‘Do not rejoice too much’

‘Issue is all about arms … draining the treasury’

“MANY liberals shout ‘weal and woe’ while the Americans rejoice and are delighted with the visit of President (Donald) Trump to Saudi Arabia, as if he knocked on their doors and brought for them precious gifts of wonderful dreams that lie ahead,” columnist

wrote for daily. “I think these people have read a little of what was published in the Western media, for example, in the New York Times and the Financial Times, the oldest newspapers in America and Britain, about what Trump has told the monarchs and a number of heads of states in the Muslim world.

“The New York Times published an interview by two of its Muslim correspondents who concluded that what Trump told the Muslim leaders, although seemingly he has significantly toned down his attitude about fanaticism and linking Islam to terrorism compared to what he has been saying in his campaign speeches, was not a public speech about Islam as much as it was an incitement against Iran and a call to isolate Tehran internationally, on one hand, and a warning to Muslim countries which support the terrorist groups such as DEASH on the other hand.

“The two correspondents have compared the speech of Trump word by word with that of Obama in Cairo in 2009. Obama’s speech was abstract when he called for interfaith peaceful dialogue, the need to build democratic institutions and consolidation of human rights.

“Trump did not mention the issue of human rights but called on the leaders of countries which do not respect human rights and or tilt towards democracy. Here I assume Trump may be right about the threat of terrorism, but he almost encouraged the authoritarian regimes which justify their domination under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Here we forget that these suppressive regimes breed terrorism although there are other reasons such as miserable social and economic conditions.

“The Financial Times does not differ much from the above. Trump called on our countries to build regional peace in partnership with America, which includes containing Iran since the US has put a tag on Tehran as absolute model of evil in the region.

“The newspaper described his speech as ‘evil and good’; evil is Iran and good is peace for the region, which simply means peace with Israel.

“One may ask here: What is the difference between the speech given by Trump and George Bush Jr on the axis of evil and his principle ‘either with us or against us? What did Bush do to the Arab countries after his speech on the invasion of Iraq? Trump’s speech came immediately after the moderate Hassan Rouhani was elected President of Iran defeating the Iranian hard-line wing, the wing that put its weight behind exporting the Iranian Revolution. The elections were conducted in ‘restricted atmosphere’ but far better than the elections held in a number of Muslim countries.

“We wonder what Trump wants from this mobilization or rather after inciting the countries of the Gulf region? Is he not condemning moderation and encouraging the hard-line forces in Iran and pushing the moderates into the corner of political failures?

“Does Trump look for prosperity, progress and sustainable development of our countries only if they will put their last penny in the US budget through arms and ammunition deals imposed on them by the Americans, which in the end may not be useful?

“Will this be of any interest to the region when it enters the arms race which means dispelling all hopes of dialogue and peace for the countries of the region?

“We call on the jubilant liberals to contemplate and not to rejoice too much. The issue is all about the arms deals and draining the treasury.”

Al-Issa

“The terrorists are primarily concerned with the reaction of the people and those who follow their activities. They look for support and allegiance and people who sympathize with them rather than their terrorist acts in different parts of the world,” columnist wrote for daily.

“Here the main issue for the terrorists is how to promote their deeds and win the attention of the media and various segments of the society including senior officials in the government and the decision-makers.

“In order to achieve this goal, the terrorists carefully select the places of attacks keeping in mind the best media coverage. This is what we saw on Sept 11, 2001, the attack that received extensive media coverage immediately.

“The media was not only able to portray this terrorist action but also enabled people who were in the New York City, residents and tourists alike, to document it with pictures and videos and personal narrations. This event is still influential and its implications are not only on the terrorists, but on the region.

“Indeed, the objectives of the terrorists are not limited to gaining the attention of the masses as much as they aim at proliferation and expansion, and this is the slogan of these criminals. Moreover, they want to publicize their political issues and inform those sympathizing with them as well as the enemies the motives behind these acts of terrorism, this is done through the media and social networking sites.

“Through these sites, the terrorists justify resorting to the ‘Management of Savagery’ and holy violence under the cover of the word of Tawheed (Oneness of God), faith and defense of Islam and Muslims.

“The terrorists resort to justifying their despicable acts that degrade human dignity and humanity through texts, misinterpretations and in the social media as a tool to reduce the disparity of persuasion and justification between the entity that they fight against, in actual war and ideology on the ground.

“They also create an atmosphere of fear and suspicion and legalize their atrocious acts. Because of these motivations, the terrorists can carry out their attacks legitimately and strategically fully aware of the media impact on almost every segment of society and government officials at almost all levels.

“It is not an exaggeration if I say half of the terrorist acts are actually committed by the social networking website and other media means. Therefore, we find political movements monitoring some accounts of the social networking websites because of their impact not only on the present but also on the future generations.

“We pray to Allah to have mercy on martyr and thinker Faraj Fouda of Egypt who had said terrorism can be confronted through Education, Economy and National Unity.”

“The United Nations Summit held at the then Brazilian capital Rio de Janeiro in 1992 was called the Earth Summit. This summit was unprecedented in terms of size and representation,” wrote for daily.

“The summit revolved around deliberation on the critical situation of the global environment. Like I said earlier, it eminently deserves the title, considering the effects, participation and size.

“However, the recent Riyadh Summit deserves to be called the Earth Summit from historical, geographical and political aspects. It can even be revered as the Tripartite Earth Summit because it brings together the most significant leaders from regional and international levels as well as from the Islamic world within a short time.

“The summit would not have been successful if it was not held in Saudi Arabia under the direct patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.

“The Tripartite Earth Summit, which was held in Riyadh within 48 hours, combined all political capabilities available in the Middle East and beyond within the region, among the Arabs and in the world at large.”

“Kuwait is a humanitarian center and a donor country under the leadership of HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the man who has been proclaimed as the humanitarian leader by the world community,” columnist wrote for daily.

“However, a number of MPs, who have won the seats in Parliament because of their deceiving slogans because they do not know the place of their country.

“They keep on offending their country and defaming it via their words and their suggestions that reveal they have no solutions for any issue. They only talk and talk and target the patriotic emotions paying no consideration to the dangerous consequences of their irresponsible statements.

“They do not care about classifying Kuwait in the area of human rights. Those MPs call for Kuwait to become a big jail for the expatriates. They actually hurt themselves before hurting the expatriates. It is hard to believe that Kuwaitis offend others who are supposed to represent the people.

“We saw some MPs calling for imposing road tax on the expatriates and preventing them from getting medicine. Another brilliant MP suggested ending service of all expatriate teachers at the Ministry of Education but he forgot to offer the substitute.

“That respected MP also called for dismissing ‘exempted’ expatriate students from government schools. What kind of Kuwait does this MP represent? Is it Kuwait that we all know as a pioneer in the human activities? Is it the place where human rights are protected and the international declarations are enforced?

“Before suggesting ending the contracts of teachers my dear MP, we have to remind you of the shortage of the number of teachers.”

“The recent statistics released by the Central Statistical Bureau revealed that the number of unemployed citizens is 14,822. This is a large number which proves that the government’s mission to employ citizens is slow and maybe almost nonexistent. However, the funny thing about this report is that this number is lower than last year, which was 17,578,”

wrote for daily. “The speed of employment in the public sector is slow and does not match the number of students graduating from universities and institutes every year.

“We have been repeatedly stressing the major role the government plays in the process of directing graduates to the private sector when the public sector cannot absorb their numbers. However, contrary to the requirement, many expatriates are replacing citizens in many government jobs. This is one of the shortcomings of the government. As I always say, the government does not have a clear vision or plan for the future generations. Kuwait and its sons need to have a government that is capable of providing jobs for them and not a government that drowns them with unfulfilled promises.

“The government is required to formulate clear plans and solutions as soon as possible. In my opinion, it should start with opening the door for citizens through implementation of replacement policy (Kuwaitization) which is suitable for the circumstances of the country.

“Secondly, it should formulate policies that direct students graduating from secondary school to specializations that are needed by the country. Thirdly, it should employ citizens and apply clear laws for companies to employ citizens with the provision of national support for these companies. Fourthly, the youths should be encouraged to engage in professional jobs by giving them incentives and allowances.

“It is obvious today that majority of youths prefer office jobs, due to which more attention is needed to change that inclination.”

“Most of the time, the issues that appear in the local arena are related to politics, economy or society. Due to this, the presence of the government and media is necessary in order to give proper and correct information or explanation to the public concerning whatever is transpiring in reality,” Dr

wrote for daily. “The general public feels the need for the government to take necessary steps to counter the financial challenges that not only faces Kuwait, but the entire world as well.

“The government has the responsibility of taking necessary decisions that will help better our economy. These decisions might directly or indirectly affect the income of citizens; but at the end of the day, it is something that needs to be done, just like the decision to increase the fuel prices.

“Undoubtedly, the overwhelming pessimism and prevailing negativity being felt by the society is the result of the underperformance of the government’s media department, and its negligence in providing explanations for various issues and questions that have been raised concerning the measures taken by the government.

“Such inquiries are usually sparked by what is being read or heard here and there to counter the financial deficit. The society will definitely be appreciative if the government starts implementing such decisions on itself before the public. However, due to lack of proper information channels, the public resorts to social media to find the truth. This in turn increases unnecessary anxiety which the government could avoid if only it had a properly functioning channel of information and explanations.”

–– Compiled by Ahmed Al-Shazli