Our beloved King led prayers for the people of Palestine

By Captain Mahmood Al Mahmood

The world is watching in horror as the worst atrocities befall the civilians of Gaza.

More than 3,000 children, the flowers of our youth have been crushed. Women and old people, the sick and infirm among our most vulnerable, have been targeted.

All of us who raise a hue and cry about exposing our beloved children and young people in Bahrain to senseless violence and how it desensitizes viewers – we must remember that what holds good for movies and comic books, holds true for the blanket coverage of the war as well.

Day in and day out, seeing the bombed out stretches of Gaza where once homes and shops and lives were, puts enormous strain on all of us.

But for the young, who don’ t understand the larger context, and who often play violent video games without feeling the damage or loss, it is more difficult to process that this is real and that people are suffering.

Do not think that the war is happening far away – because of broadcasting and television it has reached our doorstop – our living rooms.

To ignore its impact can cause mental and psychological health setbacks for our young ones.

Parents, teachers and caregivers must make the extra effort to explain to their charges what is happening and how we can all help to alleviate the suffering.

Make our children become stakeholders in the ongoing healing process.

Even if it means simply donating one’s ice cream money or saying an extra prayer for Palestine, let us follow the lead of HM the King who led prayers for the people of Palestine and ever since the fighting broke out, has worked tirelessly to promote peace and dialogue.