Two days were left before the end of Ramadhan and news went around Bahrain that a 17 year old boy had died. Just moments later, an online video went viral that shows exactly what happened. A group of young boys came out of nowhere throwing numerous petrol bombs at police while patrolling a very busy market. In response and self defense, the police shot back.
Just few days before this incident, I posted a ‘Tweet’ on my Twitter account about another incident I personally faced less than a quarter of a mile away from my home. As I was on my way to work out, I came across 4 or 5 kids, I’d say not older than 10 years old, blocking a neighborhood street with burning tires while standing on the sidewalk, apparently waiting for the police to arrive. My lane was not blocked, so I stopped my car about 20 meters away, rolled down the windows and asked them to leave and go back home. They yelled back and said: “Down, Down Hamad.” So I spoke again and reminded them that they are young and that the police will arrive soon and take them away. This is when they began throwing small rocks at me. They were so weak that those rocks barely had some altitude on them. I rolled up my window and just drove away.
If no adult in their community attempted to fix their mentality, but actually blessed their criminal acts, it will only be few years before they stop waiting for the police to arrive, and do what Husam and his friends did, find and attack the police.
The problem we are currently facing in Bahrain with those 16-19 year old boys is that they’re not old enough to know what they’re doing, but strong enough to physically do what any adult can do. This is dangerous, especially if you’re in the position of a policeman. A hooded, built, and armed with a tool that can literally burn you to death is running towards you while you’re on duty to protect yourself and every shopper around you, what can you do? In Bahrain, and just about every country in the world, you have the utmost right to protect yourself and others. We all know, including the biased so-called ‘opposition’ and Husam’s parents, relatives and friends, that what the police have done was legal and legitimate, but the fact that a 17 year old boy have died remains a concern.
Perhaps you shy away from this reality, but the losers from this tragic act are the government and the winners are the opposition. This is PR 101. When we reach this level of lowness, that the opposition contacts almost every media outlet around the world to inform them of yet another mentally instigated death, someone has to step in. Let’s put two together and attempt to analyze the in-between. A video that shows Husam’s mother and relatives saying goodbye right before his burial is posted online where we can hear them thanking Husam for making them proud and asking God to accept him as a sacrifice from them. His father says: “The awaited Mahdi comes first, and Bahrain comes next!”
In one hand, you have a PR loss by the government, and on the other hand, you have families who consider their deceased kids as sacrifice. Someone in between who is opposing the government with high religious status that can brainwash mothers and fathers is actually doing a great job for himself, and perhaps for others who have historical demands towards this lovely island and region.
The other day I had a small chat with a person that is associated with AlWefaq, one of the opposition groups here in Bahrain. He said that whenever he confronts a child causing havoc on street he cannot stop him from his act because the child poses a question that he cannot answer. He said that the child asks: “What else do I do if this government is not offering me justice, equality, freedom, while the wealth of the nation is only going to an elite group of individuals.” I said, “Are you serious?” He said, “Yes, this is the reality we all live in here in Bahrain.”
I excused myself into getting 1 uninterrupted minute and he agreed, so I said: “You’re in your mid 40s and in an Islamic political party, you should have an immediate answer to a young kid that asks such a simple question. Let’s assume all he says is true, your answer should be reminding him as a growing Muslim that he should never answer a bad act with yet another bad act. As an adult, you should say that Islam never teaches destruction and always teaches construction. Can’t you say that?”
He was left speechless while others surrounding us nodded and agreed. But if these youths don’t have leaders that would simply teach them something along what I have mentioned above, should we stay quiet and watch them being converted from humans to PR tools?
Dr. Saqer AlKhalifa 
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