‘Conflict not Arab-Jewish issue’
‘Zionism root cause of Mideast turmoil’
“THE Western and world public opinion believes the Palestinian cause is the Arab-Jewish problem an outcome of religious struggle between the Jews on one hand and the Arabs and Muslims on the other,” columnist and Kuwaiti author Abdullah Khalaf wrote for Al-Watan Arabic daily Wednesday.
“History shows the Jews lived in the Arab lands peacefully without any type of hostility between them. Not just that, the Jews prior to the appearance of Islam were living in Arab countries as Arabs some of whom were poets, scholars, businessmen, bankers and owners of money exchange shops to such an extent we can say the Jews owned all the banks in the Arab world, simply because the Muslim countries believed this type of business was against religion because it operated on usury.
“Such being the case, the Jews used their banks to extend loans to both the Arab and Muslim governments, companies and individuals against an interest agreed to by the two parties. Not just that, the Jews in the Arab world dominated the commercial markets and represented a kind of school in the economic and financial arena.
“In this context, we say the people of the Gulf had learnt from the Jews the business procedures and they played the same role in Hijaz, Iraq, Iran, North Africa and Egypt. These Jews were Arab citizens and as such were treated as Arabs, exactly as the British or the German or Russian Jews in their respective countries.
“Such being the case, we infer that the Jews belonged to various nationalities, but International Zionism in 1947/1948 gathered all Jews of various nationalities in Palestine and brought them under one umbrella based on the religious factor. In other words, the International Zionism transformed the Jewish religion into nationalism, ignoring the historical fact that nationalism is a race and not a religion.
“Consequently, we found the Arab nationalism, for instance, consists of Muslims, Christians and Jews and all of them belong to ‘one nationalism’.
“In light of the above, we conclude that the Palestinian cause has never been an Arab-Jewish problem. In this context, we say the Christian Europe, for instance, was involved in fighting and persecuting the Jews, and the Jews expelled by the Europeans found refuge with Muslims to such an extent, we venture to say history has never recorded any war between the Muslims and the Jews.
“Even in the wake of the Crusaders war in which the Muslims led by Saladin achieved a splendid victory, the Jews preferred to stay in Arab and Muslim countries such as Syria, East Jordan and Turkey.
“Such was the situation since 1270 AD up to the usurping of Palestine by the Zionists in 1948 by virtue of the plots and conspiracies which the latter had woven since the mid of nineteenth century in collaboration with the then German, Turkish and European rulers in addition to some Arab countries which during that time were subjects of the British imperialism.
“As a matter of fact, the International Zionism represented by the Masonic and Rotary movements were spread in various Western countries including America and Europe and the Zionist leaders had managed to court friendships with many European and American leaders and military commanders.
“In this context, we cite a statement which attributed to the former president of the United States of America Harry Truman (1945 to 1953) who was quoted as saying ‘Anyone who cannot comprehend the reality of Zionism will not understand the facts of our current world’.
“However, through this statement, Truman meant to say International Zionism is dominating the Western economies and media in the name of religion. And in the name of religion also, we found a State like Britain tearing apart the Indian sub-continent which resulted in the birth of a new country Pakistan.”
Also: “Israel will disappear sooner or later. Actually, this is the title of a book that has been authored by fifteen French writers. I read this book in the 1970s,” columnist Dr Humoud AlHattab wrote for Al-Seyassah daily Wednesday.
“It is needless to say the opinion of these authors is based on certain constituents and signs, but I need not cite here these constituents and signs, simply because the current reality shows strong evidences and indications have emerged to indicate the disappearance of the Zionist entity which seems to be inevitable. This entity or let us say institution doesn’t depend on itself for its existence.
“In other words, this entity since the very beginning of its foundation in Palestine depends on foreign support and misguided public opinion by convincing the latter that Palestine is in their territories and they are suffering of weakness because they are sur- rounded by savage people — the Arabs — because the latter are striving to throw them into the sea.
“However, the Arabs have stupidly adopted the Zionist allegations in this connection when they falsely announced that the Arab armies are preparing themselves to cast the Jews in the sea.
“But this false Zionist claim can no longer be believed by anybody because the countries which supported the Zionist entity in the past have started showing resentment to the latter’s behavior and arrogance and this can also be attributed to the said entity’s crimes and brutality.
“Anyway, if the Arabs enjoy a real political mentality, then, they will exploit the current circumstances to impose more isolation on Israel and expose the latter due to its involvement at the moment in a vicious war on a small Palestinian village, Gaza, where the war has scandalized the brutality and the atrocity as well as its ignorance and uncivilized manner in dealing with the children and the women.”
“The decisions issued by the Ministers Council last week were long overdue. Laws on the misuse of public utilities as well as the ‘citizenship honor’ are vital laws that were not yet implemented. Perhaps, the delay was for the good”, Saud Al-Samaka wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.
“These decisions are no doubt historic and in line with the extraordinary circumstances that the country is currently going through. It is also in line with the general mood of a public that loves its country and leaders.
“Now that the right decisions have been made, it is time for the government to implement them on anyone who tries to harm this beloved country and divide its people.
“People want to see their country, leaders, government, institutions, Constitution, judiciary and security authorities being revered and respected. This cannot be achieved without enacting laws that will deter corrupt people, and protect the country and its people.
“Unlike some countries where the leaderships are challenged by some groups, the people of Kuwait are not seeking to share the leadership of the country with people who will not hesitate to burn down this country for achieving their goals.”
“I said, warned and advised that the first step towards reform in this country should be the nomination of patriotic citizens to positions of authority,” Mohammad Ahmad Al-Mulla wrote for Al-Shahed daily.
“These citizens will implement decisions and work with utmost patriotism, because they can protect interests of the country and its people. Hajjaj Bin Yousef Al-Thaqafi was known to be perpetrating injustice and bloodletting but he was loyal to his predecessor and the nation. Many Islamic conquests happened under his leadership, but the major reason for his popularity was loyalty to his predecessor and the nation.
“However, what is happening in our country now shows that majority of ministers and leaders are loyal to their seats, political blocs and tribes. Even if the government promulgates laws or the National Assembly passes bills; the ministers, undersecretaries, assistant undersecretaries and directors will not execute laws or regulations which could negatively affect their political blocs and ‘moneybags.’”
“I regularly watch the TV series titled ‘Women Prison’ which is being shown on many Arab TV channels during this Ramadan. I follow up on some of the scenes in the show to the extent of carrying out research by visiting women prison several times and studying the general social and psychological services provided to the inmates,” Dr Amthal Al-Huwaila wrote for Al-Kuwaitiah daily.
“Even though there are differences in the situation depicted in the show and the real-life situation in the prisons, the differences are minute because all prisons around the world are similar. There are similarities in incidents, crimes and events, and the inmates in all the prisons are sad and broken. I hear similar stories from male and female inmates in Kuwait. Whenever I hear about any issue in the show, I try to find out the truth about it in real life.
“All prisoners claim that they have faced injustice but the reasons for injustice differ. Many claim they faced injustice from the judges. Several people committed crimes because of the cruelty in their environments even though they never intended to be criminals. Even though this is not an excuse for committing crimes, it puts the prisoners in the spotlight.”
“I have tried many times to stop writing about the Palestinian issue because of several reasons, one of which is that I am extremely disgusted and distressed,” Dr Sulaiman AlKhodari wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“Contemporaries of my generation represent the link between two contradicting generations. One of these two generations is the national revolutionary one that holds the Palestinian issue close to their hearts while the other is a generation that pretends it does not understand the slogans or comprehend anything related to it.
“We were raised with the concept that the Palestinian issue is our priority and the liberation of Al-Quds is our dream. Our curriculae stressed that we are all a single Arab nation, all Arabs must unite and agree on the ways to handle issues, and Israel is like cancer that was planted on our lands by the West.
“People of my generation will understand my statement regardless of differences in ideologies and faiths.”
“The only way to interpret the submissive silence of Arabs over the Israeli aggression on the people of Gaza is that they approve it. The massacre has not aroused the conscience of Arabs, which is why they are calm as though nothing is at stake,” Nasser Khamees Al-Mutairi wrote for Al-Nahar daily.
“Non-Muslims and human rights activists in Europe have been openly condemning the Israeli aggression and death of hundreds of Palestinian martyrs including children and women. At the same time, those who hoist Islamic flags like Da’esh and other such groups are busy driving out Arab Christians from Mosul and demanding for tax in Iraq.
“We, Arab Muslims, are contributing to the massacre in Gaza by disregarding the issue in Palestine where people are stripped of their rights. Hamas is bearing the brunt, as it is the only group that has been provoking Israel and destabilizing its security. The Egyptian initiative for ceasefire, which all Palestinian groups including Hamas had rejected, is being regarding by some people as an initiative to break the Palestinian resistance, protect Israel and intimidate Palestinians.”
“The atrocities committed by Zionists in Shaja’eya area in Gaza Strip, despite the call for ceasefire, indicate we are dealing with a regime that neither honors agreements nor pacts. Israeli acts of violence have reached the point where individuals who try to leave their homes to find shelter in places like schools are still pursued,” columnist Hassan Al-Muhaimzi wrote for Al-Sabah daily.
“Zionists deliberately bomb schools and mosques while its soldiers bombard people in the streets and pathways, so the number of Palestinians martyred in a single day goes beyond 60, not excluding the wounded ones that could not be rushed to hospital because the ambulances should not enter the areas close on the borders.
“All this and other atrocities unfold in the glare of a world that seems to be ‘motionless’ in the attempt to intervene and stop crimes perpetrated by Zionists. In fact, the UN Security Council issued a statement condemning both Israel and Hamas, as it denounced the firing of rockets from Gaza to Israel and deliberately ignored the fact that the Palestinians only fire rockets in resistance against Israeli aggression, and the rocket firing will stop if the aggression stops.
“The silence of the Arab world on official and national levels shakes conscience and causes much pain, while people from almost every part of the world have been protesting against the atrocities committed by Israel.
“There is almost a complete absence of protests by people in the Arab world — worst of all, the pathetic efforts rendered by officials who started and ended by requesting the UN Security Council to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip. In short, the world will only move to support the Palestinian cause if they see the Arabs moving actively ....”
“The statement issued by the Ministers Council indicates that revocation of citizenship will be the new baton used to punish those who hold protests and demonstrations,” Hassan Abdullah Jowhar wrote for Al-Jaridah daily.
“The use of ‘citizenship card’ to punish people not only intimidates the citizens but also violates the whole concept of citizenship. Most Kuwaitis acquired citizenship through the power of law because of their lineage, as their grandfathers lived in Kuwait even before the old Kuwaiti walls were built. Such kind of citizenship should never be revoked regardless of the crimes committed by those Kuwaitis. The punishment imposed on them must be within the framework of the Constitution and law even if it means they will be sentenced to capital punishment which is death penalty.
“However, if the government’s intention is to open the naturalization files based on its conviction that the process is full of suspicions, fraud and forgery, such an approach will definitely expose corruption at the highest level of authority. Eventually, the right thing to be done is to expose those involved in granting citizenship to undeserving candidates.
“The recent riots are unfortunate incidents regardless of the justifications. However, the solution is to address corruption seriously and close its sources because most of the populace reactions are based on issues concerning widespread corruption.”