Two Wrongs Make a Right

In this age of enlightenment and scientific superiority who would have guessed that humans would reverse it's so called evolution and become spiteful little savages. My guess is that actually this trait has never really left our conscious mind. You don’t believe me? Switch on your TV and flip to any news channel you may prefer and see for yourself. When concerning Arabs on the other hand, we seem to take it to another level altogether.

I'm criticizing my own kind not because I despise myself or where I come from, but because I like to think that you criticize because you care. Regardless of what I think though, it is a major concern to many people that the level of calls for revenge is rising up throughout the Arab world at an alarming rate. We first had some revolutions and protests that have ousted corrupt regimes, and I was standing fully behind it like Tunisia and Egypt. Now we have calls for blood from these noble revolutionaries against their former rulers. I do understand how injured you still are but murdering an old man who was once a symbol for everything you hated will not heal any of your injuries nor will it bring sudden and immediate prosperity to your nations. I still remember the day some fools who call themselves Iraqis murdered Saddam and cheered over his body thinking that they have had the final laugh. In fact what they have done was only for revenge, for they have gladly handed the great nation of Iraq into the hands of the Iranians. Why would they do that? Out of revenge of course. We also saw thousands in Iraq lose their lives over just because they had the unfortunate bad luck of having the wrong name in the wrong neighborhood. Although these same people have been living by each other for decades or even centuries, but the call for revenge have wiped all of this harmony in an instant, to be replaced by bloody calls for holy justice.

What would we expect if Egypt takes its first steps on the slippery road to revenge? I would expect instability that could last for more decades than what Mubarak has ruled over them. What I would expect out of them though is to stop all the calls for revenge and let justice take its course. That would be the surest way of building a formidable nation. Street justice has always been a regrettable fact in nation's histories, so please do learn and avoid this painful lesson. Oh, and don’t try and fool yourselves with false justice and false trials, thinking that your conscious have been purified, for two wrongs do not make a right, no matter how you try to shape it. Facing fire with fire is not an option anymore.

Finally I will have to touch upon my country. Bahrain is obviously going through what I can only call a tough rebirth, and it is up to us ordinary citizens and those who love Bahrain to insure that the child will not be a deformed monster. I do not call on government to act, nor have I ever called for any government to act, because I'm a firm believer in human power to change all that is around him or her. This power, if put into good use, will be our salvation to a better Bahrain. A Bahrain that knows no revenge and knows only justice.

Dear Father

I write to you this letter today during one of my most desperate times of my life. As your son I have nowhere else to go to other than God then you. I hope you can have enough time to read my letter and listen to my heart's rhythm. I believe that you already do understand me without the need to write down a single letter.

Throughout my life I have always found it that your presence is a reliable anchor whenever I run through troubled waters. Being your son, and carrier of your genes, I have learned to face life with an open chest, just like you. Adding to that I have gotten from you the knowledge of accepting all that life deals to your hand. I have also learned to love to live life as it is, and to reap all its benefits without stepping on anyone's shadows. All of these virtues and much more I carry within me, but what if it's just too overwhelming to stand against? What if life places hurdle after hurdle after pothole in your way? I'm sure that you would immediately tell me off and ask me to be stronger, but my life energy is not an everlasting well. I have had no time recently to charge my batteries so to speak, yet it's getting increasingly difficult to cope with all that is against me.

You have always provided for me, and that includes both physical and mental provision. I cannot thank you enough for that. However, what I need now is a wall to lean on and take my breath for a few seconds before my next round with life. I need your laughter to elevate my soul into the skies. I need your soothing words to give me strength of heart. I also need your piercing look to set things straight in my head. I can find all of these qualities in me when I need them, but it seems different coming from you. It feels different, reassuring and stronger coming from you. Of course I must not forget my mother's supreme qualities that found their way in my soul that also provide much sustenance in times of need. Her superhuman strength, her determination, her resolve and her piety takes away all of life's fears. I am truly blessed by God for having such gifts in my life. I envy the place you are in now, for it has your overwhelming presence and is surely full of your joyful laughter.

Dear father, I know that an seeking an answer from you is an impossible thing to ask, but please try and seek permission from heaven to hold me close to you one last time. It's been such a long time.

May God rest your blessed soul in peace.

Your dreaming son,

Mohammed

Ebrahim Saad Alrumaihi – passed away on the 7^th of December 1994

Justice for the 96

It was a wonderful day on the 15^th of April 1989, a great day for a football game. We (Liverpool FC) are playing Nottingham Forest FC for the FA Cup semifinal on a neutral ground that belonged to Sheffield Wednesday. The stadium was called Hillsborough. On that fateful day many Liverpool fans went to see their team, but 96 of them never came back home. This is a fictional story about one supporter.

I woke up today dreaming of reaching the final to the FA Cup, but Nottingham could well be a considerable obstacle. Nevertheless I have great confidence in my team. We are the envy of the world after all. I got up, showered and got dressed, wearing my Liverpool shirt, and ate a meal. I'm ready to go now with the guys, I hope I'm not late, or actually I hope that im not too early. My wife gave me a warm kiss and a hug and told me to take care, while my mum sat there smiling and drinking her tea. I go over to her and give her a kiss on the forehead. Just before I stepped out, my wife ran after me with my Liverpool scarf that I forgot lying on the dining table. She wraps it around my neck and I give her another kiss goodbye. As soon as I'm out I see my friends waiting in the car right in front of my house waiving their scarves and already singing our club's songs, I get in and join them immediately without saying hi. We drive to Hillsborough laughing and singing on the way, we can almost feel that today is a very special day. As soon as we park our car and come out we are joined by other bands of friends walking their way to the stadium. Some are already buzzed with drink to set their moods high, while some do not need any drink to feel excited, like me.  It looks like half the population of Liverpool is here to watch the game, and I wouldn’t blame any of them. How are all those going to fit in the stadium, I have no clue. As soon as we reach the gates of the stadium we hear people angry that the police have told them to turn back and leave all because they haven’t got any tickets. Normally there would be a chance to buy tickets from the stadium itself, but the police today are really acting like idiots. Luckily we show them our tickets and go inside.

We go in just in time for the start of the game, and we start to wonder that the stadium is already full, so how are those waiting outside will get in? Suddenly and without warning we feel that people are being pushed inside more and more and we feel the push on us as well. I look to the back and see that thousands are being let in. Don’t they realize that this side is already full? What are they doing? The small push becomes a shove and then it becomes a squeeze. I get pushed all the way to the front where the cage is standing. I start to feel the crush of thousands on my body, and the air starts to get squeezed out of my lungs. I scream to my friends but I can't see them anywhere. People all around me start to panic and scream to those at the back to stop. It's no use; no one can hear our desperate shouts. I try to climb the cage but my legs feel like a ton with the weight of all these thousands coming down on me. I can hear my heart pounding in my ear and my breathing is getting weak. I can hear the cries and shouts of so many people around me. I can see tears running down some of their faces while some are screaming their lungs out trying to find their loved ones. I can see that those in the middle are being raised by the supporters on the upper level, but still we at the front feel the crush on our bodies. I and several men at the front try to break the cage or shake it loose but it's no use, it's not moving. Whoever built this cage must have had elephants in mind, it's impossible that it was built to safe to humans. I'm starting to lose breath fast, and my hearing becomes distorted. The view around me is gradually getting darker. I can hear my heart pounding out of my ear drums and I scream one last time to save us, but to be honest I don’t think I could have heard my own voice. I feel another push but to the sides and I open my eyes to see that a cage came down to my left, but it's too far for me. I feel weak and my legs crumble like chopsticks holding up an ox. I feel people's legs kicking me trying to reach that opening to save their lives. I try to reach out with my hands but no one look at me. Someone just stepped on my belly, another has kicked my nose, and I can feel warm blood coming out of my nose. All I can see is a forest of legs all rushing to reach an exit, and not minding me lying there desperate. I try to take a breath but to no use. I feel people stepping on me but I can't feel any pain anymore. It's getting darker, and colder than normal. I can feel it now. I close my eyes and let go. The last image I can see clearly is me in the dining room with my wife and mum.

I wrote this story as a way to communicate the tragedy of Hillsborough to the world. Along with the 96 who passed away, there were more than 700 injured at that fateful day. Instead of writing a report on the disaster I thought that a fictional story based on these events would better draw a picture of how such a disaster should not be taken lightly. The oldest who passed away was 67, while the youngest was only 10.  They will never be forgotten in the minds of Liverpool FC supporters and football fans in general.You can find out much more just by searching the internet and many videos in youtube as well. RIP96

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTDiyX3fEQs

Poem! Really!?

Okay, don't laugh, but this is my first attempt at writing poetry, so do take it with a pinch of salt and do give me a break. Without further ado, here it is.

Love me Softly

Softly my love, you always stroke my

Hands softly. Your deep eyes, I can sink endlessly

In and lose myself. Singing voices that entraps the Sirens

Of the seven seas. I find myself when I’m near you,

I find a piece of heaven dropped from a lost angel.

Softly my love, you smile softly down on my wounded

Broken soul. A smile that hides within it the joy

Of the six continents and the oceans deep,

Simple joy that the world need in darker times.

Like water your soul soothes my hardened spirit,

Makes it grow and reach the heavens to pray.

Softly my love, I die in your love so softly,

Like the sweetest breeze coming to take my soul away

From my peeling skin. I need your breath to take my heart

And smile to take my frown.

Softly my love, so softly you weep holding me close,

I lie there my soul shattered with every sob. I survive

Everyday for you and only you.  This innocent soul that

If not for fear of blasphemy would rise to rise with the saints.

Softly my love, softly I die fading in your essence,

Dreaming of your sweet smile upon me. Your breath

Eases my soul away into heaven, into oblivion

Waiting to unite with you. No heavenly maidens for me,

Only you and your sweet embrace I need.

Love me more, for your love will always be more

Than this world can fill. Love me softly, my sweet Love.

This Poem is dedicated to this special person that inspired me so deeply.

Blacklisted

It is a sad day indeed to witness such a series of events where I live. I have only read in history books about such events and would never in my wildest dream think that this could possibly happen in Bahrain. I'm of course talking about the new Inquisition. This latest witch hunt is claiming the minds of everyone these days. How on earth would a civilized society descend so far as to reestablish those dreadful, medieval practices? I wouldn’t know.

The USA has witnessed two similar occurrences of systematic chaotic persecution, where everyone was a suspect even the judge himself. The first was the infamous Salem Massachusetts witch hunt between 1692 and 1693. It claimed numerous lives all in the name of religious extremism which escalated into mass hysteria and eventually fatal lapses in justice. The other similar event took place in the US was in the late 1940s at the time where a certain Senator Joseph McCarthy proclaimed himself champion to defend the US against any and all soviet infiltration and espionage. You could imagine that the two events did not differ in the outcome although they were separated by more than 300 years. Also I have intentionally brought up the US as an example to make it clear that no society is immune to this turn of events unless the community itself fights it. Sadly we are seeing something similar to this happening in our beloved Bahrain. I believe it did not reach the point of executions, although it did touch upon the point of mass hysteria. I see people, sane people, turn into Spanish inquisitors, investigating everything, even fantasy stories all in the name of protecting Bahrain. I also see workplaces being split and turning into a place where old files are reopened to audit every single error, even a misplaced full stop would be investigated it seems. We should take a close look and see that most investigations are being initiated or raised by disgruntled employees or rival managers to further their own agendas. This abusing of investigative power is never going to heal our society, nor will it root out any problem let me assure you of that. On the contrary it will grow into a wild beast that can potentially be out of control by those who started it.

To brand someone "traitor" is an extreme thing, and I believe it should never be taken lightly. Sadly though people now joke about the word, but I ask them to restrain themselves and apply justice in its entire means by investigating and persecuting but without harming society in the process. In ages past an infection in the arm for example will force the doctor to amputate the whole arm just to save the rest of the body, but nowadays medicine has reached such a point of advancement that rarely would we see such a measure being taken on a patient. The same thing I would ask of Bahrain, I would ask them to use any means legal to persecute justice, but to have justice as their main goal.

The US is never proud of having those two previous events into its pages of history, but it still puts them there for children to learn from their forefather's mistakes and redeem their error by not committing the same mistakes. A society that lives in fear is no society at all, it is then reduced to its basic element, which is wilderness. So let us not descend into wilderness and instead discourage the act of pointing fingers at other, for you never know when the same fingers will be pointed at you.