Bahrain Police “Slap” Video Goes Viral · Global Voices
Mohamed Hassan

Two years ago what has become known as “The Arab Spring” was sparked when a member of the Tunisian police forces slapped a young man in Sidi Bouzid. People thought that the days of police suppression will be over soon, but in Bahrain yet another video has gone viral to remind us that police states are alive and well.
Activist @alaashehabi tweeted:
@alaashehabi: Vid of police slapping man in #Bahrain goes viral-200k views in 24hrs. How many news channels aired it?
The video shows a man holding a baby being shouted at by a police officer, who then slaps him, twice, while he is  still holding the baby:
The reactions to that video went beyond Bahrain. Famous commentator on Arab affairs Sultan Alqassemi, from the UAE,  shared the video saying:
@SultanAlQassemi: Bahrain police officer abuses power, slaps citizen http://goo.gl/RMsCB  Video via@muradalhaiki
Qatari journalist Mohamed Fahad Alqahtani [@mohdwaves] tweeted :
مؤلم لانه يثبت بالدليل القاطع ان كرامة الانسان في الدرك الاسفل من التقدير في سلم اولويات بعض القيادات الامنية الخليجية,ياللعار
@mohdwaves: The slap video is agonizing because it is a testimony that the dignity of a human is the least appreciated thing on the priority list of some Gulf police states. What a shame!
Saudi media celebrity Waleed Alfarraj tweeted saying:
.. فضيحة من الصعب ترقيعها !!
@waleedalfarraj: The slap video .. A scandal that is hard to amend
Kuwaiti poet Rana Alabdulrazzak also tweeted:
http://youtu.be/zI_L1rAn4Bw  أن ترى هذه الصفعة ولا تشعر بألمها وهي تهوي على انسانيتك .. اعذرني فانت لست إنسانا أصلا #البحرين
@ranati01: To see this slap and not feel its pain falling on your humanity…pardon me, you are not even human
Omani Academic Dr. Haider Al-lawati had a very interesting suggestion:
رجل امن في #البحرين يصفع مواطنا اعزلا في وجهه. منظر مؤلم ومحزن. اقترح ان يعرض على القادة المشاركون في قمة التعاون !! http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=zI_L1rAn4Bw&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DzI_L1rAn4Bw%26feature%3Dyoutu.be …
@DrAl_Lawati: A policeman in Bahrain slapping an unarmed citizen, an agonizing and sad scene, I suggest that it's shown to the leaders participating in the GCC summit
The GCC, or Gulf Cooperation Council is made up of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE and its leaders are currently meeting in Bahrain.
After thousands of tweets regarding that video the official response  was as follows:
@moi_bahrain: Assistant Undersecretary of Legal Affairs: Detention of a policeman in connection with an online video
and later on:
تشكيل لجنة برئاسة رئيس الأمن العام لحصر هذه التجاوزات ودراستها وتحديد سبل معالجتها..يتبع
@moi_bahrain: A committee led by the head of public security will be formed in order to intercept and study these violations to define ways to rectify it
Meanwhile, the head of public security and head of the above mentioned committee brigade Tariq Alhassan tweeted from his personal Twitter account:
١- محاولات تشويه صورة وزارة الداخلية ومنسوبيها هي جزء من حرب شعواء من أشخاص وجهات معروفة ومفضوحة بعد ان فشلت في مخططاتها السابقة #البحرين
@Talhassan: Attempts to defame the ministry of interior and its staff is a part of a fierce war by known and exposed persons and organizations after their previous plans have failed.
٢- تقوم تلك الجهات واتباعها بإطلاق مسميات تزدري بها رجال الأمن بهدف النيل من شخصيتهم وزرع البغض لهم لدى الناس كبارا وصغارا #البحرين
@Talhassan: Those organizations and their followers use derogatory terms towards policemen to demean their personalities and incite hate towards them among the people young and old.
٣- تقوم بتجهيز الكمائن لرجال الامن حسب سيناريوهات معدة من إعلاميين محترفين في قنوات معروفة في دول أخرى ثم تصور وتعرض عند الحاجة #البحرين
@Talhassan: They setup ambushes for policemen based on scenarios prepared by media professionals working in known media channels in other countries and then filmed and released when needed
– يقوم الدجالون والعملاء ببث تلك اللقطات ويبالغون فيها وحسبما يردهم من تعليمات وبما يحقق لهم ولمن يدفعهم من الدول أهدافهم #البحرين
@Talhassan: These traitorous fakers publish those scenes and exaggerate them as they are instructed and the way that fits the goals of those countries and theirs
A few hours later, human rights activist Naji Fateel tweeted another video:
​خطير جداََ؛~ اعتداء وحشي على شاب في العكر اول مرة يعرض http://youtu.be/t-UuDXOT-cA  #bahrain #feb14
@najialifateel: A brutal attack on a young man in Aleker shown for the first time