19th Feb, 2013 –
Prior to the rioting around the 14 February anniversary of the 2011 unrest, thousands of leaflets were circulated by the opposition warning Bahrainis to stay away from work and school and threatening to turn Bahrain into a “war zone”.
It was particularly shocking that the opposition would threaten children that they would “suffer the consequences” if they turned up to school. One of the hundreds of young people who they incited into boycotting school and joining the riots, Hussein al-Jazeeri, ended up dead.
The opposition says that it is fighting for its rights. However, forcing people to join the boycott through threats of violence is a flagrant violation of freedom of expression. This demonstrates how people within Shia communities are terrorized into following the sectarian and extremist party line of the opposition leadership.
Opposition propaganda states that their “revolution” is peaceful and they want to address their grievances through dialogue. However, this February they tried to carry out their threat to turn Bahrain into a “war zone” and terrorize Bahrainis into doing their bidding.
A translation of the leaflets, distributed as an official warning by the 14th February opposition coalition follows:
14th February Youth Coalition: Calling for a Dignity General Strike
General warning from Bahrain’s revolutionaries
Regarding the general strike on 14 February: Bahrain’s revolutionaries affirm that anyone who goes to work or school will suffer the consequences and will be responsible for their own safety.
The situation will be unsafe and dangerous from the morning, because the villages, areas and streets of Bahrain are to turn into a war zone.
You should be aware of the following
# All localities in the villages and towns will be closed from Thursday evening until Friday afternoon. Therefore you should purchase any necessities by Wednesday pm.
# All domestic outside lights should be turned off.
# No-one should travel by car unless necessary.
# Calling out “God is Great” at the appointed time and not using horns at that time.
# Not removing the barriers and roadblocks erected by the revolutionaries unless strictly necessary.