First and foremost I would like to congratulate Egypt on its recent milestone in its long and illustrious history, but c'mon people, not every country are Egypt. Believe it or not, I had to escape to the desert just to have some peace and quiet to be able to write this piece. I'm talking about noise coming from young men who abused the chance to show support to His Majesty by skidding and showing off their newest and loudest cars in a residential area. I have to write about the on-going struggle to reclaim our residential area sometime.
Imagine being in the middle of the last part of a circus when all the jugglers, animals, clowns are out and you not knowing where is the exit. I find myself stuck in the middle regarding the new wave of protests in Bahrain. On one hand there are the protesters who felt very emboldened by the recent victory of Egypt's protesters to mount their own version of revolution. I definitely do not support them in any way, shape or form. On the other hand, there are His Majesty's supporters who in majority I relate very much to, but I would like to refer to those who mindlessly would like to show their support but in an uncivilized way. I would like to think of myself as someone who belongs to the majority of Bahrainis who support the current government but would love to see more improvement in all aspects in Bahraini life. This doesn’t mean that we would go to the streets and demand all our wishes to come true by force, simply because there are tools set up by the constitution to initiate any change or improvement we deem possible.
The daily ritual of checking twitter, facebook and Aljazeera is becoming tedious by the moment. You can almost feel that the media moguls are rubbing their grubby little hands in glee planning ahead where their next revolution is going to happen. It's become clear that the recent revolutions, with the exception of Tunis, are supported by the global media. Mind you it's not to benefit the population but rather to help raise their stock points. I'm not much into conspiracy theories so it is futile to argue this previous point, but it does remain arguable. I also cannot argue that some Arab countries have become obsolete and a need for change is just what the doctor would prescribe, but Bahrain is another case altogether due to so many reasons like its importance to the fifth fleet, it's daily refinement of oil to the global market, and that those protests are sectarian in nature just to name a few reasons to distinguish Bahrain from the "Arab Spring".
Since 2002, the King and the government have been insisting on one shared focal point, which is to embolden the Bahraini citizens. That would mean that it is up to the citizen now to have the knowledge and tools to improve his/her life standards. That brings up an important aspect, knowledge. You as citizens need to know your rights, your obligations and the tools to use, no one is going to go out of their way to install this information for you, and it is your first duty as citizens to seek this kind of knowledge. I constantly hear people complain about things that would be within their power to change like their economic standings. Bahrain is not an oligarchy, we are not ruled by business men who twist the country to fatten their bank accounts, we live in a free opportunity country where all can have their chance even more with the newly set up "Tamkeen" which free market economies would look at as a kind of an advantage tool. I should like to mention that none of the GCC countries have so many tools to help entrepreneurs, so you see it cannot be a simple economic demand on part of the protesters. This reasoning also goes out to those who support the King; the best way to support His Majesty is to make his reforms a success and not a simple footnote in the history of Bahrain, by participating and helping the government and the parliament lead us into an even better future, not by jingoism.
Finally we all need to turn our minds on after being mesmerized for so long by the images we are fed from the media and dust our books, be it physical or electronic books and know our rights and duties to our beloved country. His Majesty realizes that in order to have a bright future is to involve all Bahrainis with the process of decision making. Long past is the time where a single man can decide for a nation, simply because nations are much smarter than they used to be back in the dark ages. Sectarianism and jingoism will only lead us to the path of a beloved cousin by the name of Lebanon. I can certainly go on and on, but finally I salute you Your Majesty.
"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
John F. Kennedy 35th President of the United States
*graffiti by Banksy
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