‘Torment documented in book’

Briton highlights Kuwait pain

“EVERY year in August we remember the anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of the State of Kuwait – specifically on Aug 2, 1990,” columnist and former MP Abdulmohsen Yusuf Jamal wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“In other words, the remembrance of this anniversary means remembering the painful events every year both for the people of the State of Kuwait and the expatriates who lived on this beloved and kind land.

“As a matter of fact, the incident (the invasion) has been documented in many books and novels – the heathenish aggression against the State of Kuwait. While I was sifting through the books in one of the libraries, I came across one particular book under the title ‘Letter Home’.

“The author of this book is a British lady married to a Kuwaiti. She and her husband spent most of the invasion period inside Kuwait. During that time this lady was sending letters to her family in Britain on almost a daily basis and (thanks to her) she has published these letters post the liberation of the State of Kuwait.

“The name of this lady is Karen Alanizi and she has documented her daily chores through letters that she sent from her home in the suburb of Al-Andalus. In the letters she talks about what she saw – the moves of the Iraqi soldiers and the fear in which the Kuwaiti families lived in general and the expatriates in particular, particularly the Westerners. The Iraqis were dealing with these foreigners in an unexpected manner particularly the women who had married Kuwaitis and due to the close relations between these Western countries and Kuwait.

“It is needless to say that the importance of Karen’s book, rests in the fact that she was an eyewitness to all the events that occurred in the country during the Iraq invasion and occupation of Kuwait day by day and since the first day of the invasion and occupation until she reluctantly left Kuwait in October 1990. She says she was very sad to leave her husband with his parents on the land which she had loved and become fond of it.

“Meanwhile, after leaving Kuwait for London, when she arrived home she found her parents waiting for her holding the Kuwaiti flag in their home in Britain and the flag remained hoisted in her home until Kuwait was liberated and the same can be said of all British families who had relatives in the State of Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion and occupation. Moreover, these families took part in demonstrations organized by the Kuwaitis in British capital, London for demanding the liberation of the State of Kuwait.

“In her book, Karen says her story is just one of a lot of stories narrated by the Kuwaitis about their torments during the invasion and the occupation period, and these difficult days must be narrated to the future generations.

“She also talks about the generous attitude of Kuwait in assisting Western residents in the country and how they protected them which is something that cannot be forgotten. This is one of the values of the Kuwaiti and British peoples.

“In conclusion, we would like to point out here that the book is written in English and we hope that this will be translated into Arabic for the benefit of all Arabic speaking people.”

Also:

Dr Jamal

“The 29th anniversary of the vicious invasion and occupation to which our beloved State of Kuwait was exposed to on Aug 2, 1990, was narrated through many documentaries depicting the invasion and occupation,” columnist Muhammad Ahmad Al-Mejren Al-Roumi wrote for Al-Jarida daily.

“In these documentaries we see how the Kuwaiti heroes encountered the invading armies. This is in addition to the interviews conducted with the heroes of the Kuwaiti resistance against the invaders and occupiers.

“It is needless to say those who were born during the invasion and occupation or post liberation are not aware of what happened to their country during this period and these people constitute a big percentage.

“Such being the case, we suggest the Kuwaiti media in general and the government media in particular must produce movies to shed light on the people who worked silently without any media cover to defend their motherland.

“These persons although some of them were out of the country actually performed their duty towards their homeland which was under occupation. Here, I mean the Kuwaiti diplomats who spared no efforts to defend the just cause of the State of Kuwait in addition to refuting the Iraqi allegations.

“Apart from the above, the Kuwaiti diplomats abroad during that time refuted the claims of those who illicitly threw their support behind the invasion and occupation in the Arab, Islamic and international forums.

“Meanwhile, we suggest both the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Information must be requested to produce movies and conduct interviews with those who worked at the Kuwaiti embassies and consulates and members of Kuwaiti delegations to the regional and international organizations.

“Likewise, the two ministries are requested to shed light on the activities of the Kuwaiti diplomats who were working for the Kuwaiti embassy in Baghdad and Kuwaiti diplomats in countries which were supporting the aggressor.

“It is needless to say these diplomats lived during difficult times and an atmosphere that was full of fright in addition to baseless informational campaigns up to the time Kuwait emerged victorious by the will of Almighty Allah.

“Anyway, in a few months Kuwait will celebrate the anniversary of liberation and this means we still have time to produce films about invasion and occupation to shed light on the activities of the other state institutions which have played a significant role during invasion and post liberation including the Kuwaiti army, security apparatuses, the ministries of services such as the Ministry of Electricity & Water, the General Fire Services Directorate, the Kuwait Municipality, the oil institutions and so on.

“Furthermore, the proposed movies should project the role played by the cooperative societies and charity organizations during the period of invasion and occupation in addition to the role that was played by the Kuwaiti businessmen who opened their stores and came to the assistance of the Kuwaitis during the invasion and the occupation of the country.”

“At Kuwait airport, some passengers lost their belongings such as jewelry, money, etc and they filed complaints in this regard in four airlines. News reached the airport authorities.

“After monitoring, investigation and surveillance, the authorities arrested the suspects and interrogated them. It turned out that seven Indians and Bangladeshis took advantage of their work in a service company. When the amount of their loot increased, they rented an apartment in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh to hide the stolen items. Authorities raided the apartment where they found the items which were reported stolen. Some pieces of jewelry were hidden in a rice container,” columnist and former Ambassador Al-Seyassah daily.

“Another story describes how a thief operates at the airport.

“An Arab traveled to Kuwait just to steal two luxury suitcases from the baggage conveyor. He took the stolen suitcases straight to the departure counter to return to his homeland, but the airport authorities were on the lookout after receiving information that an expatriate wished to travel to Kuwait on return ticket the same day, which raised suspicions.

“He was caught and interrogated. He confessed that he traveled to the country only to steal the bags.

“In the summer of 1986, I was transferred to our embassy in Brazil, and at Kuwait airport, like in any other airport in the world, the airline employee received the bags and put a strip of paper with the flight number with another copy like a card was affixed to the passenger ticket. The trip to Brazil was long and exhausting. It took two days inside the plane. At Rio de Janeiro airport, I received the luggage but before I left, an airport employee asked me to check the numbers attached to the bag and compare it with the numbers on the ticket.

“This is probably the best job performance I witnessed while traveling.

“Upon arrival at the airport “whether European, Arab or other airports, we usually wait for our luggage from the baggage conveyor, take our bags and then get out.

“What is the opinion of the civil aviation administration and officials at Kuwait Airport on applying this idea to protect the rights of travelers and prevent the stealing of luggage?”

Ahmad Al-Dawas

wrote

for

“A Kuwaiti media figure and columnist revealed the extent of his ignorance when he appeared on TV to deny the existence of Palestine and Palestinians, and insisted on granting the Zionists their alleged historical right to our Arab land”, Dr Najm Abdulkareem wrote for Aljarida daily.

“I am writing the following lines for that man to show him the extent of his ignorance.

“Historical facts confirm that Semitic waves of immigration started from the Arabian Peninsula, most of them being Canaanites. They occupied a land they called ‘the land of Canaan’, which was Palestine where they prevailed from 1500 BC to 2500 BC, which means they stayed there for over 1,000 years. This area was ruled by David where he established his Kingdom of Israel in 1004 BC. The kingdom occupied only the north part of Israel and lasted for 70 years until the first invasion by the Assyrian king Shalma Nassar. The people of the north of the Kingdom of Israel were exiled, which is referred as the first invasion. They set up for themselves ‘The Kingdom of Judah’ in the inner Palestinian plateau until the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar conquered and exiled them. This was called the Babylonian captivity.

“When the Persians occupied Sham, Cyrus allowed the Jews to return from their Babylonian exile to the plateau of Palestine and rebuild their temples, because history indicates that the mother of Cyrus, or may be his wife, was a Jew. In 333 BC, the region underwent invasions by Alexander the Great, but its name remained as Palestine.

“Then came the Roman rule in 64 BC. Years later, Jesus Christ was born, and it was only a short time until the Church of Nativity and the Church of Holy Sepulcher were built. In the meantime, Emperor Vespasian killed the Jews and destroyed their synagogues. He established a state called Palestine and merged to it the Nabataean Kingdom in the south.

“During the Byzantine period, Palestine was divided into three states – the first Palestine extended across the sea to the east of Jordan, the second Palestine extended across the northern Palestine to northern Jordan, and the third Palestine had Petra at its center, and had the land of the Nabateans and Diyar Al-Saba in the south.

“Palestinians always shared friendly relations with their Arab neighbors such as the Nabataeans, the Ghassanids, and the Manaziris.”

“While the world has entered the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution for years, we are still looking at details of the past in Kuwait and the Arab world, while we stand on the platform of knowledge receiving more than we produce. We receive without producing what contributes to the revolution and fall into a vicious circle, which we do not know when to get out of; that is if we’ll ever get out of it according to data in hand at the moment,” columnist Engineer Fahd Dawood Al-Sabah wrote for Annahar daily.

“In the history of globalization, man knows that invention of the wheel was the first stage of globalization, which was preceded only by agriculture, then came centuries of the industrial revolutions we know now. It was the First Industrial Revolution with steam engine that made Britain one of the richest countries, followed by the Second Industrial Revolution that made the leadership move to another country.

“The world at every stage was characterized by the lifestyle of the country in charge until the Third Industrial Revolution began with computers, which ushered in the American era, while we look at it today as ‘absolute end of the American cultural control over the world. The truth is quite different. The first results of what was concluded by scientific innovations, especially in the technological fields or what is known as the birth of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, did not only drag on for more than half a century to begin, knowing the previous industrial revolutions needed a century of human fatigue and effort.

“Today, economic destinations of the nations vary according to science. We have several examples. The US economy, for example, relies mainly on technology companies, among which five produce four trillion dollars – equivalent to one and a half times the national output of the Arab countries combined – 2.4 trillion.

“The Fourth Industrial Revolution does not need great countries but great minds, which means the interest in educating generations of innovators is mainly in the renaissance of societies and the progress of countries.

On this basis, we can dream that we in Kuwait can be a fundamental base in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Our economy is based on absolute consumption, generation of disguised unemployment on contemporary productivity, and creating modern solutions to the problems we face. This is especially the demographically dysfunctional population structure, which unfortunately, is met by either improvisational or backwardoriented.

“Kuwait can be made a basic base in the Fourth Industrial Revolution by working to open the doors of investments in the field of artificial intelligence, directing the outputs of education towards those areas, and providing the basic elements in this field, in the sense of relying more on e-government and reducing bureaucracy. All of this requires decision in the beginning to seriously diversify income, and of course, this will be achieved only through a bold government that takes on the responsibility of developing society and the State in order to begin Kuwait’s future today. Will our government recognize the importance of this step to continue with strength?”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb