‘Need to go beyond ’79 era’

Battling radical thought

“THE reference made recently by the Saudi Crown Prince during a televised interview to 1979 has actually raised many questions as to why he made this reference particularly when he said, ‘we shall not continue living in such an era that followed 1979’,” columnist wrote for

daily. “This happened although many thinkers and writers had earlier talked about this era (1979) considering it constituted a significant detour in the history of the region in general.

“In this context, we look at thinker and philosopher Dr Murad Wahba who in his book ‘The Time of Fundamentalism — Vision for the Twentieth Century’ handled this issue by holding comparison between liberalism and fundamentalism. He paused and focused on 1979 and hinted by saying 1979 was dominated by religious fundamentalism at political, intellectual and religious levels.

“Dr Murad Wahba saw this domination began with the erstwhile Soviet Union invading Afghanistan and this invasion ultimately resulted in the destruction of the Soviet Union.

“He added, during that year of the invasion, the United States of America started supporting Islamic fundamentalism where all hardliners graduated from the fundamentalist outfit such as the Taleban movement and so on and the Jihadist thought dominated the Islamic arena from 1979 until now.

“In this connection, Dr Murad Wahba says fundamentalism broke out in Algeria, for instance, when the then Algerian president Chadli Bendjedid decided to support the Islamic fundamentalism as well as the well-known scholar Sheikh Mohammad Al-Ghazali (from Egypt) although the latter was known to give his blessing to the assassination of thinker Faraj Foudah and also appointed Al-Ghazali as professor in one of the Algerian universities.

“However, in 1979 the Islamic political groups had started fostering in Egypt following a decision that was issued by the then ‘faithful’ president Anwar elSadat for releasing Islamists from jails to allow them to encounter the leftist current in the then Egyptian universities.

“As a matter of fact, there are a lot of events and details that can make 1979 a year of launching fundamentalism, the culture of Jihad and ridiculous allegations from those who believe in the sanctity of Jihad in Afghanistan — the allegations that promoted that the chaste bodies of the Mujahedin who might be killed in Afghanistan will not be putrid, rather the smell of musk and ambergris will emerge from these bodies.

“However, the problem shows that the associations of 1979 could not be encountered through economic decisions or through constructional, developmental of commercial complexes, because these associations had intellectually taken root to such an extent, they had become part and parcel of the culture of a complete generation and part of the national awareness — the nation whose priorities remarkably retreated and this obviously reflected on all aspects of life.

“Consequently, what we really need is to go beyond the era of 1979, may be through a social, intellectual, psychological and cultural revolution, not constructional under which all types of fanaticism will pile up in the form of a mistaken attempt to fight religious fanaticism.”

Also:

Al-Moajal

“The resignation of the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri came as a result of the high-profile ballistic missile that struck north of Riyadh after it was intercepted by ground-based anti-aircraft missile launchers,” columnist

wrote for daily. “The resignation also coincided with the anticorruption campaign that hit the heads of prominent Saudis — princes, ministers and dignitaries.

“Is there a link between these events or is it just a coincidence or an accident, intentional or unintentional? In fact, it is difficult to find a definitive answer to this, but perhaps the coming days will show something that shall cover the entire region.

“As a matter of fact, Hariri’s resignation through a sharp speech announced from the Saudi capital in which he attacked Tehran and Hezbollah which is supported by Iran. It is a Saudi strike but through Hariri to Iran, which Iran is causing all the crises in the region from Yemen to Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

“It is clear from Hariri’s speech that Lebanon shall see escalation of tension soon, especially when he said that the scene is very similar to the 2005 stage that preceded the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. The scenario is similar to the situation at the time of the issuance of Resolution 1559 and its repercussions on the Lebanese situation.

“But with regard to the crisis that faces Lebanon is how to form a government, who will form it and who will be the members of the government. Hariri’s speech does not suggest that the Future Current will be involved in any government that includes Hezbollah.

“If Hezbollah presses for the formation of a government similar to that which was formed by President Najib Miqati, Lebanon will face a new crisis, which shall suffer from the absence of recognition by the Arabs and the international community. This may increase the political and economic pressure on the country in the light of the sanctions imposed on Hezbollah, and we do not rule out that Lebanon will again witness anarchy and fighting.”

“It is better for Iraq to grant the Kurdistan region its full independence, not only autonomy. It is also better to close the border with the region forever. Half of Iraq’s problems have been and continue to be among the involvement of the region,” columnist

wrote for daily. “The leaders of the Kurdistan region themselves have cooperated even with Satan. They believe that it is their right to establish a state for them. But they do not adhere to the limits of such demands, but want large areas, large oil fields and privileges and want the right to bring Kurdish rebel factions from Turkey and Iran to settle in other areas of the Iraqi territory.

“The previous Iraqi governments since 1936 have tried to find solutions to the problem of the Kurds and did not find a better solution than granting them independence, not autonomy. I am confident that the current Iraqi government does not oppose granting them independence on the borders of the three governorates Sulaimaniya, Arbil and Dahouk.

“However, such a solution would not satisfy Israel because it simply would not cause wars in the region, which is exactly the opposite of what Israel, which seeks to redraw the map of the region, wants only to fabricate wars that will allow it to cover both Arabs and the world in order to extend its domination on the Golan and the other Arab areas, including two areas inside Syria and northern Iraq and other areas in Turkey. If this is not true, who then commits and finance crimes in the north of Sinai and in whose favor?

“There is now a Kurdish accusation that Iraq has used the commander from the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the Iraqi Revolutionary Guard to reimpose Iraqi sovereignty over Kirkuk, Khanqin and other Arab areas in the Badia district of Mosul, which has no relation at all with the Kurds.

“They forget that the entire Israeli guardianship over the presidency of the Kurdistan region is the one that moved the referendum and exaggerated the reasons for the separation and showed an unpopular feeling towards their country, Iraq.

“Even the American side involved in the implementation of the Israeli project, which is no secret after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the Clinton administration, what she called the democratization of the Middle East and what they are talking about the Kurdish circles in northern Iraq explicitly that it received firm promises from the parties in the US intelligence and the White House.

“This not only supports their aspirations, but also warns them against backing away. There are Arab countries, some of them from are big Arab countries who support the Kurds for secret reasons.

“Everyone knows that the reason for the Iran-Iraq war was to show some of the people of this great Arab country the dimensions of the region. The fear that Tehran might export its revolution to the rest of the countries of the region and the reason for the folly of the invasion of Kuwait is caused by the miserable situation that affected the situation of Iraq as a result of the eight-year war.

“Does anyone know what the region will be like in case Iraq is drawn into another war?

“Do these parties know how much the Iraqi Kurds paid from Kirkuk oil money to the Jewish wars in America and other influential American parties, and to the decision makers in the Mossad and the Israeli administration to get Israeli support for something Israel originally planned? Have not Arabs been able to survive wars and confrontations? Are not they tired of ignorance, naivety and selfishness?”

“The Kuwait Oil & Gas Conference achieved a remarkable success in terms of arrangement and organization. The opening was held at the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Cultural Center, the newest facility in the country, in the evening to allow everyone to attend the opening ceremony of the most important event in the Kuwaiti oil sector,” columnist

wrote for daily. “In terms of the conference guests, the list included prominent representatives from OPEC and the companies operating in the Gulf oil and gas sector, as well as international companies.

“What was unique was the abbreviation of the conference and its focus on the technical aspect of the global oil market. In the past we used to see formal conferences, very formal form, dominated by protocols and courtesies, until it strayed away from the main and made these conferences boring but this time this did not happen, thank God.

“One of the simple points that I noticed and admired at the opening of the conference is the use of Arabic in the visual presentation which was translated into other languages.

“The interest in our mother tongue, highlighting these great events, and the country’s guests who came from all over the world respected us and our culture and we are proud of them and our language, and this is what we would like to see in future during all major occasions, and we thank the organizers for taking this good direction.

“In addition to the positive aspects of the conference, observations have been made that we would like to contribute to improve in order for the next conference to be better. We are interested in showing the best and most valuable to the attendees and participants in the exhibition and the activities accompanying the conference.

“In conclusion, we thank the conference organizers for their great effort for the success of this event. We hope to see more of these events in Kuwait, we need them.”

“I am writing this article following the reappointment of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak to form a new Cabinet and prior to formation of the Cabinet, which I believe will take long to announce,” wrote for daily.

“This is the seventh Cabinet to be formed by the current Prime Minister since assuming office in 2012, which is an average of a little more than one Cabinet per year. There have been seven cabinets for the Prime Minister and without any appreciable achievement! All seven cabinets dropped standard at different levels, and according to a recent statement by the Transparency Society, Kuwait fell 20 positions in the anti-corruption index between 2015 and 2016. The country also retrogressed in the world ranking for democracy index to occupy 121st place globally.

“The solution begins by selecting nationalist politicians as ministers rather than the composition that relies on political flattery, sectarian and tribal quota — as repeated every now and then, which most likely will happen again. I don’t believe the incoming government will be different from its predecessors. I am bold to say that using the same approach is a deliberate act that will heighten crisis from the lawmakers and eventually lead to the dissolution of Parliament.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb