HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS AND HIS SPECIAL BEACH

Dearest Friends,

Here's one quick paragraph about politics in Bahrain, as it might help you to have a little background information.  In the 70's, when we were there, the ruler was Sheikh Isa bin Sulman al-Khalifa -- a very interesting fellow.  He came to power in 1961, upon the death of his father.  In 1970 he formed a twelve-member Council of State, to oversee the many governmental departments that he and his father had created.  That same year, after the British government announced its intention to withdraw its military forces from the Gulf, many emirs from the southern Gulf states got together to try and form some type of federation, but you know what that's like, trying to get everyone to agree on anything!  Finally the Bahraini leader gave up, and instead issued a Declaration of Independence, after which Bahrain was admitted to the Arab League and the United Nations.  The Council of State became a Cabinet, and its president became Prime Minister.  In '73, when the newly elected members of the new National Assembly met for the first time (only men had been allowed to vote), Bahrain became a democratic, constitutional Emirate.

Of course, I didn't really know much about politics back then, and as far as I could tell, it still looked like the Sheikh pretty much ran the whole shebang...well, him and his huuuuge extended family.  But maybe I was wrong.  Remember that fancy white building with the gold dome that I posted a picture of earlier?  The one I thought might have been our hotel, or possibly a mosque or palace?  Well, as it turns out, it was the Guest Palace, built in 1954,  and it was just used for state banquets and the accommodation of visiting heads of state and other notables.

Here is the Sheikh's Palace, out at West Rifaa.  It was built in 1932 by his father.  As with many of the British monarchs of old, it is a longstanding tradition that every Bahraini has the right of access to the Emir, so here at his palace he held open receptions every other day, which anyone with a petition to submit or a problem to be solved could attend.

I'm sure he did a lot of good, and cared deeply about his country and people, but there was one thing that I found very odd.  You see, the Sheikh had this beach, a private beach that no Bahrainis were allowed to use, only expats.  I thought it was pretty cool at first.  It was the nicest beach around, with lounge chairs and umbrellas, and periodically little waiters would come around and serve us Pepsi and a snack.  But then I started hearing stories about how the Sheikh was sitting somewhere above us, observing all the expats in their skimpy swimsuits, and when he saw someone "interesting", he would send a messenger down to invite them to one of his special private parties.  If he found you to be really, really interesting, you might come away from this party with an extra special, extravagant gift.  I found that hard to believe.  Of course, back then I was a total innocent, and probably would not have believed anyone who tried to tell me what was going on behind the scenes with many of our American presidents and senators, either.