‘Nasser God-fearing, clean man’

‘Egypt prospered in Jamal’s era’

“I WISH Egypt and the kind Egyptians long life on the occasion of the death anniversary of the symbol of Arabism and the free world. I am honored to pen a modest article depicting the march of this hero who has instilled fear in the hearts of his coward foes although he died 49 years ago during which no similar wise man has emerged since his birth in 1918 up to his death on Sept 28,1970,” columnist Muhammad Abdulhameed AlSaqer wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“The history of the Kenana land (in Egypt) is a testimony of the lofty achievements of the late leader Jamal Abdul Nasser, not his negativities or some of his follies as a leader and human being where he shall always stand out among the heroes.

“However, we are not here to narrate the achievements of this eternal leader (Bu Khaled) or to narrate the story of his life and his footprints towards the liberation of the people of his homeland from slavery and persecution. It is Jamal Abdul Nasser who said ‘Oh my brother raise your head, the era of slavery has ended’.

“It is Jamal Abdul Nasser who opened the road of development and heroism for his country and Arabism, and the High Dam witnesses the lifeblood of agriculture, electricity and the abundance of waste of the immortal River Nile to reclaim the lands of his homeland after flooding disasters and the building of this dam has given protection for his country Egypt as well as for its neighboring countries.

“In this context, we say in spite of such unfair siege that was imposed on his homeland and his people, the patient Egypt during the reign of Nasser was involved in manufacturing cars, producing missiles, building plants, schools and hospitals, and during that time Egypt provided the foodstuff and meat for people of all classes.

“Apart from the above, Egypt witnessed a stability in the prices of everything including the real estate and the rents.

“But outside Egypt, the Arab and Islamic countries as well as the Third World countries, witnessed the liberation of the human being under the tone of the NonAligned Movement that covered many countries in Africa, Asia and Europe where Nasser was one of this movement’s founders including the then Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the then Yugoslavian president Joseph Broz Tito.

“The entire world greeted these leaders for their efforts for founding the Movement and dealt with them as revolutionaries for achieving justice, but not destruction which the humanity is currently suffering from and this can be perceived through a security turmoil which currently lashes many countries on our planet represented by destruction followed by destruction, wars and killing, let alone the absence of necessary financial and economic stability.

“Given the above, it is enough for Jamal Abdul Nasser, we pray to Almighty Allah to bestow His mercy upon him, as a human being to have endured a lot of disasters for the sake of defending the nation and his homeland, and as such, he still remains a symbol even after his death at the age of 52.

“In the wake of his death, they found in his bank account a small amount and they lost all the privileges including accommodation, suffered due to standard of living and transportation immediately after his death.

“Given the above, Nasser in the eyes of Almighty Allah was a clean man. God fearing he was ready for accountability, and proved to the others that they have failed to complete his march without loopholes to be attributed to his high nationalistic and creative solemnity.

“Oh Jamal, who is loved by the millions, we pray to Almighty Allah to bestow is mercy upon you.”

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Al Saqer

“Iraq has filed a complaint against the State of Kuwait at the United Nations,” columnist Dr. Nour Muhammad Al-Habashi wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“The media talked a lot about this complaint, but we concentrate on the minutes of the history to learn some of its lessons.

“The first border demarcation between Kuwait and Iraq was carried out during the reign of the then Ottoman State in 1913 and according to an Anglo-Ottoman Treaty recognized the independence of Kuwait and the borders demarcation in question.

“In this context, we say Article IV of the AngloOttoman Treaty provided that the signs of the borders from the entrance of Al-Zubair Bay in the north passing directly to south of Umm Qasr, Safwan and Jabal Sanam up to Wadi Al-Baten. However, the World War I, ended with defeat of the Ottoman State and Britain occupied all the Ottoman territories in Iraq.

“Such being the case, through a political sophistication, the then Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, we pray to the Almighty Allah to rest his soul in peace, in April 1923, demanded that the borders between Kuwait and Iraq, shall remain the same as it was during the reign of the Ottoman State, and the then British High Commissioner in Iraq Sir Percy Cox responded to the Kuwaiti request and declared the British government’s recognition of these borders.

“On July 21, 1932, the then Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Pasha Al-Saeed, recognized the borders between Kuwait and Iraq. Following this development, however, Iraq joined the then League of Nations.

“On Oct 4, 1963, Iraq recognized the independence of Kuwait as well as the Iraqi-Kuwaiti borders referred to in the letters exchanged dated July 21 and Aug 10, 1932 respectively between Pasha Al-Saeed and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. This was evident through the minutes of the meeting that was also attended by then Kuwaiti Crown Prince, Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem AlSabah and the then Iraqi Prime Minister Ahmad Hassan Al-Bakr.

“In 1991, the United Nations Security Council had formed a committee for the demarcation of the borders between Kuwait and Iraq and Iraq agreed to abide by the resolutions to be adopted by the committee in this connection.

“In 1993, the Security Council issued the Resolution No. 833 for the demarcation of the borders between Kuwait and Iraq, and the State of Kuwait recognized this resolution in 1993, while Iraq recognized it in 1994.

“However, it is needless to say our Iraqi brothers should know these facts, because some of the Iraqi politicians and MPs are trying to distort history.”

“To some extent, we followed the activity of the Kuwaiti delegation to the annual United Nations General Assembly. While the delegation, headed by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak, was boarding the flight from Kuwait International Airport to New York, we wondered about the large number of its members. We imagined that the big delegation has other tasks outside their main duty – to attend the General Assembly as well as the environment conference,” columnist Hassan Ali Karam wrote for Al-Seyassah daily.

“I wonder why Minister of Public Works and State Minister for Housing Affairs Jenan Boushahri is part of such a delegation. Does she have any interest in political, financial or security missions? Perhaps, she became an expert in international politics during the short period in her position. Since we have random appointment and random granting of citizenship, it is not strange that we have random selection of members of delegations. It is not necessary that members meet the requirements associated with the job of the delegation.

“It was reported that Lebanese President Michel Aoun was accompanied by a 60-member delegation to New York, which made the resurrection of the Lebanese people especially when we realized that Lebanon is going through a very critical economic situation. Somebody may say that Lebanon cannot be compared to Kuwait, so we have to accept the participation of Bushehri in this delegation. However, a few days before her departure, she promised to remove traces of the last winter’s heavy rains, reassuring citizens that the damage caused by the rains last year will not be repeated.

“It is true that the minister will not pave roads with her hands since certain employees are in charge of such tasks. Nevertheless, the minister bears the responsibility which makes it a must for her to stay in Kuwait to closely monitor the work.

“We agree that the minister can travel whenever and wherever she wants, but the citizens need to listen to the justification for traveling under such critical circumstances. Actually, the minister’s trip cannot be justified this time. I would like to stress that I have no personal conflict with Bushehri. I do not have a contracting company and I did not lose a public tender. Many of the streets here have not been paved since they were damaged during last winter’s rains. The streets look as if a military battle is ongoing. Housing welfare conditions are not better than that of the streets. What is the job of officials at ministry of Foreign Affairs if the public works minister represents Kuwait at the UN General Assembly?”

“Water is the heart of development; it is life, the most important necessity for human survival. The idea that water is available on the planet – as it covers about 70 percent of its landmass – is wrong, because the proportion of fresh water in the total amount of water on the Earth’s surface is only 2.5 percent, and the majority (about 99 percent) is found in the glaciers in the Arctic regions, while 0.3 percent of fresh water is found in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere,” Muhammad Nasser Al-Sanousi wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“This limited resource should support the lives of 9.7 billion people in 2050 as projected; by this date, some 3.9 billion people- more than 40 percent of the world’s population – will live in semi-arid areas under extreme pressure to meet their daily water requirements. In fact, the increasing population is not the only reason for the rising pressure on water resources; if the world’s population has increased threefold in the twentieth century, the use of water has increased sixfold in the sense that multi-junction development movement is a major cause of the increasing demand for water.

“Some reports indicate that the factories’ need of water by 2050 will increase 400 percent. Moreover, the rise of national propensity around the world is having an impact on per capita water in certain regions. We should also be mindful of climate change and its effects. In light of the anticipated challenges on the issue of water, report anticipates it will become an economic commodity sold at comparable oil prices.

“Not only that, water issues have become geopolitical and may cause conflicts and wars among countries. It has equally become one of the most important issues on leaders’ tables and in the kitchens of diplomacy, and perhaps, we are close to the scenes of water conflict in the region – one of which has been burning in the corridors of diplomatic work and international organizations. We mean the conflict between Ethiopia and the Nile Basin countries over the Renaissance Dam.

“Another key dimension of water and sustainability is related to ecosystems and the role of water in facilitating the process of those systems that provide us food from fish resources, and availability of the natural environment for animal life and others. Water challenges require good water and energy management, innovative and unprecedented strategies to maximize investment in the field, and the inclusion of private sector as a central partner to meet sustainable development needs.”

“Kuwait has the right to rejoice in its new ranking by the World Bank as one of the top 20 countries in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Index,” Abdul-Rahman Al-Awad wrote for Al-Sabah daily.

“This remarkable achievement is a clear indication of the government’s ongoing efforts to develop the structure of the local economy and make it attractive to foreign investment. Certainly, this classification did not come out of the blue as it was the result of well studied steps. Keen followers mentioned a series of meetings that HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah convened in this regard in April 2018.

“Meetings with various important sectors were aimed at activating reformist hearts in government work while trying to address problems, find solutions to emergency problems and impose the atmosphere of work cell to implement government plans and programs. One of the most important of these meetings was with the Standing Committee to improve the business environment and enhance competitiveness.

“HH the Prime Minister stressed at the time on improving the business environment, enhancing competitiveness, facilitating licensing procedures, shortening the documentation cycle and enhancing competitiveness to stimulate the economy and attract foreign investments. This meeting was of utmost importance as it focused on the economic sector in the country and improving the business sector.

“Today, a year and a few months later, we are reaping the fruits of these continuous meetings and the practical application of their outputs with an honorable global ranking that places Kuwait in its natural position among countries in the world.”

“John F. Mee (1963): ‘Management is the art of securing maximum results with a minimum effort so as to secure maximum prosperity and happiness for both employer and employee, and give the public the best possible service,” columnist Professor Ali Al-Zoabi wrote for Al-Shahid daily.

“This definition of management is emphasized by Dr Francis Traks in the economic anthropology course where he pins the importance of ‘brain’, which manages resources irrespective of its availability, and then gives testimony on a successful management story achieved by South Korea- despite its limited resources- in contrast with other countries where mismanagement prevails despite the abundance of resources.

“Many questions linger on the Arab mentality as far as management is concerned, and through a variety of answers to those questions, the ‘concept of management’ will be exposed in its backwardness nature. This is the unfortunate reality that cannot be ignored about the Arab world in terms of mismanagement and many other flaws related to the concept of management. This leaves us to laugh out of sorrow due to the level of despair.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb