Today was one of the most brutal things I’ve ever witnessed in my life, and honestly, I’m still broken inside. It started when one guy in my class said “fuck Kurdistan.” My friend is Kurdish, and obviously that hit him. So my friend clapped back and said “fuck Gaza.” Now, I get why people were upset but if you’re going to disrespect someone else’s land, expect they’ll fire back too. That doesn’t justify what happened next. The situation escalated insanely fast. The guy who heard “fuck Gaza” got furious, and suddenly it turned into 20 people against 1. I’m not exaggerating. They surrounded my friend, threatening him saying they’d kill him, box him, “teach him a lesson.” Laughing at him. Pushing him. It was humiliating and cruel. My friend stayed calm, even said politely “please back off, I don’t want to make problems.” But it didn’t matter. One of them slapped him across the face in front of everyone, screaming “don’t touch my friend again or I’ll fucking kill you.” And I’m standing there, feeling helpless, because it’s literally 20 versus 1. After school, it got even worse. They lured him away, saying “come bro, we just want to talk, we promise we won’t hit you.” He was nervous, but went anyway. Next thing, three of them started hitting him at the same time. My friend cried to me afterward saying “I can’t do anything, I’m helpless. I hope God helps me.” Hearing that broke me more than I can explain. And here’s where my guilt comes in. I keep asking myself what kind of friend am I if I couldn’t protect him? I go to the gym, I look big and strong, but when it came down to it, I froze. Of course, I wanted to jump in. But I knew the reality: if I swung, if I defended him with my fists, the next day 20 or 30 guys would show up and destroy both of us. It wasn’t fear, it was calculation. Still, it feels like I failed him. The worst part? These guys are Muslims too. And still, no mercy. Just humiliation, violence, drama. It made me so angry I could scream. I wanted to punch them so badly. I haven’t had a street fight since I was 14 and back then, I beat someone so bad he was bleeding. Maybe that’s why I avoid fights now, because I know what I’m capable of. Or maybe I’m just scared. I don’t even know anymore.