Friday's cowardly and atrocious suicide bombing of a Saudi Shiite mosque in which 21 people died and dozens more were injured in the town of Al-Qudaih in Qatif is a clear indication that those who wish to kick-start a sectarian war in the Kingdom are getting increasingly desperate. A terrorist blew himself up at the Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque during Friday prayers. The man, wearing an explosive belt, entered the already crowded mosque and blew himself up. Daesh (the self-proclaimed IS) claimed responsibility for the bombing. In an online statement, the group identified the bomber as Abu Amer Al-Najdi and published a photograph of him—this person was later identified as Saleh Al-Qashami, a wanted man. This is not the first such attack in the Eastern province. A similar attack took place in the village of Al-Dalouh in Al-Ahsa late last year. Seven people died and 13 others were injured when four gunmen opened fire inside a mosque. Daesh also claimed responsibility for this cowardly attack. The Kingdom is surrounded by danger on all sides; we are in a continuous fight against terrorists. We have constantly been targeted and all efforts to divide us have failed. The terrorists are getting desperate because they think they can divide us, yet they find that people are united against them. In fact, after each terrorist attack, we become more and more united and aware of their tactics. When terrorists see us united, they become frustrated knowing that they will never achieve their goals. We have seen how terrorists have promoted sectarianism among people in Iraq and Syria. We have seen how attacks against the innocent are always met with counterattacks. This is something that draws countries into a never-ending cycle of violence. This is what the terrorists and the enemies of our Kingdom have been seeking. They wish to disrupt the Kingdom's peace and security by attacking certain segments of society and inciting one group to retaliate against the other. The terrorists failed miserably when they attacked the mosque in Al-Dalouh. We saw how the people of Saudi Arabia stood united against the attack and strongly condemned it. I bet that those who hate the Kingdom and want to see sectarianism take root were biting their fingers, angry that they had so completely failed. Our government needs to deal with terrorists with an iron fist. Let us not be lenient with anyone who intends to spread his devilish ideologies in our society. Community cohesion should always remain strong and be of paramount importance. We need to come up with a counterstrategy against Daesh using social media to increase awareness among the youth who are always the target of terrorists. After the first attack in Al-Ahsa, people from all over the Kingdom travelled to the Eastern Province to show their support. The same happened following Friday's suicide bombing. People are flocking to hospitals to donate blood. I saw a clip on YouTube of a Saudi man from a different region who stood outside a Qatif hospital after donating blood—he offered strong words of support to the people of Qatif and said that he had come from far to express his support for them. He said that we are all one and that he and his community feel the pain and suffering of the people of Qatif. What was even more beautiful was that the people of Qatif welcomed the man and thanked him for his kind words. This is how strong our society is; not like the image that the Kingdom's enemies wish to project of us. We are aware more than ever that unity is one of the strongest weapons that we have at our disposal. We are aware of the danger of falling into the trap of the voices of hate. We know that if we allow such voices to damage our society, then we will drown. We must remember that we are all brothers in the Kingdom and united. An attack on one group is an attack on all of us. We will forever stand against terrorism and its ideology. At the end of the day, we will be victorious.
— The writer can be contacted at [email protected]. Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng
