‘Time to end age-old schisms’

‘Frank GCC dialogue hour’s need’

“AS A matter of fact, Aug 10, 1990, was not less painful than Aug 2, 1990,” columnist Suad Fahd Al-Muajel wrote for Al-Qabas daily Tuesday.

“On Aug 10, 1990, ten Arab leaders held their extraordinary summit which initially looked like a commission of sisterly Arab countries to discuss the disasters of the Iraqi invasion and occupation of the State of Kuwait.

“This disaster actually constituted a threat against the nationalistic Arab belonging which was defended by the Arabs with their blood and struggles over the years to such an extent this belonging had become part and parcel of their culture and awareness.

“Aug 10, 1990, was painful indeed, not due to the attitudes of some Arab leaders in terms of dealing with the Iraqi invasion and occupation of the State of Kuwait, nor due to the negative reaction that was shown by the elite in our Arab world towards an aggression that was committed against a sisterly Arab country, the State of Kuwait, but because the minutes of this summit exposed our ignorance as Arabs over the reality of the relations among the Arab leaders.

“In other words, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait actually overtly exposed these relations which prior to the invasion had remained hidden behind closed doors of the previous Arab summits and meetings where we as citizens knew nothing about them prior to Aug 10, 1990.

“This was happening although the previous summits and meetings had ended by the issuance of well prepared communiqués for media consumption to eventually cheat the Arab street that knew nothing about the reality of some of its leaders.

“These days, the world sees the perilous crisis within the Gulf Cooperation Council, where the latter is covered by a lot of articles and analyses about its grounds. But in my opinion, this crisis is deeper than what the writers, analysts and media men believe.

“In other words, the current crisis among some of the GCC States entails the adoption of a new initiative that is capable of digging grounds of the said crisis. It is needless to say the eruption of differences among the sisterly or friendly countries, are neither shameful nor shortcoming, rather the problem may rest in any attempt to beautify these differences and accumulate them to such a level that help them snowball into a crisis.

“As a matter of fact, the peoples of the GCC member States who are in agreement over the rejection of the crisis among these States were surprised indeed because of the eruption of the recent crisis among the States, exactly as these people were surprised about the Arab attitude towards the Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait.

“Their recent surprise can be actually attributed to the fact that these peoples used to evaluate the Gulf/ Gulf relations only through the national anthems and songs as well as through declared communiqués that were issued at the end of every GCC summit or meeting.

“In this context, we say in 1992, the writer and researcher Abdurrahman Al-Nuaimi published the first edition of his book ‘The Struggle in the Arabian Gulf’ in which he narrated some data and issues mostly related to the struggle in the Arabian Gulf region and the distance separating this part of the world geographically and political decision making process.

“The writer referred in detail to the historical as well as to the relative contemporary differences among the Gulf countries to such an extent we can conclude that the differences among these countries can be dated back to the very beginning of its foundations.

“But he went on to say throughout the oil era, these differences had started taking different shapes and identities, but these differences even during this era, could be essentially classified as natural struggles.

“In other words, these could be deemed as frontier struggles, confidence crises, contravening interests and so on, but these struggles remained silent under the slogan ‘Our Unified Gulf’.

“Such being the case, we suggest that even if the current crisis among some GCC member States are ended, these States should reopen all the issues in general and those related to the border differences in particular, since we know that these differences have repeatedly and historically resulted in the eruption of differences among the relevant countries and this means it is high time for discussing these differences frankly and transparently.”

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Al-Muajel

“For the time being, I definitely neither trust the idea of fighting terrorism nor attach any importance to the conferences that may be held to fight this menace or international and regional coalitions that have been formed over the past years to contain this phenomenon,” columnist and former Director of Culture Department at the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) Waleed Al-Rujaib wrote for Al-Rai daily Tuesday.

“We say the above, because the so-called terrorism, religious fanaticism and Islamic extremism are some of the terms that shall be repeatedly used by the official media for a long time.

“But the question is, can we absolve the US and Israel from the accusation related to terrorism in terms of support? Or can we absolve some regimes which are involved in violence and oppression against their peoples or are these regimes responsible for promoting grudge and hatred among some denominations of their peoples who fight for freedoms through pervert thoughts and end up in an armed violence against others.

“We as communities own contradictory ideas. We are living in a state of ambiguous contradiction, nonunderstandable and unjustifiable to some extent and we find that some people are against advancement, others hate peaceful coexistence among various sects, religions and communal components.

“Speaking of the current GCC crisis, we found the US President Donald Trump, for instance, looks pleased with the crisis to such an extent he has added insult to injury by saying the attitude of Qatar at the outset represents the end for terrorism.

“Given the above, one may wonder, why Trump has not closed down the American base in Qatar. And why the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed satisfaction over the actions taken by some GCC countries against Qatar?

“I think the above attitudes and reactions are aimed at tearing apart the GCC countries and destroying their economies.

“I think the credit goes to the State of Kuwait for its commitment to balanced foreign policy, because this is the sole manner for bringing stability without getting involved in any type of political tensions and congestion, since one needs wisdom and patience to play politics not subversive acts or sabotage.”

“After the relative calm in the overseas treatment file, the results of this service appear on the horizon, especially with regard to the financial bill, which is suffused with many question marks, suspicions and pending accusations, and certainly the political bill in this file is no less important and dangerous than its financial dimension – KD 800 million over the past two years alone, according to ministry officials and statement issued by MPs,” columnist, Professor at Kuwait University’s Political Science Department and former MP Dr Hassan Jowhar wrote for Al-Jaridah daily Tuesday.

“The treatment abroad is a real service to which the state must adhere to in the interest of its citizens, especially those who deserve this service such as in the case of cases where treatment is not available her and for serious medical problems and those whose lives are threatened.

“The budget allocated for this service is estimated at KD 120 million. This is because this service is largely used as a political swap and to purchase the loyalty of deputies or others, which may be at the expense of patients who deserve to be sent to complete their treatment in high-efficiency hospitals abroad.

“A number of prominent hospitals in Europe and the United States have closed their doors to Kuwaiti patients who are sent through the Ministry and Health offices because of the outstanding financial deficits that have not been paid and as a result the reputation of the health service abroad has been tarnished.

“The cost of treatment abroad since the liberation and until now may have exceeded KD 4 billion, and this amount could have been utilized to build the largest hospitals of international repute using the latest medical technology employing the best doctors available on the face of the earth and could have turned Kuwait into a global medical center for health tourism.”

“The events are accelerating in a strange manner fanning the Gulf crisis, to the extent any observer or follower is unable to follow what is happening around us, while the activists are active in the social media giving different news reports about the Gulf countries that a breakthrough to the crisis is very close,” columnist, former MP and General Secretary of the Scope Satellite TV channel Talal Al-Saeed wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“Those who want to solve this problem have discussed the causes to reach a solution, and this does not prevent us from being optimistic about an urgent solution before the end of the holy month.

“Kuwait will not abandon its efforts and will continue to heal the rift. Nothing about the discussions with the brothers has been made public because there are those who try to fuel the dispute and there are also those who give ear to the protesters or in the most correct sense do not want the crisis to end and perhaps this is why the acceleration of events in this form is frightening!

“The real problem is that the dispute between the Gulf States which almost reached the point of dissolution is due to the expatriates or the process of naturalization and not essentially because of the differences among the citizens of the Gulf countries.

“These expatriates have ruined their countries and then migrated to our countries with the same thought, the same orientation and the same ruin. If we think deeply about the problem of all the countries of the Gulf we will find that these expatriates are the cause, whether naturalized or those who are still working among us.”

“Many societies are suffering from the phenomenon of street vendors, especially from the Third World countries. However, it is strange that this phenomenon has a presence in Kuwait, which is a rich country. Some may say that the children in some parts of Kuwait are not Kuwaiti but this does not absolve us from paying attention to them and helping them and stop them from begging for alms under the cloak of sale. This phenomenon has no other explanation,” columnist Professor Siham Al-Freih wrote for Annahar daily.

“We have played a role in the National Assembly through the Protection of Children society since 2006. We have taken the initiative to follow up the children with the aim of addressing it. Some volunteers have volunteered to go to the streets to teach these children why they are made use of and pushed into begging for alms using this method.

“The volunteer teams have made efforts to find out from these children, but to no avail. They have always evaded direct questions and refused to answer although they are fully aware of the names of people who have pushed them into this trade.

“If any of us before the enactment of Law No. 21 of 2015 does not have the power to complain against their parents or relatives, today, after this law is in effect, anyone who sees a child in the streets on the pretext of selling can file a complaint against his family because a child has the right to life, survival and development in a cohesive family.

“The aim is to protect him from all forms of violence, injury, physical, moral or sexual abuse, negligence, default, or other forms of abuse or exploitation. Article (80) of Chapter Nine (Criminal Treatment of the Offender against the Child) stipulates that: (a) A penalty of imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and a fine of not less than two thousand Kuwaiti dinars shall be imposed on anyone who prevents the child from obtaining his rights.

“These penalties also apply to those who fail to provide the rights to the child contained in Article 6, which states: “The child shall not be subjected to any physical, psychological, emotional or physical harm.

“Here comes the role of the Ministry of the Interior in tracking children, children who are exposed to or pushed into begging and punish the perpetrators of this crime. The time has come not to need and want, but to help them if they are going through hard times, even if they are non-Kuwaitis.”

“Unique strength of the Gulf people became visible during the Iraqi occupation when they opened the doors of their homes and countries to all Kuwaitis,” columnist Mohammad Al-Jalahma wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“We can not deny the significant role GCC countries played and the firm position adopted by the Gulf, and unity of its peoples and its leaders that contributed in restoring Kuwait. Before August 2, Kuwaitis were convinced that the Gulf and its destiny is one; as we are united by religion, language, customs, traditions and strong relations.

“Thank God for our great oil wealth, open-minded people and wise leaders. All these qualities demonstrate that the Gulf is one and united, so the recent rift and severing of relations by some Gulf countries such as KSA, UAE and Bahrain with Qatar will not break the structure of Gulf society. Perhaps, the time has come to resolve all problems and restore the bond and patch up our differences”.

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb