The revenge of tyrants on the pious and righteous is not a new practice invented by the tyrannical rulers of the twenty-first century. It is a practice that has been historically linked to the ongoing struggle between truth and falsehood, between the advocates of faith and the symbols of disbelief, between the servants of God who are keen on establishing truth and justice and the arrogant ones who say: I only show you what I see and I only guide you to the path of righteousness. These people do not stop at persecuting the advocates of goodness and the advocates of God, but they also seek to mislead people and make them believe that their corruption and their corruption is the very essence of righteousness (Indeed, they are the corrupters, but they perceive it not), and that the righteous servants of God are the deviants, as Pharaoh said about Moses, peace be upon him: I fear that he will change your religion or that corruption will appear on the earth. This means that the deviant ruler who does not mislead the masses is less dangerous than the other type who pretends to be righteous and accuses the reformers of corruption. This has become the prevailing logic among today’s rulers who are up to their necks in the swamp of corruption and injustice, then exploit their media not only to polish their image, but to show them in the garb of piety, faith and righteousness. How many are those who shed the blood of advocates of goodness and truth, and throw them into prisons and torture chambers after tarnishing their reputation and misleading public opinion about them: Didn’t Yazid’s media do that with Al-Hussein, peace be upon him? Didn’t they say that he had rebelled against legitimacy? Even those who fought Al-Hussein with their swords performed the prayer (and they said, “These are better guided than those who believe.”)
In the past two weeks, the country has witnessed a massive wave of arrests and summonses of dozens of Husseinis who participated in the commemoration of the Ashura season as preachers, eulogists and mourners. Many were arrested for participating in the Husseini processions and competing to serve the faithful during the season. Social media has broadcast many names of these persecuted people who paid the price for their Islamic service and their love for the grandson of the Messenger of God, for whom Yazid did not show any respect or covenant, and they did not respect his closeness to the Messenger of God. How similar tonight is to yesterday. How intense are the savagery of the lovers of power, the worshippers of material things, the sycophants, the climbers and those who crawl towards falsehood for the sake of money. It reached the point that one of them took the initiative to throw arrows at the companions of Hussein, saying: “Bear witness for me before the emir, for I was the first to throw.” Aren’t these people a testament to the noble verse: “Indeed, those who disbelieve in the verses of Allah and kill the prophets without right and kill those who enjoin justice among the people – give them tidings of a painful punishment.” These people rushed to shed pure blood in broad daylight, terrorized women and children, and beheaded the best of humanity, including worshippers, ascetics, Quran reciters, and children’s teachers. Why? Perhaps they would get the prize, but they lost their worldly life and their afterlife. What a miserable fate! This struggle for the sake of this world does not lead to good, but rather perpetuates crises and worries and fuels conflicts for the sake of ruins that do not last.
The recent arrests in Bahrain are in line with the insistence of the enemies of the nation to eradicate the roots of revolution and rebellion from the souls of free people. What the tyrannical governments are doing in terms of confiscating public freedoms and targeting elements demanding change is in line with the criminality, weakness and arrogance practiced by the Israeli occupation forces. The entity based on occupation never feels secure, so it seeks to remain in a state of maximum alert in anticipation of the anger stored in the souls of its victims when it erupts. The ongoing killing inside the occupied territories and the excessive use of technology to target the leadership elements of the struggle and resistance movements mean the continuation of the state of tension and ambiguity in the region. The problem is the existence of two contradictory policies: Israeli and Arab. The Israelis consider themselves in a state of continuous confrontation not only with the Palestinians but also with all national and progressive forces that reject the occupation and insist on the right of peoples to freedom, development and independence. This state of alert makes them ready to practice aggression at any moment and reduces their interest in international laws and diplomatic protocols. It penetrates the airspace of Arab countries to target individuals and groups opposed to the occupation. It practices what is called “extrajudicial killing” without hesitation, knowing that the international system is unable to punish those who practice this. It is always greedy to control the entire cake and targets those who seek to share it.
In addition, the occupation forces, with special American support and the West in general, sought to ensure military superiority over the Arab side, which had settled for calm and distanced itself from the conflict. What the Israeli occupation forces did last week in targeting the leaders of the armed groups confronting the occupation was not surprising, but rather a continuation of a pattern of brutal treatment of others. They targeted Lebanon and killed Fouad Ali Shukr, one of the leaders of the resistance. They also targeted Iran openly, assassinating Ismail Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of the recently elected president. These operations aim to achieve three things: first, to get rid of the symbols of resistance to the occupation; second, to instill fear in the souls of the resistance groups and their members; and third, to extend Israeli influence over the region by removing the strong elements that reject the occupation. There is no doubt that these assassinations are painful blows, but they are not decisive. The Arab-Israeli conflict is very old, and has gone through stages that are united by one thread: rejecting the occupation and working to liberate Palestine. In the midst of this, lives were being lost without stopping, especially through assassination. After the 1967 war, the so-called “War of Attrition” began, followed by a new Israeli policy of assassinating many Palestinian figures. One of the first assassination victims was Ghassan Kanafani, an icon of Palestinian struggle and literature, who was assassinated on July 8, 1972, when his car was blown up in Beirut, along with his niece Lamis. In April 1988, the Mossad assassinated the Palestinian icon Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad) in Tunis. Then came the assassination of Salah Khalaf (Abu Iyad) in January 1991 by bullets whose identity was not precisely determined, and whether he was an Israeli or an Arab security source. In October 1995, Fathi Shaqaqi was assassinated in Malta. In January 1996, Yahya Ayyash was assassinated in Gaza. In August 2001, the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Abu Ali Mustafa, was assassinated by missiles fired from an Israeli warplane while he was in his office in Ramallah.
These are some of the assassination crimes that Palestinian activists have been subjected to over more than five decades, and they are still ongoing. The question here is: Why has the flame of the Palestinian revolution not been extinguished despite these assassinations? Isn’t this confirmation that the Palestinian people are capable of renewing their blood despite oppression, tyranny and occupation? Struggling peoples are not defeated by killing their symbols, assassinating them, or removing them from the arenas of struggle and throwing them into the dungeons of torture. Peoples have an instinct to cling to life and rebel against death, and they are usually able to build cadres of struggle without stopping. Certainly, the Palestinian cause provides the most wonderful examples of this truth. But struggling peoples are also capable of renewing the blood of their leaders and refusing to surrender to the forces of oppression, occupation and tyranny. The Bahraini government is one of the oppressive and tyrannical regimes that mistakenly believe that it can rely on excessive force to protect it from the wrath of the revolting peoples. Facts confirm that the matter is very different, that the spirit of struggle does not die, and that the blood of freedom protects peoples from death under the weight of tyranny. This is a fact that has been repeatedly confirmed by the experiences of the Palestinian people and the struggle of the Bahraini people. Both regimes are false, unjust, and aggressive and do not deserve to remain. Rather, the blood of free people will continue to haunt them without stopping, until the popular will triumphs and God defeats the aggressors, occupiers, oppressors, and tyrants.
O God, have mercy on our righteous martyrs, and grant them a position of truth with You, and release our prisoners, O Lord of the worlds.
Bahrain Islamic Freedom Movement
August 2, 2024
2024-08-01 23:00:56