Shooting of Ahmed Ismael: A warning to us all

It is being reported in some quarters that Ahmed Ismael who was shot dead during a protest on Saturday was killed by gunmen opposed to the opposition. We want to discuss here the significance of this allegation for Bahrain and the likelihood that this be true.

 Firstly, all of us should be ready to totally condemn this killing, whatever its motivations. Whatever people may think about the protest movement, Ahmed Ismael was a young man with a promising future who certainly didn’t deserve to die for attending a protest march and our thoughts are with his family.

 This event should come as something of a wake-up call to all of us. We have all witnessed this growing anger within our society towards the protest movement and the terrible impact that the instability has had on our country. Many of us know hot-headed people (whether loyal or opposition) who have taken to sectarian insults – something that had previously been strange and unacceptable for Bahraini society.

We do not yet know for sure who shot Ahmed Ismael. However, while this killing may have shocked us; we may not have been surprised.

 We live in a society that has become increasingly brutalized in recent months. When we see videos of police being showered with Molotov in locations familiar to us, and when the streets fill with tear gas, we ask in incredulity: Is this really Bahrain?

 We have spoken to the loved ones of policemen killed and disfigured in ambushes and listened to their anger and bafflement about what is occurring here. Why are children as young as nine or ten being taught to make explosives and build roadblocks? Have we all gone crazy?

 In this sense, there was a degree of inevitability that a handful of those angered by the excesses of the opposition would violently take matters into their own hands. However, there is also inevitability about where such actions will take Bahrain if they continue.

 Around 2005 Iraq dissolved in a frenzy of sectarian violence, which escalated following the destruction of the Gold-domed Samarra Mosque and shrine for the Imams Al-Hadi and Al-Askari in February 2006. Let’s not even try to imagine the horror of such an outbreak of sectarian violence in tiny Bahrain, where culture and geography dictate that we all live so close to each other.

 Thus, even though some people reading this article may understand the anger that may have driven someone to open fire on a protest march; for this same reason it is all the more important that we take a stand in condemning this outrage. If we feel anger towards the protestors it is because of the consequences of their actions for Bahrain; likewise we must also condemn whoever killed Ahmed Ismael for the possible consequences of their actions for Bahrain.

 The wise response to this outrage should be a united Bahraini call for all sides to stop trying to achieve their political goals on the streets, or ridiculous attempts to muster as many people as possible for their political marches – as if this proved anything. Rather, this makes dialogue and reaching a peaceful consensus a national obligation. This is why we say clearly to both Al-Wefaq and the National Unity Gathering: Stop erecting preconditions for talks and get back to the negotiating table – sooner rather than later – for the sake of Bahrain.