NEw SARS-likE viRUS EMERGES iN MidEASt - Kuwait Times

G iven
kuwait digest
An Egyptian
experience
By Waleed Al-Rujaib
During a recent visit to Cairo, I had a conversation
with a friend which saw me expressing frustration
from the extreme traffic problem at the
Egyptian capital. The conversation dragged on as I
expressed disappointment about how the Egypt that I
know have changed so much, with cities filled with
complex road networks and consumer lifestyle that
adds to the suffering of the working class, while lacking
libraries containing books of knowledge.
I was comparing between Egypt today and Egypt
during the time I lived there as a college student nearly
40 years ago. After discussing the cultural and social
changes in our countries, my friend suggested that I
deliver a seminar to talk about Kuwait whose name is
synonymous with culture and democracy in the Arab
region.
I was given the opportunity during the seminar to
talk about the history of Kuwait’s economy, society
and culture. I explained the difference between
Kuwait today and during the sixties and the seventies
of the past century, mentioning the social and cultural
changes that affected daily behavior and values. I
noticed that the majority of people attending the
seminar were professionals or educated people, and I
was shocked to realize that some of them still believe
that Kuwait is an invented entity and historically is
part of Iraq. I attempted to correct this misconception
by asking for a proof to support this theory - which
none was able to provide - while giving names of
books with high cultural and historical credibility to
back up my point.
My attention was also caught by someone who
used the term “democracy of Bedouins” during his
speech. To be honest I wasn’t sure if he was trying to
undermine Kuwait’s democratic experience with that
term, or it was made with good intention. Meanwhile,
another person argued that stating that demands for
parliamentary work started in Kuwait since 1921 are
exaggerated.
The seminar also addressed the Arab Spring; on
which one man in attendance argued that the revolutions
are created by America in order to allow Islamists
to reach power. And while admitting that martyrs
have fallen during the January 25 Revolution, he
insisted that the situation is different in Syria where he
said that the revolution “aims to remove the resisting
regime of Bashar Al-Asad by the hands of armed
Jihadist groups”. I know this is only one man’s opinion,
but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that it would
come from someone who claims to be educated.
Midway through the seminar, a group of people
came inside who according to the seminar’s supervisor
are unionists that arrived late because they were
taking part in a demonstration to demand rights that
they believe President Mohammad Morsi’s administration
is attempting to obliterate. I noticed that their
comments were more mature and reflected more
political awareness compared to opinions expressed
by the educated attendees. They even praised
Kuwait’s unionist work, and expressed high deal of
knowledge about what’s going on in Kuwait, Syria as
well as Egypt. Furthermore, they showed great level of
enthusiasm while expressing faith that their revolution
against the Muslim Brotherhoods’ rule will be victorious.
This experience proved to me once again that
workers are more aware, more eager and more optimistic
than some educated people who still live in
obscurity and despair. It also made me understand
that these educated people never took part in the
Tahrir Square demonstrations as part of the Egyptian
revolution. — Al-Rai
kuwait digest
Protecting
communities’
identities
By Dr. Mohammad Al-Moqatei
the increasingly deliberate actions practiced
by certain individuals and parties around the
world to provoke Muslims by insulting Islam and
the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), I believe that the best
way to face this is through the international legal system.
Arab and Muslim governments are today required to act
on top international forums, especially with the United
Nations, in order to come up with an international treaty
that protects identities of communities and religious
beliefs and develop a treaty that classifies religious
insults as an international crime for which violators can
be brought to trial in local and international tribunals.
Iconoclasm is a crime punishable by international law,
even if it happens during times of war. I believe that protecting
religious beliefs and identities of communities
isn’t less important than protecting religious symbols.
Some countries have laws that criminalize anti-Semitism
or offending ruling figures. A recent example of that happened
when the United Kingdom took efforts to stop
publishing revealing pictures of Princess Kate Middleton,
prompting several countries, including France, to issue
orders against publishing them. In my opinion, protecting
religious beliefs and cultural identities of societies is
more important than that.
That’s why I believe an international agreement to
protect the religious and cultural identity of countries
and communities is important. It would provide international
protection that prevents violent reactions that otherwise
happen as a result of a lack of criteria to stop
offensive actions against religious beliefs. The treaty
would further help take legal actions in a civilized manner
that would prove to be effective in deterring insults
so that no excuse will be left to justify people responding
violently.
Turkey and Egypt did the right thing by taking legal
actions against the people who offended the Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH). This is, indeed, the safest way to deal
with this issue.—Al-Rai
4 LOCAL
Worst totalitarian regime
W hat
did transpire out of the regional changes in
most of the Arab countries that we witnessed
over the past year and a half, and have these
legitimate uprisings resulted in chaos and instability?
Maybe the most important result is the uncovering of
the American-Persian (Iranian) partnership to divide the
spoils, and reward the land of Persia (Iran) and present
it with the price which includes Iraq, Bahrain, Syria, and
Lebanon in exchange for Iran continuing its spreading
of sectarian strife in the Arabian Gulf and Middle East.
Iran, which America handed Iraq over to at the end
of 2011, is protecting the most dangerous mission in
the way of liberating Iraq and spreading sectarian
chaos, stealing its natural resources, killing its scientists,
and changing many of the moral, social, intellectual,
and cultural characters of Arab societies by taking
advantage of poverty, backwardness and discrimination.
It also changed the traditional stability of the Arab
Maghrib (North African) countries into major trouble
where sectarian strife is playing an increasing role day
after day.
Persia, with all the factors of danger and animosity in
it, must be brought back to size, not just having its nails
clipped. Our battle as Arabs with Persians is a battle of
existence and identity and freedom of generations, not
just a battle of borders, because Persia, which was overwhelmed
with the feelings of victory when it isolated
Iraq, then destroyed it, developed an appetite for
expansionism and the wish to control, and always wave
its military nuclear project to support its extortion
capabilities, both locally and internationally. So, is it
enough to only clip Iran’s nails and will the true rescue
of our nation from its catastrophes that were caused by
the Persian danger and influence be fulfilled that way?
The rescue of the Arab nation from Iranian arrogance
will not be achieved, and the fiercest and most
dangerous Iranian attack on Arabs will only be stopped
by removing Persia’s claws and its cronies in the Arab
and Gulf countries and the enemy Trojan horses that
are waiting for the Iranian orders to jump all over us in
non-stop operations as long as Iran remains able to
cause deep wounds with its claws. So how will we
remove the Persian claws to guarantee its inability to
kuwait digest
By Abdallah Al-Hadlaq
hurt the Arab nation for many centuries, and maybe
forever? The decisive and frank answer is that victory
should start in Iraq by kicking Persia out, and that can
be achieved by the Arab Iraqi resistance and its Sunni
Kurds in Iraq’s Kurdistan, and then we move to the other
choice, which is the destruction of one or more of
Iran’s centers outside Iraq in Lebanon, Syria,
Afghanistan, Gaza, West Bank, Bahrain, Qateef and others.
If the Persian presence in Iraq is dealt a severe blow
that weakens the morale of its traitors, and coincides
with targeting its military and political centers outside
Iraq, then Persia will not be able to fight two major battles
at the same time, and in both cases the spearhead
will be the Iraqi resistance with all its Arab, Kurd,
Assyrian and Kaldonian factions.
Launching an all-out war on the Persian influence
centers in Iraq, Bahrain, Qateef, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza
and Yemen is the goal of the Arab National liberation
movements, and their basic mission is to abort the
Persian plan that is trying to uproot the Arab identity of
Iraq and other Arab countries, especially now that
Persia announced that the Emirati islands are forever
Persian, Bahrain a Persian province and that the Arabian
Gulf is also Persian! And that Persia is in control of the
Arabian Gulf region.
In the latest report by the International Atomic
Energy Agency (August 30, 2011) it was proven that
the activities of Persia to enrich uranium did not stop
but, rather, was accelerated in the Fordo and Parsheen
facilities and that the quantity of enriched uranium
increased from 145kg to 255kg, an increase of more
than 75%, and diplomatic efforts that took place in
April 2012 failed due to Iran’s continued stubbornness.
Efforts by the council of the IAEA on December 9, 2012
also failed because of Iran’s stubbornness and they
must again bring Iran before the Security Council.
Whoever calls for including Persia in the talks to
solve the Syrian problem is mistaken because Iran is
part of the problem, not the solution, and because the
fascist Zuradishti ruling regime in Tehran is the worst
totalitarian regime in the world and supports the
criminal Bashar Al-Asad in his annihilation of the
Syrian people.
Creating crises for political mileage
D ear
Sirs, Kuwait as a country still has to figure out the
basic tenets of politics, which is evident in the way
our national political arena has been functioning,
which is probably one of the worst in the world. The lack of
understanding that is rampant in our political work has
resulted in many crisis and disasters, until we established a
monopoly on them. Contrary to our sorry state of affairs,
our neighboring countries, who are living under similar circumstances,
but do not share
our political beliefs have progressed
way ahead of us, leaving
behind a gap of at least four
decades. This has happened
despite the fact that till a few
years back, these countries were
lagging behind Kuwait. Do you
feel that things have changed in
our country? May be you are
wrong?
My dear, democracy is also
about harboring a deep belief in
opinions, but more importantly
another person’s opinions.
Another person’s opinion could
be wrong but possibly right as
well, and your opinion could be
right, but possibly wrong too.
Democracy is not about your
personal opinions always being
right and never wrong and considering
others’ opinions always wrong and never right.
Real democracy is also a state, where even though your
opinion might differ from someone else’s you are still willing
to pay the price for following that other person’s opinion,
even if it means sacrificing your life.
Politics, my dear, is the art of making the impossible
possible. But Kuwaiti politics has unfortunately transformed
into something where politics mainly involves formulating
political policies that either allow you to forgive
and forget or are based on hatred and doubt, or defaming
your opponents, even though they might be right and
sometimes even if you are wrong.
In the right kind of politics,
there are no permanent enemies
or friends. But in our case,
our lawmakers are constantly
bearing out their permanent
enmities in public and on the
way making new enemies.
While in advanced countries,
politics has been able to replace
street-level discourses with
advanced and parliamentary
dialogue, the exact opposite has
happened in Kuwait.
kuwait digest
By Sami Al Nisf
Politics is a normally like a game which delights the
audience because of its unpredictability. But in Kuwait, this
game is already fixed in advance, and is run from beyond
the playgrounds, is pre-planned in such a way that audience
or rather the Kuwaiti public are made to cry and are
deserted in a way, which makes us a laughing stock in the
eyes of our neighbors. As a result of our politicians practicing
this particular brand of politics, we are always in the
midst of some crisis or the oth-
er, which is more often than not
created to gain political
mileage. Politicians feel proud
to make every dramatic declaration
they can about ending
the crisis, which in turn creates
a new one. But who decided
that politics cannot be practiced
without creating a crisis
rather than solving it?
In the right kind of politics,
there are no permanent enemies
or friends. But in our case,
our lawmakers are constantly
bearing out their permanent
enmities in public and on the
way making new enemies.
While in advanced countries,
politics has been able to
replace street-level discourses
with advanced and parliamentary
dialogue, the exact opposite has happened in Kuwait.
We discuss something as serious as amending the constitution
with the frivolity of a street dialogue and legislate our
laws without giving them due consideration. So please
explain to me as to which political dictionary has helped
you in developing your deductive powers.
Note: How can a man who cuts his nose or gouges his
eyes out to make his wife angry be considered wise? At the
same time, where is the wisdom in threatening to rally on
streets and spreading confusion against a matter that does
not hurt the country or pose any threat to the common
man? —Al-Anbaa
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012
Controversial
Thoughts
“I
Addressing
unemployment
H uman
in my view
By Alia Al-Hazeimi
love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in
your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are
sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.” Khalil
Gibran.
It took me two hours of thinking after reading this
quote, thoughts regarding God, religion and current
events that are shaping the world we live in today. I
found these elements are quite challenging, although
they seem as our motives for doing goodness and
spreading kindness in the world. Unfortunately the
opposite is happening more often, many of these elements
are being shaped into other “forms” or to be more
specific, tools.
Throughout centuries, religion and politics walked
hand- in- hand and seemed to be inseparable, although
there were many attempts to prove otherwise. But these
attempts were caught between a rock and a hard place.
In simple English, the definition of “religion” is ‘a set of
beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the
universe, especially when considered as the creation of a
superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional
and ritual observances, and often containing a
moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.’
And politics is ‘The activities associated with the governance
of a country or area and the total complex of
relations between people living in society’.
If we blind fold these two terms, we would probably
think they are both the same, they both aim to govern
human affairs. The question that keeps crossing my mind
is “was religion really a constitution? Therefore religious
scriptures are politics?” and if it is yes then genocides and
waging wars in the name of God is man-made?
Let’s forget about ancient history and take the crusades
and on wards as examples. Weren’t all these campaigns
made under the banner of “God Wills It?” How
many recent wars and carnages were made against people
due to differences of beliefs? Yet at the end of the day
all these events are documented and observed by political
entities!
Religion has a sanctified holy nature that is not “supposed”
to be manipulated for achieving personal gains
and most importantly should not be used to justify acts
of violence. No religion in this world allows bloodshed
and promotes war, and even if there is, it is what is
known as acts of “retaliation”. However, is it really retaliation
when all these conflicts are taking place in countries
and parts of the world that know so little about anyone’s
else religion.
Is it a lack of knowledge that led to “retaliation-like”
conflicts? Or could it be that high authorities internationally
did not take the time to understand other religions
and show mutual respect? Isn’t respect the most basic
code after believing in God in all religions?
Have we forgotten that “Peace” is a common ground
for all religions and that we’re here to do good? Aren’t we
obliged to respect each other’s religions without any kind
of racism and hate? Aren’t we supposed to suppress all
forms of aggression? After all, we are all human.
Don’t you agree?
kuwait digest
By Riyadh Al-Adasani
development is crucial for a nation’s development
and advancement. Governments were
put in place for the people, not the other way
around. The government’s role is to take care of its citizens
and to improve services. Our government, however,
lacks vision and a workable plan for the future. It has certainly
failed to give importance to developing the country’s
most precious wealth, which are its human
resources.
Where is the government’s plan to tackle unemployment?
The number of unemployed citizens in Kuwait has
reached nearly 20,000 and continues to increase annually.
In the meantime, the national labor law, which directs
that 60 percent of staff members at banks and major
companies must be Kuwaitis, has not been effectively
enforced. The government should’ve forced these firms
to abide by the law before offering them with a multibillion
stimulus package during the financial crisis.
The government must have a clear vision that focuses
on supporting its young citizens and building their
future, because they make up 50 percent of our population
today, and are the country’s future. Currently, there’s
huge demand for state jobs, which is threatening the
state’s budget and is expected to boost inflation, since
Kuwait’s economy is completely dependent on oil prices.
This situation has left Kuwaiti youth facing a dark future,
who have to sometimes wait for as long as two years
before finding a job, while expatriates - with all due
respect - have a job waiting for them even before they
have left their home country.
Being close to young citizens, I can see how they suffer
on account of the government’s policies, especially
those of the Kuwait Municipality, the Ministry of
Commerce and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.
Their hopes for starting their own businesses fade away
as a result of the government’s own crippling demands.
Even the ‘e-government’ project is a mere slogan and far
removed from the ground reality.
In order to address the unemployment problem, the
government must improve the private sector in order to
provide job opportunities for Kuwaitis. It should also
enforce early retirement and create new jobs. The government
must also allow young citizens to own industrial
land and start businesses in the economic, handicraft,
commercial and other fields. There’s no reason why the
government cannot expand the current industrial land
usage, because nearly 93 percent of Kuwait’s land area
remains unutilized.
Land monopolies tend to kill the ambitions of young
citizens and they need the government’s support for
their projects and for ensuring that all their work-related
procedures are facilitated. This essential support will help
young citizens on the one hand and benefit the state on
the other. —- Al-Qabas