabic. You're most likely to find her at the airport -- or on Twitter: @DickinsonBeth
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 21, 2015
Unique and important insight into the forgotten uprising in the tiny state of Bahrain. The Bahrani royal family's move to declare its own citizens as 'stateless' is a seriously wrong move, at a time when the Islamic State is inviting all the disenchanted youth to its cause. The Bahrainis need to have a people's state instead of a feudal state in order to make the IS irrelevant. For how can the world do business with an archaic feudal state like Bahrain and expect the politically improvished Bahrainis to be play along for long?
February 8, 2018
In the midst of the Arab Spring and the consequent few wins and many losses that seen the biggest countries of the Arab world from Syria to Egypt to Libya to Yemen succumb into conflict and dictatorship, the Bahrain Spring went almost unnoticed covered up by the regional events and the burying of any genuine desire for more democratic rule under the political tensions of the Sunni regimes of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and the Shiite one of Iran.
Some speculated that the uprising in Bahrain is only sectarian and, hence, not a genuine gesture to democracy and progress. This was especially the case when sides like Hezbollah in Lebanon, a viciously sectarian militant party, spoke out in support of the uprising in Bahrain while it was fighting to suppress the uprising in Syria.
While the gestures and actions of regional powers will never speak on behalf of the people in the street, those people's actions would. In Bahrain, where a Sunni minority governs a Shiite majority, many stood peacefully and protested against a rising brutal oppression. Ahmed was one of them and he paid for his stance with his life.
This story is does not claim to cover the politics of the country or the region and will give only glimpses of the situation. It is not a history nor is it an analysis. It is merely the story of one young man who took it on himself to cover the images of a popular movement he believed in and received a bullet that killed him in exchange.
Now that the uprising in Bahrain has been crushed and the country pretends to be back to normal, the stories of its people are as important to know as ever if we are to have a day where standing in the street with a camera is a right that cannot be oppressed by the police and their guns.
Some speculated that the uprising in Bahrain is only sectarian and, hence, not a genuine gesture to democracy and progress. This was especially the case when sides like Hezbollah in Lebanon, a viciously sectarian militant party, spoke out in support of the uprising in Bahrain while it was fighting to suppress the uprising in Syria.
While the gestures and actions of regional powers will never speak on behalf of the people in the street, those people's actions would. In Bahrain, where a Sunni minority governs a Shiite majority, many stood peacefully and protested against a rising brutal oppression. Ahmed was one of them and he paid for his stance with his life.
This story is does not claim to cover the politics of the country or the region and will give only glimpses of the situation. It is not a history nor is it an analysis. It is merely the story of one young man who took it on himself to cover the images of a popular movement he believed in and received a bullet that killed him in exchange.
Now that the uprising in Bahrain has been crushed and the country pretends to be back to normal, the stories of its people are as important to know as ever if we are to have a day where standing in the street with a camera is a right that cannot be oppressed by the police and their guns.
May 18, 2021
A quick and easy read about the death of a freelance videographer during the Arab Uprising in Bahrain. This was more of an essay than a book.
Ahmed was a 22 year-old Shi'ite living in the island Kingdom of Bahrain. As he grew up he realized how marginalized he felt as a Shi'ite living in Bahrain. Although the majority of the citizens are Shi'ite, the government, military and royal family are Sunni Muslims. When the Arab Uprising began, Ahmed decided he had to join the movement as a videographer. Having his camera with him always was something he cherished as a young boy. Each night, he would upload his videos of demonstrations to YouTube.
The demonstration on March 31, 2012 was like any other demonstrations but Ahmed was shot in the hip and bleeding profusely. He was carried away from the scene and taken to the local private hospitals and then to the public hospital which was known for arresting demonstrators and doctors who aided them. He died.
The King and government had promised reforms but reneged on their promises. There has been little improvement from this uprising until at least when this was written a couple years later. The government had clamped down on dissidents and even threatening to take away their Bahraini citizenship making them stateless persons.
Good information on the Arab Uprising in Bahrain with its political impacts from the US and Saudi Arabia.
Ahmed was a 22 year-old Shi'ite living in the island Kingdom of Bahrain. As he grew up he realized how marginalized he felt as a Shi'ite living in Bahrain. Although the majority of the citizens are Shi'ite, the government, military and royal family are Sunni Muslims. When the Arab Uprising began, Ahmed decided he had to join the movement as a videographer. Having his camera with him always was something he cherished as a young boy. Each night, he would upload his videos of demonstrations to YouTube.
The demonstration on March 31, 2012 was like any other demonstrations but Ahmed was shot in the hip and bleeding profusely. He was carried away from the scene and taken to the local private hospitals and then to the public hospital which was known for arresting demonstrators and doctors who aided them. He died.
The King and government had promised reforms but reneged on their promises. There has been little improvement from this uprising until at least when this was written a couple years later. The government had clamped down on dissidents and even threatening to take away their Bahraini citizenship making them stateless persons.
Good information on the Arab Uprising in Bahrain with its political impacts from the US and Saudi Arabia.
September 25, 2013
Excellent work of independent journalism. It chronicles the death of one young anti-government protester in Bahrain, using his mysterious death to describe in fairly even-handed detail the political unrest in the country stemming from the Arab Spring. I was aware of the political situation in that country, but in most news coverage the events were largely a footnote on the larger Arab Spring narrative and this was a useful, well-reported piece of journalism that not only explains what happened in Bahrain, continues to happen and why it is so difficult to unravel.
April 23, 2015
A quick read (more of an article, really) that gives a good overview of the Arab Spring and some of the challenges specific to Bahrain. Lousy cover art, though!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews