More than a decade has passed since the Bahraini revolution’s outbreak in February 2011, and the fire has not died out, despite official repression efforts. What took place, though itself an experience rich 

in profundity, is not singular: it is only a fulfillment of a series of rites that occur almost every 10 years. The ceremony is not complete, however, and the ruling family’s policy, rooted in tyranny, corruption, and the denial of human rights, is but the igniting flame of the cyclical process. The ruling family’s insistence on running the state in a fickle manner, the consolidation of powers in its hands, and the deprivation of people the right to build the state and its institutions all add to the recurrence.

 It is unfortunate that in repetition there is not learning, and the same detrimental policies are writonce again, with the same notes of anger and revolution chanted once more. 

What set the February Revolution apart from the  previous iterations and increased its visibility may be thanks to the Internet?.

 The various form of new media lifted images from one part of the world and relayed them to the rest – and, as messenger, communicated both the acts of heroism, will, and steadfastness, and acts of bloodshed and martyrdom, a memorialization of the dozens of innocents, men, women, children, young and old.

 Thousands suffered from arbitrary arrests, torture, and violent harassment at the hands of armed forces, comprised of many officers who were not Bahraini and who were transported by the authorities to act as mercenaries to damn participation in peaceful protesting. 

It is a revolution worth reading, but it is not one without sacrifice. It is necessary to pay tribute and appreciation to everyone who participated in that popular revolt, a flame still aflicker today, after more than 10 years. 

Tribute belongs to God - glory be to Him - and thanks to the will and sacrifices of the struggling people, the blood of the righteous martyrs, where dozens of men, women and children have fallen – in addition to the detainees and detainees, for they are the heroes who deserve to be glorified.

May God have mercy on the righteous martyrs and accept the sacrifices of the detainees. He inspired their families with patience and steadfastness. May God hasten the healing of the wounded and injured, and the release of the detainees and detainees.

The Ruling Family’s Brutality

The peaceful revolution of the Bahraini people has revealed the extent of the brutality of the Bahraini government and the Gulf governments that are ready to use the most brutal methods of oppression by all military means, even if said military is foreign and ready to be deployed against the indigenous people peacefully protesting and demonstrating.

What remains for violence if it is used against peace – and what remains to happen to the peaceful, if they resort to violence?.

 Inevitably, the blood of the innocent will be shed, and the land will be scorched for the power to rule.

The International Community’s Scandal

The heinous crime by the ruling family in Bahrain further exposed others; members of the international community that declare their support of human rights and democracy but who stood in grave silence at the Bahraini atrocities. 

It exposed states beyond the Gulf and Arab states, of countries lying outside the specific geographic region and their failure to speak in the face of oppression and tyranny.

For the Gulf community, the heroic acts of the Bahrainis who moved and revolted in order to build a state of justice, freedom, dignity, pluralism, and the application of democracy could have served as a model of a state that represents the will of the people, not the ruling family. Indeed, it could have been the building stones of a Gulf union that represents the will of the people.

Bahrain’s Black Thursday

On February 17th, the world tuned in to watch Bloody Thursday.

Through the use of mercenaries and foreign armed forced, the ruling family committed a brutal crime against picketers at the Pearl roundabout.

Men, women, and children were attacked at dawn, martyred, the wounded and injured survivors chased and preventing them from getting treatment in hospitals, with Salmaniya Medical Complex singled out. 

It is a bloody and unforgettable crime by the ruling authority against its peaceful citizens in a crime that confirms the fatal brutality of the ruling family.

The Sacrifices of the Protesting Bahraini People

During the February Revolution, the people took control of the streets and squares in Bahrain for peaceful protest in the absence of the government, especially the military, out of fear of the revolutionary people who were ready to sacrifice.

Yet why have the goals of the revolution not materialized? Moreover, what sort of effects are there, and how can the goals be achieved, a decade after the revolution and the great sacrifices, the test of patience and strong wills.

How will a reversal of consequences play out on the crises suffered, from widespread arbitrary arrests, dismissal from jobs, the halting of education, and the resulting widespread unemployment and poverty?.

Will reality be altered,can the  psychological torture and intimidation be undone?.

Will those who were sent away come back? Deport and exile may be reversed, but what about those extinguished flames?.

Though it finds support in fellow governments in the Gulf region and abroad, the Bahraini government also suffers.

 The reassuring pat on the back offered by the US has turned into an uncomfortable squeeze, an attempt at retracting prior support by the US and applying pressure to the Gulf monarchies to release those detained for expressing their opination or taking part in peaceful protests. Raising the banner of human rights and democracy, the Biden administration puts on the oft-worn ceremonial robes and takes part in its ever-recurring, ever-performed rites. And there is ever a more word to be uttered

Ali Salman