I'm not sure how much you have been following the situation in Egypt, but here in the Middle East, it's all the latest talk. There are many Egyptians living in Bahrain, including some of my good friends at school. We have all been eagerly following the news updates to see how the situation would be resolved. None of us quite imagined that Mubarak would ever step down, but now that he has, it is an inspiration to many, including people here in Bahrain.We have been hearing rumors for weeks about protests planned for Bahrain. The projected date? February 14. And now that the date is upon us, it seems they are not merely rumors. There are, in fact, protests planned for February 13 and 14. We received a text message informing us of the planned locations of the protests; there are also fliers being passed out on the streets advising people to close their shops and stay home. As far as we can tell, the protests seem fairly well organized and are intended to be peaceful. However, there are many rumors that the protests will not be peaceful. The police are on high alert. Even today as we drove around, there were police everywhere. I've never seen so many police around: parked at intersections, on horses, patrolling the streets; people are getting ready.
The protests are being organized by the youth of Bahrain who are calling for an end to government corruption. They want a constitution by the people ensuring their rights. Here is a website with a statement issued by the Bahraini Youth for Freedom organization. (If you scroll to the bottom, you should get the English Translation):
Please keep the next few days in prayer. We really don't know what is going to happen. We pray that the situation will be resolved peacefully.
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