Bahrain
by BuRajaa on Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 3:49am
This is not an “event.” People are dying. This is not people sitting down behind computers creating Facebook pages, and promoting them on Twitter. It’s blood, it’s real and it’s scary.
I never had intentions of writing about politics, or interfering or even stating my opinion over the Internet because I thought it was irrelevant. But I want to now. Where does one start? Do you talk about the divide that cuts through Bahrain? Or do you blame the ignorance and fear we have towards each other?
Let’s take a step back together, a few days ago protests were staged and I thought, here we go again. This is all they do on this island. And then two people died. Now it does not matter if you perceive the young men that died to be martyrs or not, the fact remains that human life was lost. Bahraini citizens lost their lives. Regardless of your religious orientation, or political inclination that news must have made you feel the need to be sad.
That’s when I started reading about what the protestors wanted. A constitution written by the people, like the one written in 1970's that was absolved. A more representative government that can be held accountable to the people’s elected officials. And finally the protestors asked for equality between the country’s citizens.
What happened next was that an already divided country of Sunni’s and Shiite’s was divided even more. Now there was the question if you were “pro-government” or “anti-government?” One Twitter user posts that the greatest enemies of Bahrain today would be those that use rhetoric that would create a larger rift within society. So far that I say well done, well done to those responsible for emphasizing the concept of “us” and “them.”
I have come to understand that humans have a tendency to fear what we cannot understand. In my opinion I believe that had the people that got into their cars in spite of the protestors and honked their horns around town really understood what the protestors were asking for then they would not have felt the need to do so. I know that some of the protestors were chanting to overthrow the Ruling Family, but those people were a very small minority.
It doesn’t matter what I think about what the protestors’ motives were. And it doesn’t matter what you think either, because at this point our brothers are dying. Bahraini’s are allowing the death of other Bahraini's.
I am overcome with a sense of frustration that I find difficult to explain. We live in the same land, we drink the same water, we eat the same food, we play the same games and we swim in the same sea. Yet we find a way to distance ourselves from each other by simply adding a hyphen. I am a Sunni-Bahrain, Shiite-Bahraini, Saudi-Bahraini, Iraqi-Bahrain, Irani-Bahraini. Who cares? I don’t. The people that are hurting outside are brothers of mine, and I will pray for them before I go to sleep tonight, and when I wake up tomorrow. Not because I agree or disagree with their protest, but because they are my brothers. And I do sympathize with them.
I grew up with the belief that Bahrain was the greatest country in the region, and I still think so. While our neighbors were in tents, our women were driving cars. While nomads roamed all over the gulf, Bahrain was a thriving civilization. Dilmun, Aradus, Awal, Tylos, don’t all these different dynasties mean anything to you?! Our land is so beautiful that the Greeks wanted part of it, so did the Portuguese, and the English after them. And what do we do now that we have it all to ourselves? How do we honor our forefathers that are buried in this land? By allowing this to escalate to this extent.
Sure today Bahrain does not have as much as oil its neighbors. The land is not as fertile as it used to be. And yes our country has yet to win a Gulf Cup. But I’m still proud to be a Bahraini, and if I were not than I would wish I were a Bahraini. Our strength as a country comes in our differences, and our tolerance to accept those differences, and learn from each other, and live together.
Something good can still come out of this. We have diversity that others would pay to have. This is an opportunity for us to prove to the world that we can live together and that we refuse to become another Iraq or Lebanon torn in different directions. I have faith in our leadership, and I hope you do to. But I have more faith in our citizens. People that grew up walking the same streets, singing the same songs and watching the same shows can and should come together.
Today Bahrain is at its worse, and the only way up is for us to embrace each other as equals. Wake up and look around you. Look at the faces of your loved ones, listen to their voices over the phone, and you will understand the sorrow that we all share right now. Once this is over we will build on a stronger foundation.
Please do your research, read, ask and listen. It is your responsibility to educate yourself and avoid listening to hearsay.
God save Bahrain, it’s King and it’s citizens from any harm.
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