Activism isn't just about justice, it's an effort to provide the freedom necessary to build a sustainable civilization
by Esra'a (Bahrain)
It is sad that many people have politicized efforts for human rights. I witness this on a rise on a daily basis. At the moment, human rights is being used in agendas to corner “enemy states,” or even to justify any kind of attack from foreign powers, as hypocritical as that may be at times. However let me tell you from my personal perspective what the struggle for human rights is really all about, and why I involve myself so passionately.
One look at this region can really depress you. Dictatorships, abuse, severe discrimination against minorities, grave lack of free speech, foreign occupations, to name a few. What does this essentially all mean and why should we care?
There’s really so much more to activism than it just being the “right thing to do.” It’s never about the present, ever. It’s always about the examples you set for the future. You may revolve your entire campaigns around freeing individuals, or fighting against online censorship, or your right to watch controversial YouTube videos, but behind all that, if you are a committed and sincere local activist, here is what you are really fighting for and why you should continue:
Free speech goes hand in hand with quality education, the lack of which is a root cause of many societal issues. No one can be truly educated without having the basic right to criticize any policy, any faith, or any issues that directly influences our lives. Many of us are fighting against censorship because ignorance is not an option. It weakens us, makes us socially unaware, disconnected from real life. It also doesn’t allow us to express our outrage at the injustices we witness or go through. In summary, we deserve the right to be engaged, to learn and to educate freely, and to obtain access to information regardless of controversies. We may only think about the present at the moment, but the impact this will have in the long run is huge, just imagine what this will do to educational systems and traditional media outlets in the Middle East.
If we all cared about our strength and growth as a nation or society then we should guarantee equal opportunities to allow anyone to thrive with their talents. When we deny any member of any faith or ethnicity to participate in society by setting up businesses, attending schools, freely practicing their faith and culture, we create a really oppressive, uncomfortable atmosphere that encourages them to leave and invest their efforts elsewhere. We harm ourselves much more than we are harming them by denying them these rights. It’s not a coincidence that in all strong and stable societies, diversity and equality are key elements.
People should be rewarded for their efforts. Currently, any successful doctor, professor, author, artist, musician, scientist or business professional who is critical of the government, religion, is a member of (or is defensive of) any persecuted minority, or speaks visibly of any “taboo” issues are automatically stripped of their positions, have their businesses shut down, are harrassed to no end despite all that they contribute. Needless to say, as I mentioned before, many choose to leave their countries for a more comfortable and rewarding lifestyle where they feel as if their hard work and existence would actually pay off. Regional governments are much more likely to spend billions to censor content, moniter emails and phone calls as opposed to investing this amount in labs, universities, et al.
Leaders and entrepeuners generally feel unwanted, unrewarded and discouraged by the government and in many ways by society itself. Despite increasing efforts, there is still no appreciation whatsoever for the socially entrepuenerial culture that is growing throughout the region, more recently in the field of innovative media. The risks for anyone who makes the slightest error of revealing a state-sponsored crime or hidden taboos are dire. Not many have the energy or willingness to work under these dire conditions.
Human rights is not just about personal freedom and the personal convenience that comes with that. It’s about building opportunities for ourselves, for our children, for our future. Forgetting the barriers, ending foreign occupations, forgiving the oppressors (this is situational) and building an indistrucable civilization that we can look up to, one that protects and respects us and our rights as human beings.
Finally, we are literally our own last resorts. Let’s admit that there is no one we can run to for support. I don’t believe anything is at all possible if we rely on any foreign government to do anything on our behalf. However, I believe we now have the ability to mobilize the entire world to help build pressure to make our efforts possible, a strategy that has proven to be successful. Our governments never listen to us, but they listen to their political allies and current or potential funders, and we can play with this to our own advantage. It’s only after international attention that any regional governments prepares any statement to justify its abuse in any way, or to drop the charges altogether, which doesn’t happen as often as we’d like but it does happen and we need to keep trying.
I should also note that every single time any campaign succeeds, it always starts with regional efforts being supported internationally. This is why anyone abroad who wishes to support us, needs to find and help sustain activists that are local or regional. Spread their words and their efforts, which are heartfelt and sincere. They know best how to lead and change.
I don’t believe in our current regimes, or the ones after, even if most decisions are only in their hands. My absolute dream is to live in a respectful society that recognizes my rights, my existence, my contributions, my worth and those around me regardless of faith and ethnicity, all of which need to be tolerated and celebrated. With such rights alone, our society can primarily lead itself no matter who’s in power. A lot of our issues historically have been societal. We all have a responsibility to make up for many of these mistakes. A sincere commitment for a better society starts with being very hopeful and extremely optimistic, that alone will inspire you on a daily basis.
I hope that this will help you understand why some of us do what we do, and while I personally try my best to be active in the “present” issues that affect us all, it is really the future that concerns me. These things may not be true or relevant today considering the state we are in. But believe it or not, we ARE setting the rules and tone for future generations of the Middle East. It’s them I’m doing this for, not myself.
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Exactly on mark. One of the worst long term consequences of not having a free civil society is that this breeds a generation of young adults who do not have any notion of seeking multiple sources of information, who never thought to question their surroundings or fully understand how the status quo came to be, who have no sense or self-awareness of neither their own history nor their future direction. Activism, like you say, opens up a country to quality education. A quality education is one that instills curiousity to learn, explore and debate ideas. Activism also holds people accountable, and when this happens it forces everyone in society to do a better job.
Thanks Victoria, totally agreed!
What aspects of society in Bahrain (ie cultural and economic organization) prevents you and other Bahrains from making your children and future generations from succeeding?
Is it from government policies or cultural norms?
These questions can be applied everywhere, not just Bahrain.
Dear Esraa
you could not say it more right than this ,the dispointment in working as activist in middel east , in the begining before i was active every one blam me for not doing anything ,they say well educated people must act or not complian when the gangs run the streets cause you did not stop them ,then when i start to work the same people who encourage you to act start to fight you ,they are angery from you ,they want you to comprmis , to live with berucracy and corruption , sometimes i went to events that had been orgnize by well known orgnizations and cost from 10000dollers to 1000000 dollers and it is a real wast of time ,no one really give a shit about people ,every one is looking for money ,trips to amercia and euorp ,to have their pictures in the newspaper , just few voices here and there and the rest is hocus boucas
it is dispinting ,sometimes you really blam your self for messing your life ,especially when you know that many people wants to take your work and findings to use it to start new wars , you have to fight for every step in the way ,you have to insist on what you belive and more hard is to think of every one else rights
we do not want anything other than justice for every one and to live our lifes free without disturbing other people ,we want to recieve the equial of our efforts we do not want to steal ot pay bribs ,we need to live in peace
sometimes i sit in front of the TV and watch the news and see people i know are murderers ,thifs ,liars sitting on TV and getting the VIP treatment ,not only on iraqi channels but in well respected news channels . just because they know to use human rights words in whatever confrence or meeting they go to ,us the right words , not have to mean it or really care just do whatever you can to take as much profet from it and run
in the end of this i ususally loss hope ,then i see people like Esraa and others in Iran ,sudan ,egypit ,plastien cariing ,worring ,fighting , standing when every one run , having hard time every step of the way and you know deep in your heart ,if you got the chance to stand some wear with some one ,you want to be standing with those people
cause as AL pacion SAY ( when the shit hits the fan ,some men run and some stand )
so we women and men stand
Well said. In some sense these questions are political of course, they are about the relationship between the society and the state and about international relationships.
Right Erik, and then these politics fall in our hands, not in the hands of some self-interested foreign power that is bending local NGOs and activists to their will.
Agreed of course
Dear Esra’a, the fact that today we hear the voices we were never abel to hear befor, shows that today is much better than the days we wouldn’t even know who are these activists, who are the ones who carel, the ones who motivate others and give hope, the ones who stand in the present agaisnt the winds of denial and rejection, to help a stable future. Today can see the postcads being sent in a virtual world to support a lady in prison from all over the world and then we actually witness her stepping out of the prison
But it does pay back, Amen 
I truely admire your efforts, and i understand what you mean by thinking about future, activism is not an industry of input-output, it is more like farming in the wind
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